Just when you think the social media space couldn’t be any bigger, it does. More users, more brands vying for eyeballs and engagement in an ever-crowded space. But that doesn’t mean that it isn’t worth investing in your social media game - it’s about working smarter, rather than harder. When planning out your strategy, keep these top trends in mind.
1. It’s all about telling a story - on Stories!
When Instagram launched the not-Snapchat-but-Snapchat Stories, people thought that spelt the end of Snapchat (as it turns out, they were wrong - at least when it comes to younger users, anyway). The fact is, when Instagram diversified its offering and as its user count has rapidly increased, regular feed posts simply aren’t getting the automatic traction that they used to.
The answer is to amp up your efforts to engage with your audience via Instagram Stories. The ‘Stickers’ option on stories allows your audience to participate in polls, ask questions, and share their feelings about content via emojis, which offers you a direct, more in-the-moment way to interact with them and build all-important trust.
2. Be authentic
The days of overly edited photos are coming to an end. People want to see brands for what they really are. With this rise in demand for authenticity comes demand for a new breed of ‘micro’ influencers. The aim of using micro-influencers (people with less than 10,000 followers) is to tap into a smaller but more highly engaged audience that you know will resonate well with your brand. The benefit of micro-influencers is that they aren’t the target of larger advertisers, which means they are more trustworthy and true to their nature. The challenge is to tap into their audiences before other brands do!
3. Video is King
Some experts suggest that soon 80% of what the content we consume online will be video. This is unsurprising when you consider the rise of Facebook Live, Instagram Live streams and even YouTube (the second biggest search engine after Google). Don’t be intimidated about using the Live features of these social platforms either - bloopers and spontaneous moments create the authentic content audiences crave!
