3 Social Media Trends Every Business Should Follow

If you run a company then you’re most likely marketing your brand, and if you’re marketing your brand, then you’re most likely utilizing social media. These days, the power and influence of social media is no secret, with its reach and engagement capacity incomparable to any other marketing tool. In fact, according to research released in February 2018 by the Pew Research Center, seven in 10 Americans are on some form of social media site. But as with any other marketing vehicle, it is constantly changing and evolving as new digital trends come into play, and it’s the responsibility of businesses to keep up in order for their marketing efforts to remain relevant and effective. So what’s new right now? Let’s check it out:

Video Creation

While everyone must use written content regularly, video content is growing at a phenomenal rate. Companies such as Amway create videos to provide their consumers with a unique and interactive demo of their products, while others use it to capture attention quickly, and provide a unique experience.

In 2015, the Cisco Visual Networking Index Forecast Report found that 70 percent of consumer internet traffic was solely video traffic — no wonder Snapchat became so popular, followed by innovations like Facebook Live and Instagram Stories. And it’s not going to stop there. For now, try to use video content in your social media activity, not just through the features but also in the content that you’re using in your regular posts. Based on current trends, your followers are more likely to be engaged.

Mobile Still Matters A Lot

Smart phones are an innovation that aren’t going away anytime soon, and with that comes the rise in mobile social media. Not only are there apps like Instagram and Snapchat that are only able to be used on your cellphone, but users are even deciding to conduct activity on mobile rather than desktop. Facebook alone has 1.57 billion monthly active mobile users, making it clear that brands need to pay attention to mobile moving forward.

Try making your social media posts more mobile friendly by including obvious calls to action and clear paths between your social posts and your website where conversions occur. For retailers, a great tip when posting a photo of your product is adding a tag to the photo that links directly to the product page on your site. Make it as easy as possible for audiences to engage and react to your social media and your brand.

The Rise of ChatBots

Not only is social media used to promote your company — customers use social media a lot to communicate complaints and issues they’ve encountered with your brand. Sometimes, these complaints can be frequent and high in volume, making it difficult for your team to provide a personalized service. ChatBots are the clear solution to this problem. Growing significantly in popularity over the last year, automated text-based virtual assistants are able to be specifically customized according to different requests, relieving pressure from your social media team and generally increasing productivity.

Social media is here to stay, and as a brand, it’s your responsibility to keep as up to date as possible.

Take a look at these few trends and make sure you continue to do research, so that you can ensure you resonate with your followers moving forward.