Social Media is no doubt here to stay, we’ve seen this grow and be a key part of a developing business of the last few years, how they engage and reach out to their customer base, so here our the key trends for another successful year of social media marketing for your business.
Engagement is should be top of your list
Facebook often updates its algorithm and for us the key one was made in early 2018 when they announced a focus on meaningful interactions. So what does this mean? well their algorithm started favouring content that sparks a genuine conversation, which should inspire your business page owners to really try and create more engaging content. So as this organic reach becomes far more harder, the only way for a business to reach out to new and existing customer is to ensure that their content is interesting, appealing and engaging so its time for 2019 to really think of what your business strategy for every channel to continue reaching your followers where ever they may be.
Influencer marketing and the rise of micro-influencers
You will no doubt have heard all about influencer marketing and how big brands are using trend setters as part of their marketing mix and indeed for influencers the benefit is being able to reach a dedicated audience and they can make considerable sums through things like paid sponsorships and the like. For a growing business the big influencers are becoming more expensive so this is where the micro-influencers come into play, maybe its a instagrammer with a massive reach in the Devon restaurant trade or a school mum, both of these nano-influencers could work for your business if you have a restaurant in Torbay or a book shop for example. The key part is that you don’t require a big budget to work with them but you may need to spend more time on the research to find the perfect one.
The use of social media for selling
The use of social media is moving from awareness and engagement and moving towards consideration and sales enablement in your business sales funnel: does your business have a plan for this?
Artificial Intelligence and customer service
The use of automated bots and automated messaging have already shown up in many businesses customer service and indeed if you have a GMail account this is already reading your emails and suggesting suitable replies. There can be no doubt that social media has made it easier for customers to reach a business and this in turn leads to customer expectations about a far better response time from the business concerned. It is our prediction that in 2019 this will bring an ever increasing adoption of artificial intelligence as part of social customer service and it’s time for business to give it a try.
Stories, stories, stories
The use of stories has grown massively in 2018 since Snapchat first rolled them out, they have been adopted by competitors social networks and are emerging now as a key element of customer engagement simply as they’re seen be far more genuine, in short stories are short user-generated photo and video collections that disappear after 24 hours.
The end of fake followers
It used to be that a business could overnight have 10,000 followers, they bought these for a fee and for any social media concerned about its reputation this had to stop as they all want a social network where people (and brands) can grow their community through genuine interest and engagement, not fake followers. This significant change started rolling out mid 2018 and we predict that 2019 will prove that the number of followers will not be as relevant anymore comparing to the actual influence and engagement that you’re having within your community.
So in summary your business should not be chasing an increase in followers on any social network if you’re not already engaging with your existing ones. A smart business in 2019 will spend more time on growing their community organically increasing engagement with interesting and relevant content.
We would be delighted to listen to your business goals and help you realise them, please get in touch today on 01392 241653 or contact us through our website here, we’d be delighted to have a no obligation chat to see if we can help your business grow.
