The roaring ‘20s are here and as you review your 2019 marketing efforts, it’s important to know that nothing stays stagnant and change is inevitable. We found three major social media trends that will continue to grow as we head into a new decade.
NICHE COMMUNITIES WILL BRING SUCCESS
It’s safe to say content can easily get lost in the mix of it all with 2.45 billion monthly active users on Facebook and more than 500 million daily active users on Instagram. Moving into 2020, introducing your business into private niche communities online is a must-add to your marketing strategy.
In 2019, we saw a strong push from Facebook for users to join Facebook Groups based upon their interests. In addition to keeping a steady flow of content on your public profile, it’s not a bad idea to create a group for your business, or find relevant groups to join, in 2020. Private groups spark conversations about products or services while simultaneously building a tight-knit community. Facebook groups are a great way to launch new products, test out new creative and even hear general consumer thoughts on your product or the industry you’re in. By engaging with your audience, you can establish valuable connections that will keep your customers coming back.
Influencer marketing is also a great way to expand your audience, and thankfully you don’t need an enormous ad budget to do it. It’s true, some influencers with large followings (ie. 50k or more) could cost you a pretty penny, but identifying small, niche influencers that fit within your brand is a more affordable approach and may get you a better ROI. Due to their smaller audience size, niche influencers are naturally able to foster better relationships and conversations with their followers, thus creating an environment built on trust and authenticity. If 2019 taught us anything, it’s that authenticity is key to a successful online influencer campaign. Check out the nano- and micro-influencer rates below and see if you can fit that into your 2020 marketing budget.
VIDEO REMAINS KEY FOR CONTENT
It’s no surprise that video is dominating social media platforms. In 2019, we saw the birth of TikTok and the rise of stories, both on Facebook and Instagram. Over 500 million people use Instagram Stories every day, and it’s worth noting that 200 million Instagram users visited at least one business profile per day.
Video can seem extremely daunting, especially for small businesses, but it needs to be incorporated into your marketing strategy. Whether it’s short five- to 10-second Stories or longer IGTV videos, just film it! And don’t forget to be authentic.
At Quillin, we’ve seen great success with a weekly three-minute segment that costs us virtually nothing as a company. It provides our followers with consistent content and it can be utilized on multiple platforms. We can post it organically on IGTV, display it in Stories, set up an ad budget to reach new followers, or even extract GIFs from the footage.
According to a Cisco report, by 2022, 82% of all online content will be video content, so it’s crucial to add it into the mix now.
LET YOUR FOLLOWERS CREATE CONTENT FOR YOU
User-Generated Content, or UGC, can be a great addition to profiles for two reasons: it’s free to you and it’s more authentic. As reported by Convince and Convert, “85 percent of consumers find UGC more influential than brand content.” Through the use of branded hashtags, your followers can post about your product or service and you can track them all!
Take Coca-Cola’s #shareaCoke campaign as an example. By personalizing each can, they encouraged their customers to get involved and promote the brand via social platforms. Over 500,000 photos were shared using the hashtag #shareacoke and Coca-Cola grew its Facebook following by 25 million during the campaign.
Now, we’re obviously not all the size of Coca-Cola, so an easy way to start using UGC is by implementing the posts in your Stories. 62% of people say they have become more interested in a brand or product after seeing it in Stories, so why not use UGC to help expand your reach with credible content straight from your followers.
