The Top 7 Social Media Marketing Practices and Trends to Leverage in 2018

How can we engage your business? This is the biggest question every proprietor should answer because companies are getting more interactive. So, if your answer is “a phone call will be fine” you are in big trouble.

Almost all businesses are on social media platforms with the most prominent ones having a strong social media presence and following. Why? Leveraging the power of social media means knowing exactly what your customers need, when, and how.

Your brand needs to connect with your audience which is already on social media. Unfortunately, many other brands are selling what you are offering or even something better. How do you catch the attention of your audience that pulled in different directions by your competitors? Note that this is the only line of thinking that will boost your brand and make it flourish – your audience’s attention span is getting smaller by day and with over 300ft of content to scroll through, you need to develop the best marketing strategy that will catch the attention of your audience. Also, you need to remember that a large percentage of your audience is made of generation Z. Therefore, you have to keep in mind strategies that will work across the large and the small social media platforms.

Here are some of the trends you should adopt ad they will dominate the digital marketing scene in 2018

  1. Increased focus on content creation

Content creates the ripples you see on social media, and it is the company that creates top quality content that gets to be the trending topic or the one that goes viral. It is all about the content you create.

Great content resonates with your audience, and this is why you need to publish well written and helpful content for you to grasp the attention of your readers.

As a result, the biggest trend in 2018 will revolve around looking for proficient content creators. If you don’t have a team of content creators already, you should rethink your budget and hire some content developers stat. It is worth mentioning that you may want to consider content creation as a skill possessed by your social media management/ marketing team.

Content is more than blog posts and long articles; you need to pay attention to video content for use across the social media platforms.

  1. The use of Ephemeral Content for engagement rates

You need ephemeral (lasting the shortest time) content for the highest engagement rate. According to Adweek’s article on social media marketing trends , Snapchat is on the lead in the use of ephemeral content and to reach generation Z and millennials; you need Snapchat.

Ephemeral content is beneficial in the following ways:

  • It is easily accessible because the users use Snapcodes
  • The content is short-lived and such content is regarded to hold more authenticity than content that runs continuously. The short-lived content is also preferable to spammy posts and sponsored ads – don’t we all hate ads?
  • Thank FOMO. Short-lived content disappears within a few hours, and it effectively raises the potential Fear of Missing Out (FOMO). Consequently, your audience will take action fast and this gives you great gains regarding marketing.
  • It gives you the attention of potential customers making it the highest prized possession in internet marketing today.

Just make sure that you have a valid plan for reaching your audience with the ephemeral content. Have the best pictures and videos to grab the audience’s attention in the shortest possible time.

  1. Leverage the power of chatboxes for fast customer service

Note that chatboxes aren’t robotic anymore. These bots provide an instant connection with your customers worldwide. The Harvard Business Review, HBR notes that machines could generate more than 20 percent of business content in 2018. This isn’t a bad thing if you can get machines to create genuine and even relatable content.

So, if you are looking for a fast way to interact with your customers, take into consideration the use of the chatboxes. The bots are only getting smarter than they were, and even more human. Did you know that Facebook recently reported that there is the use of more than 100,000 active bots on Messenger, every month?

Just make sure that you:

  • Create a relatable character
  • Simplify it
  • Give it time
  • The chatboxes have feelings so; you may want to create a copy first, not code.
  • Expect epic fails.
  1. Personalize your content

Did you know that about 85 percent of millennials mistrust traditional advertising? Why is this? Traditional advertising audience lacks targeting, and the content’s only aim is to sell – It shouldn’t be.

In the world of digital marketing today, people need people-specific marketing and advertising. Content should be personalized to make sense to the audience and to meet their needs. Content that is helpful is relatable, and it records the highest readability and shareability.

For personalized content, you have to create buyer personas as that content will solve your buyer’s pain. You also need to adopt a storytelling approach in a language that easy to understand.

To go a step further on personalization, get influences in your line of business to share your products and services. The use of niche-specific influencers is important as it brings with it immense search engine optimization gains and you get to reach a wider audience in the shortest time.

Finally, on personalization, answer the question posed at the beginning of this article – how can we engage your business? You need to engage your audience at a personal level by commenting on their posts, tagging your biggest customers, sharing their voices, and you should also respond to them whenever they need your help.

  1. Augmented Reality is on the rise

The use of augmented reality is on the rise on smart mobile devices as they provide a niche and an effective way for you, as a marketer, to reach your target audience.

iPhone 8 and iPhone X have AR incorporated into them. You should use AR for your business because it is highly interactive, fast, and easy to use. AR makes Virtual FOMO a reality and social media helps AR go mainstream.

Just note that if you are planning to use AR, you should ensure that it adds value to your audience, and it is shareable.

  1. Interactive Broadcasting and Livestreaming

You already have Facebook Live, Twitter Live and the Instagram Stories which let you share stories live. These are interactive marketing tools that you should utilize to reach your target audience. Live streaming calls for commitment from your audience so; it will ensure that you have people who really want to engage with your business.

  1. Video

This was big in 2017, and it will be bigger. But, to get the most out of videos, you have to capture your audience’s attention in the first three seconds! You need to use short videos too. Keep the content engaging and the video quality high.

Conclusion

Whether you plan on using all these tools or a few, your success will depend on the strategies you use.

Contributed byhttps://fariscpa.com/

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