With over three billion people using social media every day, it’s important to stay up to date consistently. But this can be tricky as social media keeps changing. There have been a number of updates to social media platforms over the past few years.
There are also many new trends that affect how users interact on these platforms. Each of these changes has been a catalyst for companies that have had to adapt their social media marketing strategies. Here are some tips.
Aim for true commitment
Cheating the system to increase engagement has been a popular tactic for some time, but it’s a social media marketing mistake to avoid.
An example: Brands sharing posts that suggest users simply “tag a friend in the comments below” to rack up some interaction without actually creating a conversation.
But the algorithms are getting smarter and this strategy is dying. With organic reach declining and more companies increasing their social ad spend, content needs to be truly compelling and engaging so followers and the wider audience can’t help but get engaged. The logo is also important. Your logo should match the size of everything else to be more attractive.
Work with micro-influencers
On the subject of marketing strategies, it’s no surprise that micro-influencers continue to gain ground over their more famous counterparts. Budget benefits aside, as micro-influencers often work on a gift basis or simply have much lower commissions than big names, research continues to show that their audience is more engaged and can be more specific to some niches, compared to social media stars.
Some research has also clearly shown that once a profile accumulates more than a few thousand followers, engagement rates on sites like Instagram begin to drop rapidly. Collaborating with micro-influencers who have between 1,000 and 10,000 followers is a fraction of the usual cost of the influencer, but with a much greater likelihood of genuine engagement.
This is partly attributed to a level of credibility that can be lost with the biggest “influencers”. While some brands have turned their noses up at the idea of collaborating with micro-influencers in the past, everyone is hoping to produce credible collaborative work this year by collaborating with the most promising profiles.
Get rid of fake followers
On the subject of authentic engagement and influencer marketing, it would be wrong not to address the problem of false followers, for example when it comes to launching a startup. Fake and spam accounts have been around since the dawn of social media, but now it is increasingly common to find so-called “influencer” profiles with millions of followers, where reality isn’t quite what it seems. Even politicians and celebrities have been caught cheating.
Part of the reason it’s so important to check engagement rates before connecting with an influencer is that audience size doesn’t necessarily equal the amount of interactions with your profile. Fake followers and paid likes can make it seem like someone is popular, but on closer inspection, partnering with them could prove to be a waste of time and money.
2020 is already gearing up to be the year where fake followers are public enemy number one, with sites like Instagram and Facebook announcing their plans to eradicate fraudulent activity once and for all.
Make your social profile shoppable
Social media with “shoppable” capabilities (ie with content that give the opportunity to buy directly and to place products in a cart) have already had their moment of success, from Pinterest purchasable pins to Checkout on Instagram. But there have been some major updates over the past year, and the path from the social app to the checkout page is now clearer and shorter than ever.
Pinterest has updated ad pins in “Product Pins,” a tool that takes shoppers directly to the checkout page for a selected item on a retailer’s site, while Instagram now offers users a path to never-before-buying. having to exit the app. The “Explore” page also now features a shopping tab, something paid search marketers should be aware of.
Pinterest says its Product Pins have increased click-through rate on retailer websites by 40%. With shoppers likely to abandon a purchase if the steps between viewing an item and paying become too numerous, retailers should take the opportunity to make the kinds of instant sales that social media encourages.
As many shoppers browse social media or Google first, paid search and shoppable social teams will need to work side by side with a clear understanding of their respective tactics and results.