Information from this blog post was obtained from influencermarketinghub.com, sproutsocial.com, and later.com
Just like the changing of the seasons, social media trends come and go in the blink of an eye. It is hard to stay up on all the latest trends when the internet and social media are constantly evolving. In a world where there are thousands of other options and competitors at the touch of a button, it is important to stay relevant. Keeping up with the latest memes, viral videos, challenges, and other trends can make your business's social media presence go from cringe to fire in a few good posts. This is easier said than done and depends on what type of business you are. Nonetheless, staying up to date on the latest trends will help you construct a social media marketing plan that is sure to generate traffic and build a positive online persona. Below are 4 tips and tricks on how to stay up on the hottest new trends in social media marketing:
Collab With Creators
According to Monique Thomas from later.com, the creator market is now worth over $100 billion and still growing exponentially. People want products or services that are endorsed by people they look up to. Using famous people for endorsements has always been a popular concept in marketing, but it is even more popular today. Sure, the best pro-athletes, movie stars, and musicians will have their large corporate endorsement deals, but with there being so many niche markets on social media, there is a lot of potential in endorsing anyone that will help you drive engagement. Collaborating with Youtubers, TikTok stars, Instagram Models, and other influencers is so beneficial because your product or service is exposed to a whole new audience. Collaborating with college athletes is also possible now with the recent NIL (name image and likeness) rule changes made by the NCAA and can be an extremely effective way to market your product on social media. As organic reach declines and the necessity for paid advertisements increases, collaborating with creators is a solid alternative to paying for traditional ad space. Collaborating with creators can be a relatively inexpensive way to reach new people, drive engagement, and ultimately drive conversions.
Create Short-Form Videos
With the rise of TikTok, short-form videos like Reels, Stories, and TikToks are becoming extremely popular and every business should adopt a strategy to jump on this trend. According to Jenn Chen at sproutsocial.com, in a recent survey, businesses found that over half of video viewers will watch a video from start to end if it is under a minute long. This statistic is incredible because it sheds some light on our culture and how we value instant gratification and entertainment. It is so important to make videos that capture the viewer's attention immediately because it is easier than ever to just skip your video and move to the next without watching the whole thing. TikTok is growing more and more every day and it is important to use if you have a young target audience. Instagram is turning into more of a video-sharing platform rather than a photo-sharing platform. Creating short videos that are fun, engaging, and relevant, will benefit your business’ social media presence enormously.
Use Social Commerce To Sell Your Products
Social commerce is where users can buy your product directly off of the platform they are using. According to Werner Geyser from influencermarketinghub.com, the social commerce industry is suspected to be worth $80 billion by 2025. While people have been advertising their products and linking them to their websites for a long time, social commerce gives users an even quicker and easier way to purchase products. The benefit of social commerce is that it requires fewer clicks from the consumer which makes it less likely to lose them in the consumer journey by making it quick and pain-free. It is important to adopt this trend as social media platforms essentially become online retail stores.
Demonstrate Sustainability
People care a lot about sustainability and climate change. Whether a business places a lot of emphasis on sustainability and ethical business practices means a lot to people and is very influential in their purchase decisions. Social media is a great place to display how your business cares for the environment and practices sustainability. According to Jenn Chen at sproutsocial.com, the primary audience for this is Gen Z adults. If this is your target market, demonstrating your business’ concern for climate change and your sustainable business practices could be very important at the point of purchase.
Resources
Chen, J. (2022, April 19). 8 social media trends to watch in 2022. Sprout Social. Retrieved April 24, 2022, from https://sproutsocial.com/insights/social-media-trends/
Geyser, W. (2021, December 14). 17 social media trends for 2022 and beyond. Influencer Marketing Hub. Retrieved April 24, 2022, from https://influencermarketinghub.com/social-media-trends/
Thomas, M. (2022, January 7). 10 social media trends that'll be huge in 2022. Later. Retrieved April 24, 2022, from https://later.com/blog/social-media-trends/#:~:text=10%20Social%20Media%20Trends%20to%20Watch%20in%202022,-Here%20are%20the&text=Economy%20Will%20Boom-,More%20Streamlined%20Social%20Commerce,Renewed%20Focus%20on%20Accountability%20%26%20Diversity
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