4 Ways to Stay Ahead of the Social Media Shifts
What can your business do to stay ahead? Let’s take a step back and look at the social media trends that are shaping the landscape.
According to the latest stats on Pew’s Social Media Use in 2018, Facebook continues to dominate this landscape, with 68% of U.S. Americans using the platform. Instagram, Snapchat, and even Twitter, are still not far behind. Here are 4 ways to stay ahead of the current social media shifts:
Say Goodbye to Free Reach
What is organic reach on Facebook? Who really knows, because this is diminishing as we speak. In January, Facebook announced their overhaul on its News Feed, prioritizing interactions between friends and family and de-emphasizing content from publishers and brands. What does this mean for your business on Facebook? “Free” access to users is becoming more and more difficult…unless you step it up.
Related: Facebook News Feed Algorithm History
Facebook is now becoming a paid platform for companies. Despite the current problem with a lack of social media ad budget for most companies, Facebook has developed the most precise ad targeting tools. The emerging technology enables users to “test hundreds of ad variations simultaneously” rather than having to guess. This also allows company users to automate their campaigns so the best-performing ads are being boosted to the largest audiences.
Video is the Future
In 2018, Cisco predicts that 82% of all consumer internet traffic will be video. Live videos and video ads is the leading content on Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram.
One thing to keep in mind when implementing video ads: Going “viral” doesn’t mean anything. Some businesses are quickly trying to hop on the trend by carrying out as many video ads with the most views and clicks, but are forgetting its main purpose if they’re not reaching customers that actually want to buy the product. It is much more important to capture the right audience and watch what people do after they watch your video.
Related: Facebook In-Stream Videos
Instagram has added 100 million users in the past 5 months and now has up to 800 million users (link Sophia’s Instagram blog). It has grown to be the dominating platform amongst the younger audiences and has grown to be very brand-conscious. Because of this, companies have found Instagram as their home to build brand awareness and drive engagements.
Despite the Facebook vs. Instagram user difference, a recent study has shown that brands get 3 times the engagement on Instagram compared to Facebook. In order to optimize brand engagement, Instagram has implemented features such as “Stories” similar to Snapchat, live videos, filters, private messaging, etc.
Related: Instagram Algorithm Change History
Millisecond Marketing
Back in the day, it used to take creative teams several days (or even weeks) to accomplish basic social media tasks. But like mentioned previously, recent technologies have emerged that allows companies to test hundreds of ad variations simultaneously, eliminating the guessing game usually involved.
AI has already made its impact and is quickly becoming the backbone of marketing and advertising. AI marketing bridges the gap between data science and marketing, allowing marketers to sift through drastic amounts of data load and helps provides value to target customers while gaining a positive ROI.
