Anybody who is anybody will utilize social media to help promote, grow and expand their business, and there’s no denying the impact that the top platforms have had on capitalism and the way the business world works. However, as the years have gone by, a lot has changed in regard to how the platforms are used.
Now that we’re well and truly into 2019, it’s time to look at what’s happening in the social media world and the best social media tips and trends that are taking place. The more you know about what’s going on, the more techniques you’ll be able to bring into your business, and the more successful your social media campaigns and strategies will be.
Today, we’re going to take a detailed look into the landscapes and vistas of social media of 2019, exploring everything you need in order to take your social media strategies to the next level. Let’s go!
Putting Your Audience First
These days, it doesn’t matter what aspect of business you’re looking at, whether it’s how you present yourself online or how you deal with their customer service requests, you need to put your audience first. The same applies to social media.
These days, everybody is looking to connect with real life people who have personality and authenticity. This is the experience they want and the type of content they want to resonate with. This is why social media influencers are doing so well; because they have an individual personality that people can relate too, rather than just a corporate company that’s hidden away in their ivory tower.
In 2019 social media, your top priorities should be the relationships with your followers and engagement. It doesn’t matter if you have 200-thousand people following your accounts if you’re only getting a few likes and comments per post, this isn’t a suitable level of engagement.
However, there are a few ways you can boost these levels.
For example, nowadays many customers use social media to directly connect with companies when they require customer service, such as experiencing a problem or dealing with an issue. It’s important here that you’re quick to respond and use this opportunity to nurture a real relationship with your customers.
If you’re tagged in a post or photo, make sure you like it and leaving a response. People normally feel amazing when you interact with them in this way, so don’t be afraid to get really personal and involved when creating these genuine relationships.
Create Valuable Content
Okay, this point should be a no-brainer, but there tends to be a lot more to this consideration than most people think. Although you probably, or should be, trying your hardest to create really valuable content that resonates with your readers, you should ideally be focusing on content that shows authentic moments and stories within your business.
This is one of the best social media tips, and if you choose to follow just one of these tips, let it be this one. People are fed up of just mundane and generic content that has become prevalent over the last few years, and now people are looking for amazing content that they can resonate with this.
Of course, the best way to do this is through telling stories. You can stories about yourself, about your brand, about your customers, about your journey, about your behind the scenes action, about the lifecycle of your product; practically anything you want. The trick is to make it engaging.
You can do this through video, image or text content, but it’s important to make sure you include emotions and feelings within your stories to make them captivating. Think about the standard arc of a story. You have a beginning, which is normally a problem or a situation that needs to be dealt with.
You then follow onto the middle where you start looking for solutions to the problem or innovating or meeting the right people, and then at the end, you solve the problem and grow in some way or become better because of the story taking place.
Imagine your business goes through a controversy. Now imagine sharing the story of your controversy in an engaging way that people can relate too. If done properly, this can be a really effective form of content.
Build Relationships with Social Media Influencers
As we mentioned above, the rise and boom of social media have brought with it the rise and boom of social media influencers. These are usually individuals who have large followings of people within specific niches and can talk to them in a way that businesses simply cannot get away with.
As a business, however, it’s important to make sure you’re developing partnerships and relationships with certain and relevant influencers that are specific to your business and niche, to help you conquer social media.
“When it comes to selling a product or service, the vast majority of people will look for social proof first to see whether it’s something they want. If you’ve ever brought anything on Amazon, the chances you’ve brought a one-star product and have always stuck with 4-stars or above is high because you want a high-quality product,” shares Ben Arnold, a social media marketer for 1Day2Write and WriteMYX.
This is the same with social media influencers. Because they are real people who connect on a personal level with their followers, when they work with a brand or company, their followers see this as social proof, because why would someone they look up to sell them out on something short?
If you’re planning on using a social media influencer, the most important thing to remember is choosing the one that’s right for you. It may seem like selling holidays means you could get any kind of travel influencer to do the job, but this simply isn’t the case. You need to make sure you’re choosing the influencers that fit your brand and your style of business.
Implement Video Content in Your Strategy
Easily one of the hottest social media tips this year is the fact that video is taking off now more than ever, and people love to respond and engage with video content far greater than they do with text or written content. After all, what’s video if an image can speak a thousand words?
If you’re not already, you need to make sure you’re introducing video content into your marketing and social media strategies whether this is creating helpful videos to educate and inspire people, videos to entertain your audiences, or even going live on platforms like Facebook and Instagram.
Live videos are probably one of the most effective ways to connect with people because people love tuning in for something unexpected and then seeing what’s happening. This also adds a real human touch to what you’re doing and helps people to connect with you and what you’re saying.
What’s more, interactive shows are becoming increasingly popular, especially ones where viewers can get involved with what’s going on within the show.
“Thanks to the rise of high-quality smartphone cameras and high-quality yet affordable production tools, such as studio lights, it’s never been easier to put on a quality video with minimal effort, meaning you’ll be able to focus more of your attention on creating valuable content, rather than trying to get the technical side right,” explains Max Cera, an editor for Next Coursework and Brit Student.
Start Using Chatbots
As we’ve already spoken about briefly above, more and more people are using social media as a way to get directly into contact with business for all their needs and requests, whether they simply have a question, or they have a problem that needs solving.
However, it’s going to be expensive to hire people who can sit and reply to all comments, interactions, and private messages, especially if you’re a small but growing company who wants to provide the best experience. Nevertheless, this is where chatbots come into play.
Any business can start using a chatbot for an affordable price, and this is a great way to enhance your user experience and give them a quality service. Chatbots are relatively easy to set up on any form of social network, especially Facebook, and can provide basic answers to your customers.
For example, if you own a hair salon, you might get people asking you via direct message all the time to ask what the prices are for a certain service, how they can book and get in contact with you via phone or email, or what you’re open times are.
Instead of hiring someone to sit through and answer all these messages, an AI chatbot can simply do all this for you. Not only can this kind of service be more consistent than a human, but it can also work 24-hours a day without stopping.=, and it can even be catered to suit your brand voice!
Diversify Your Platforms
It’s absolutely vital to make sure in 2019 that you’re not just sticking to one platform, but you’re instead diversifying the number of platforms you’re using and how you’re using them. A good way to think of this is to imagine what would happen if your main social media platform disappeared overnight.
Of course, you might not think this is going to happen, but imagine if another controversy like the Cambridge Analytica event happened, but this time users left in the platform in their millions. How would this effect you and your business?
If it would cripple you, then this is a sure-fire sign that you need to diversify and branch out on several platforms to increase your reach and secure your position online. If you’re currently on Facebook and Twitter, these are relatively text-based websites, so it’s a good idea to branch out onto more visual platforms such as Snapchat or Instagram.
Pinterest is also an amazing platform used by millions of users around the world, although it’s still underutilized by marketers. LinkedIn is also a goldmine that’s still waiting to be used properly by marketers around the world and has a ton of untapped potential.
All you need to do here is research what kind of content you’re making and who your target audience is, and then see where these audiences are and how you can connect with them on a closer level or another platform where that audience is relevant and prevalent.
Optimize Your Content for Mobile
I can’t believe we still need to say this in 2019, but if you’re not making and creating content that’s designed specifically with mobile devices in mind, whether that’s tablets or smartphones, or at least content that’s suitable for these devices, what are you even doing?
Over 50% of ALL internet traffic now takes place through mobile devices, and this is the most prevalent form of internet traffic, meaning the chances are your customers and followers will be accessing your content through a mobile device. (At least, there’s over a 50% chance they will be)
If they’re accessing your content and you haven’t optimized for mobile devices, you’re going to lose a ton of engagement, new followers won’t want to connect with you, and you’ll be wasting time and money on creating content that simply doesn’t work.
Always, always, ALWAYS make sure you’re planning and creating your social media content with mobile users in mind. There’s no way to get around this social media tip.
Enhance Your Hashtag Game
We’re surprised to see that so many businesses these days are still not using hashtags to their full potential. Many businesses love to use generic tags that are highly competitive and have the shortest lifespan yet using a balance of these with not-so-popular tags can be a great way to boost your range.
“For example, using the Instagram tag ‘inspire’ has hundreds of millions of hits and images, meaning it’s incredibly sought after and competitive. It’s not easy to stand out for a good length of time. However, a hashtag like ‘dailyinspire’ only has 8,000 hits, meaning it’s far less competitive, and if it starts to take off, your content will already be there,” explains Michelle Turner, a tech writer for Australia2Write.
Summary
As you can see, there are lots of things you need to do when it comes to social media for your business, and lots of social media tips you’ll need to bear in mind. The best thing to remember is to get as organized as possible, plan ahead and make sure you’re putting your customers and followers first in everything you do to make sure you’re providing real value into their lives that they can resonate with.
META
These are the most important social media tips and trends your business needs to focus on this year if you hope to stand out from the crowd and make the most impact with your followers.
Article Description
Today, we’re exploring some of the most effective and essential social media tips of 2019 that everybody who wants to make an impact should know about.
Quotes from Article
We’re surprised to see that so many businesses these days are still not using hashtags to their full potential.
Always, always, ALWAYS make sure you’re planning and creating your social media content with mobile users in mind. There’s no way to get around this social media tip.
imagine if another controversy like the Cambridge Analytica event happened, but this time users left in the platform in their millions. How would this effect you and your business?
If you’re planning on using a social media influencer, the most important thing to remember is choosing the one that’s right for you. It may seem like selling holidays means you could get any kind of travel influencer to do the job, but this simply isn’t the case
These days, it doesn’t matter what aspect of business you’re looking at, whether it’s how you present yourself online or how you deal with their customer service requests, you need to put your audience first. The same applies to social media.
