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As 2018 closed out, business owners and marketers around the world revisited how to improve their social media strategies. We know that, as a marketing tactic, social media is here to stay. However, as an ever-changing environment, it continuously forces us to keep coming with better marketing strategies. That’s why we're presenting you with trends in social media to keep an eye on as we move through the year.
Brand validation, social proof, strengthening customer loyalty, and increasing brand awareness are some of the benefits of proper social media use. No business can ignore the importance and necessity of social media presence. So, let’s begin!
The Growing Power of Micro-Influencers
Influencer marketing has been around for some time. However, brands have realized that getting an influencer with a 500,000+ following is not that helpful. They figured out that micro-influencers can bring more benefits to their brands. Thus, we can expect to see more of this trend in 2019.
Micro-influencers have a following of 1,000-90,000, and they don’t have celebrity status. According to Medium, the engagement from micro-influencers is 60% higher than that of social celebrities. Besides the fact that they cost less than celebrity influencers, they also drive an average 22.2% increase per week in conversions.
More Artificial Intelligence
AI has become the buzzword in the industry, yielding many discussions as well as marketing opportunities. So, AI is another one of the trends in social media that is here to stay.
For example, Facebook Messenger is at the forefront of chatbot use. Chatbots are a big hit with businesses that have been using them to increase engagement and sales. They are also great in providing customer support, reducing the physical involvement in the process.
We can surely expect to see a rise in the use of chatbots and other AI applications in social media.
Personal Branding Gets More and More Important
It is especially true for startups and small business. It helps an enterprise put a human face to its brand, which helps build loyalty. People relate more easily to a humanized brand because it garners more trust – an essential element for building long-lasting relationships. But, how to define a brand?
One way to do it is to promote the personal brand of its owner(s) or leader(s) through webinar and podcast appearances as well as guest blogging. A company can strengthen their brand reputation by letting audiences to get to know the expertise and character of the company leader.
It’s expected that brands that embrace this trend will gain a notable advantage over faceless, corporate enterprises.
More Focus on Long-Form Content
Long-form content, such as course studies and detailed guides, can give you an edge, especially regarding SEO. It’s simple - a high-quality article of 2,000 words will likely outrank a great 500-word piece.
That is why we believe that there will be more publishers requiring their authors to deliver articles with a minimum of 1,000 words (or more.) Companies will continue to embrace long-form content. In case you’re not getting much SEO traction with 500-word posts, you should consider “going long.”
Expand your content strategy with comprehensive articles that are rich with insight and information. It will attract more readers and help you rank better in Google SERP.
Keep Going With the Video
Video marketing is one of those trends in social media that keeps pushing boundaries. About 86% of online marketers use video content as a part of their social media marketing strategies. Many of them say that video content has helped increase user understanding of their brand, products, and services.
It can also help increase sales and website traffic. People often watch explainer videos, and many of them have also bought something as a result of watching a brand’s video.
Livestream is one of the most powerful ways to boost engagement on social media, so it will continue to emerge. According to Digg, about 56% of Internet usage worldwide goes to video streaming. About 80% of all the traffic on the Internet is expected to be video content.
The prominence of the video is closely related to the rising importance and influence of personal branding. A video allows companies to put a human face to the business. Also, they get a chance to showcase their products and services as well as behind the scenes, to show who they are.
User-Generated Content
That’s the element that will make your brand’s efforts a lot more authentic in 2019. Instead of spending time and money on creating original photos and videos, why not let the audience do that?
Relying on user-generated content will make your customers feel like a part of the family. That way, you acknowledge them and their contribution, while it gets the rest of the community around your brand to engage more authentically.
It’s one of the trends in social media that’s been gaining traction for some time now. You need to create a branded hashtag and ask your followers to add it to their captions or ask them to @mention your brand account.
With some help of an excellent social media management tool, you can gather the content by tracking that specific hashtag or your mentions. This way, you build a stronger relationship with your audience by giving them a sense of connection.
