Can you believe it is the start of a new decade? This new decade is sure to bring lots of changes to social media marketing, just like the last decade did. Before we dive into what to expect in 2020, let’s recap a few highlights from the last decade.
So what should your brand be preparing for as we enter 2020?
Valuable engagement is where it’s at In years past marketers would strive for more likes on their Facebook and Instagram pages, however, we have since discovered it is more profitable to drive engagement on your social media pages versus just likes. True engagement with your brand is how you build brand value and trust, just because you have a million followers doesn’t mean you are a valuable brand. How do you drive engagement you ask? Provide your followers with useful tips, ask them questions, engage them in development of new products and share your story. Engage your audience in ways that make sense for your brand and change your social media marketing KPIs to measure engagement instead of likes.
Video is all the buzz While video content isn’t new to social media platforms it has certainly increased in popularity in the last few years. In 2012 Snapchat helped to kick off the video era which later led to Facebook Live and the invent of TikTok in 2016. If you haven’t joined the video craze yet because you are not a video expert and your videos won’t be Golden Globe worthy productions stop waiting. Customers don’t expect your videos on social media to be perfect productions. Customers want real. Customers want a behind the scenes look of your brand. What does a day in the life look like? Create short videos to share with your customers and I think you will be surprised on the engagement you will receive.
“Customers don’t expect your videos on social media to be perfect productions. Customers want real.”
Social Shopping Have you ever seen a picture of a product on Facebook and thought I have to have it? I think we are all guilty of this one. Did the brand make it easy for you to purchase that item? One brand I think does a terrible job at this is Wayfair. They provide a lovely carousel of their products and get you interest in purchasing an item, but when you click on the picture of the item you are taken to the Wayfair home page instead of the product page where you can simply purchase the product. I am not going to sift through their website to find that product so while they got my attention, they didn’t close the sale as the ad wasn’t shoppable. A couple brands that do this really well are Target and Amazon. See something you like in one of their ads? Select the picture and you are instantly to a page where you can buy the item. You would think it can’t get easier than this, but it does. Brands are now experimenting with the ability to purchase an item directly through Facebook or other platforms instead of leaving that site and going to the brand specific sight. Stay tuned for exciting changes in social shopping.
Private messages on the rise When I talk about private messaging on social media I am talking about potential customers reaching out to your business through a private message. I would not encourage you to blast customers with private message ads. A few brands have tried this and it has come across as intrusive and creepy. So if you are not using private messages for advertising why is this something to pay attention to? Customers are turning to private messaging as a way to interact with your business and ask questions versus asking directly on your social media page or calling your business. What does this mean for you? You need to make the experience seamless and easy. Make sure your social media platforms are monitored 24/7 to provide prompt responses. You can also consider creating automated canned responses to some of your frequently asked questions. However you manage your social media private message inbox, you need to ensure this provides a positive experience for your customers.
User generated content Research has shown when customers are in the market for a particular product or service they will likely consult family, friends or anyone else who has had experience with the product or service. How can you as a business owner capitalize on this? Build campaigns to encourage current customers to leave reviews on your social media platforms and Google. Heighten the feedback by sharing those comments on social media or your website. Everyone loves to see timely, genuine reviews of a product or service, make this content easily viewable.
It’s all about the long game Don’t be so quick to give up on a particular social media campaign if you don’t see the expected results in a short time frame. Brand building is all about recall, engagement and awareness. Take the time to tell your brand’s story and build the relationship with your customers and I can promise you this will pay off much more than a quick campaign with rapid results that fade away as quickly as they come.
As we gear up to tackle 2020 these tips will give you a great start on how to be successful with social media marketing in this new decade. As always if you need advice or help we are always here and want to see your brand succeed.
