Pour Your Heart Out.
Roughly half a lap around the sun this 2020, we thought we’d stretch the hamstrings, grab a sip of water and look at some current social marketing trends. Knowing this is a fluid environment with habits and platforms evolving and changing, we’ll be sure to follow up periodically to keep you up to speed. Now despite the constant movement in this space, the one thing that we can all count on is the fact that social marketing is a powerful fixture in the digital marketing ecosphere. So, let’s see what’s socially shaking out there right now.
To begin with, the time has come to stop feeding our egos and let the “likes” be put out to pasture. With Instagram killing the “like” button, twitter saying they wish they hadn’t focused so much on likes, and Facebook considering no longer showing tally counts, perhaps it’s a sign of social media maturity? Regardless, it’s time to focus more on quality vs. quantity.
At the end of the day, true brand engagement is what we’re looking for, not empty vanity metrics. If you want to make your social media earn its keep you need to hold its metrics to business goals. When you start getting viewers to a landing page, converting them to a transaction, reposting content or better yet generating their own content about you, then you know they really care!
And speaking of caring, give the people what they want, and that’s video. Short-form, long-form, no-form – you name it. If it’s video, people want to gobble it up. Across the board, everyone is prioritizing video. Over the past 3 years, video consumption has risen by 100% annually. And with mobile devices in every hand, projections suggest by 2022 that 82% of all online content will be video.
As a result, you may need to rethink how you’re using Stories on Facebook and Instagram, as well as looking at platforms like TikTok and Snapchat for content distribution. Consumers are less and less interested in being sold to, preferring honest, authentic and more matter of fact content that shares your brand story. With ever-growing access to consumer data on why they purchase, how they use a product and what they think about it — your content can stop selling and start telling stories that resonate vs ricochet.
When it comes to what stories to tell, brands need to dig deep and determine what is going to connect with people on an emotional level. We live in a sea of sameness, so differentiating yourself is critical to standing out. Simply spewing facts, reasons to believe and tired testimonials will only land you in the middle of your competitive pack. Instead, brands need to take a hard look at their reasons for being, then show what they believe in and why, in creative and entertaining ways. Connecting on an emotional level with memorable content that consumers are willing to carry forward requires tapping into storytelling, fueled and inspired by what makes your company, products or services worth a damn.
As we continue jogging through the second half of 2020, we’ll see social marketing continue to evolve and change. It’s vital brands be ready, willing and able to adapt their strategies as the ecosystem evolves. But most importantly, brands must look to unfurl their wings of internal truth in order to soar upon the warm breeze of sincere consumer engagement. Goggles on.
