As we near the halfway point of the year, it’s natural to reflect on the progress (or lack thereof) in achieving your social media goals thus far this year. We’re pausing because of something that started less than six months ago.
Key social media networks in this dynamic business often reorient their services and roll out updates and new features. Marketers that work with social media must be flexible and willing to adapt quickly.
The following changes have taken place so far in 2016:
Facebook has increased their focus on Messenger while also releasing Reactions and Facebook Live video to all users.
Instagram doubled the length of its videos and added an algorithm to its news feed to prioritise the most popular posts.
Changes to Twitter’s home feed, GIF search, and the character restriction of 140 have all just been revealed.
Snapchat launched Chat 2.0 and made geofilters available.
I talked about the disruption caused by platform shifts and shared four digital trends that marketers need to be aware of right now in a webinar I hosted for Mention.
Although these aren’t the only shifts occurring in the social media sector, they are a fantastic place to begin when thinking about make a best position of your business and content.
Consider online social media as a central repository for material.
Let’s pretend you’ve been invited to a dinner party at a friend’s place. You arrive at your host’s house and announce that you have a casserole in the oven, inviting them to join you for dinner and to take home the recipe. Neither your host nor the other guests would appreciate that. More of this behaviour will result in fewer invites being extended to you.
Far too many businesses (and people!) use social media just as a means of driving traffic back to their main site, rather than engaging with the audience there.
To be a good host, you should make posts that are tailored to the social media platform in question. Don’t let the constraints of different social media platforms stop you from being creative. Don’t just make noise; make material that helps others.
While it’s true that regularly updated content on your domain is essential for search engine optimisation and conversions, you should keep in mind that directing consumers to your site isn’t always required. Don’t feel like you have to host every gathering you attend.
Having a specific audience in mind is preferable than having a broad one.
While Facebook gets the lion’s share of the criticism for losing organic reach, the fact is that all of the major social networks have transitioned to an algorithmic feed in an effort to offer the most relevant content to each individual user.
It is speculated that Snapchat’s Stories and Discovery areas may soon follow suit. What strategies are available now that the number of followers no longer indicates the number of people who really saw or interacted with your content?
As a result, social media marketers have the ability to target specific demographics and interests through both free and paid channels. In addition to the channel, post kind, and scheduled release date/time, it’s time to include “audience” to your content strategy.
Spend some of your paid social media advertising dollars on Facebook and Twitter’s retargeting feature to reach people who have previously shown interest by visiting your website or downloading gated material.
Make targeted content for people who are already halfway through your sales funnel.
People, not companies, are what consumers put their faith in.
The people that make up your audience have shifted. It’s crucial that you grasp the significance of influence and identify the people who have sway over your target market. It’s unlikely that your customers will put more faith in your company’s CEO or a paid celebrity advocate than they would in a “person like yourself.”
Successful influencer marketing may shift attitudes and introduce a product to a whole new set of consumers.
It may seem intimidating at first to work with influential people. Trust, but verify, before relinquishing command of the medium and the message.
Before initiating a campaign, it is important to lay out your own objectives and aims and to have an understanding of the influencer’s desired results. Don’t forget that many influencers treat their online brand like a business and provide them exclusive access to activities.
You should be willing to pay them a reasonable wage for their work. Keeping one’s message genuine is essential to the success of an influencer (and by extension, you).
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