It is an undeniable fact that
over half of the world’s population have access to the internet and use social media platforms every day, and due to this we are forced to reassess the role of social media in business and how we can take charge of the stage when it comes to brand social media interactions.
The world is changing, and this change is largely influenced by social media trends. These trends influence how businesses interact with their clients on social media. With every reigning trend, brands have to adjust, because the social media age is an age of competition – social and digital competitiveness.
So that brings us to one of the most asked social media questions and its answer: What are the latest social media strategies your brands need this year?
Read on to know about each strategy in detail.
Step One: Target Real Engagement
Many brands do not know about real engagement. In the past, brands used it to cheat the engagement medium and pass it off as engagement. Telling users to tag their friends in the comment box is not real engagement even though the numbers increase, this is because there is no real interaction in this tactic. You cannot outsmart the algorithms with cheats this year; they are now smarter and can detect spams.
Businesses are getting smarter and investing in ads on social media which is reducing organic reach. The only way a brand or business can excel is to be interesting and stay on top with their content. Content that is engaging for followers and their audience. Find the voice and content that works for you and your brand. Find it and hone it.
Step Two: Work with Micro-Influencers
One of the solutions to
social media questions and answers lies with Micro-Influencers, their ability to control real engagement in comparison to their more macro-celebrities. From small businesses that understand the importance of leads to very large brands and businesses, Micro-Influencers are more profitable and we are not talking about just the budget.
Yes, Micro-Influencers are cheaper but a study has shown that the followers of Micro-Influencers tend to be more active and lore dedicated, and they can show a higher level of engagement in vast niches compared to top celebrities using social media for a specific niche.
For a business that understands the role of social media, research has shown that some level of trust has been lost by the fan to their higher celebrities. That is why, for any business that truly understands the power of leads when it comes to marketing, you should lean towards upcoming influencers.
Identify your brand's identity → look for upcoming influencers in that niche that don't belong to a brand yet → draw them in.
This time, pay attention to the action, rather than the follower size.
Step Three: Remove Fake Followers From Your List
We cannot talk about true engagement without talking about the issue of fake followers. Spam and fake social media accounts have always been a thing, just another cheat, but this cheating method is counterproductive. It is important that brands and businesses check out for these when trying to connect with influencers for their projection.
Instead of checking for massive followings, they should check for engagement, and this is because a large number of followers doesn’t always equal engagement and activity. If your brand started out with buying followers to increase value, it is time to stop.
You should do your homework on influencers to see how much engagement they get compared to their followings. Social media tools like Hype Auditor and Twitter Audit are there to help you in auditing social media accounts.
Step Four: Make your social profile shoppable
It has been a wonderful feature to add shop actions to social media accounts. Buyers these days want a fast medium of purchase, and in this digital age, everything is quick and fast. Buyers tend to stop and give up if the steps to making a purchase get rigorous.
That is why shoppable actions like Product pins and Checkouts take the client or audience down to the site and straight to the purchase section. You should invest in shoppable actions on social media. Give the Facebook ads a shot or try selling on Instagram.
Step Five: Include Dark social In Your Strategy
The term "Dark Social" is used in reference to social networks that the marketers cannot track. These dark socials include the spreading of information through WhatsApp, your Messengers and other similar messaging and texting apps. When we share content online, they leave footprints that are easy to identify. But that is not the case with dark social, as with this strategy there are no traces left to be tracked. The direct messaging approach helps in hiding the nature of engagement, and they are very valuable as they are precise.
Put dark social network marketing tactics into your marketing strategy. Create a presence for your brand on these social network channels. From using chatbots on Facebook to creating groups to handle questions and answers and encourage sharing - all of this creates a dark social network that works.
Step Six: Capitalize on FOMO with live video
The young Generation Z is filled with entrepreneurs who spend in a certain way. One constant thing with this generation Z is their FOMO, which means "fear of missing out". This fear makes these new entrepreneurs want to try out new things, take on challenges here, try out new marketing techniques. They are not guarded like the generation before them as their campaigns are more user inclined.
Brands are encouraged to take up a more fast-paced action, infuse FOMO strategies into our marketing techniques. This gives off the impression that nobody is waiting for the audience. It triggers a you-snooze-you-lose action within them.
Create videos and live video content that suits your audience. Understand what they want. Videos that show behind the scenes, giveaway and the after shot videos are very catchy and can get engagement.
Step Seven: Try out Augmented Reality Ads
Some social media platforms have been trying AR. The aim is to allow the customer to try out products when they tap them and see how suited it is for them. All these are done without even leaving one's newsfeed. AR advertising is created to help the customer buy on impulse and without too much thinking as they have to test out the product on the spot.
If your business can go the mile, AR ads and their apps will, in time, be the toast of social media marketing. It is time to learn all there is on AR ads, and prepare for the future when the technology will be even more accessible.
In conclusion...
Social media promotes brands and businesses but the competition is neck-and-neck. That is why you should fight to place your brand at the forefront of it all. This can be achieved through accurate niche targeting, instead of just trying out all possible approaches. You have to understand that humans are not just statistics for business; they have feelings and differ from one another. Taking time to understand the foundation of this will be one of the most valuable steps for long term growth.
