Trends and predictions about social media marketing in 2020 are plentiful. Only time will tell which prove true and which prove false. Here are a few of the latest, in alphabetical order.
A is for Authenticity. Instagram’s decision to hide vanity metrics means that marketers will have an increased need for authenticity, the cornerstone of influencer marketing, reports Mobile Marketer. Leah Logan, VP of media products at Inmar Collective Bias, predicts that “marketers will place a greater emphasis on authenticity in 2020 and creating deeper, brand-safe partnerships.” And Social Media Today predicts that influencer marketing will continue to grow. Why? Fifty-eight percent of marketers plan to increase their influencer budget this year.
B is for Benefits of Social Listening: The benefits are real. And because of that, marketers will increase their use of social listening to provide better customer service and connections. Social listening helps companies improve products or service, attract new customers, and provide better customer service. View this Social Media Today infographic to learn more.
C is for Cross-Stream Messaging: Look for Facebook to integrate the messaging functionalities of Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp into a single stream. The integration will likely take place this year. It will bring two additional functional options along with it: payment and bot connections, says Social Media Today.
D is for Design. Pay attention to the hottest trends in graphic and digital design. Among them are panoramic virtual reality designs, surreal product photos, realistic textures, yellow backgrounds and design elements to appeal to millennials, and multi-media portraits. Find out more via the Social Media Today infographic.
E is for Ear. Get in your audience’s ear by producing more podcasts. Jenay Rose, a business coach and social media professional, told Social Media Today that podcasts are a higher way to convert because you’re quite literally in someone’s ear. “Once, content only needed to be pretty,” Rose says. “Now, it needs to keep the viewer and listener’s attention for longer spans, as creators who get someone to stay on the platform longer are rewarded.” While you’re at it, check out HubSpot for advice on how to design a podcast for audio SEO.
F is for Fun.TikTok, the fourth most downloaded app, is fun. And because of the fun factor, its popularity will continue to increase, according to Mobile Marketer. Brands should use it to to build brand affinity and awareness, according to Brian Wulfe, CEO of digital agency Effective Spend.
I taught at the college level for five years. One warning I gave all my students was this: Be careful of what you post online because whatever you post will exist in cyberspace forever, even if you delete it.
When they heard that, my students simply stared at me. They looked stunned. They looked scared. They looked frantic. Then they looked as if they couldn’t wait to get out of class so they could start deleting drinking photos and other incriminating items from their social media accounts.
I like to think that today we are savvier. We know the impact social media has on reputation, ours and our company’s. We know that what we post on social media can help or hurt our individual or corporate reputation. And we take care to manage our reputation, to influence and shape how others see our company, our brand, and us.
Having a well-developed social media presence is critical in today’s hyper-connected world. Your customers, clients, and stakeholders live on social media, and so should you. Your presence on social media will help you actively engage in reputation management, broadcast (and narrowcast) your public relations messages, reinforce and build your brand, identify and attract new customers, and retain existing customers and clients.
What to do online
Here are some ways to make sure you are doing what you must to effectively manage your reputation online:
Have an online presence. Nature abhors a vacuum. Make sure you have a website and social media accounts that projects the image you want.
Have good content. A bare-bones business website is better than no website at all, of course. But a dynamic business website full of robust, informative, and authoritative content is even better. Creating good content that can help you rank highly in the search engine results will push bad content down lower on the SERPs.
Have positive customer reviews. Reviews are one way customers learn about your business. More than 95% of shoppers check them before committing to a purchase.
Have good sense. Respond to online comments promptly. Address and resolve any issue publicly on the channel your customer is using. Use common sense and kindness. Be proactive and polite. Always.
Social media is a key element for marketing success. If you’re not sure how to do it, reach out to us. We here at Triple Canopy Media would be glad to show you how it’s done. Or do it for you.
Twitter has identified the six fastest-growing topics its users are tweeting about, claiming they reflect fundamental shifts in U.S. culture. It’s worth thinking about these trends when we consider the way we use social media as part of a branding campaign.
The insights, Twitter says, will help businesses better understand the fundamental shifts within broader culture, which can assist with creative development, product development, marketing, and consumer engagement. It can also help them stay on the cutting edge of culture.
“Understanding what’s happening matters more than ever, because consumers care about a brand’s cultural relevance,” according to Twitter.
Social Media Today recommends tapping into the right hashtags and monitoring shifts over time to stay one step ahead of the competition.
What Twitter did
Twitter used machine learning to remove commonplace topics and fads, such as politics and sports, then analyzed billions of Tweets over a period of three years – from Jan. 1, 2016, to June 30, 2019 – to come up with the most-used hashtags.
Twitter then identified 18 conversational trends and created a dedicated “Trend Pack” for each of the 18 trends that uncovers conversation growth, key drivers, related hashtags, emoji sentiment, and Tweets. The 18 trends were then divided among six main topics: Well Being, Everyday Wonder, One Planet, Creator Culture, Tech Life, and My Identity.
As Twitter explains it: “These reflect fundamental shifts in U.S. culture and provide a window into what’s starting to matter more and more to consumers as we enter a new decade.”
The conversational trends
Here is a summary of the six main topics and the 18 conversational trends that Twitter identified:
Well Being: focus shifts from the outside in. The conversation centers around “well being” and “self-care.”
Data-driven bodies
Holistic health
Being well together
Everyday Wonder: fascination with the cosmos. The conversation centers around “meaning” and “wonder” in relation to the universe.
DIY spirituality
In awe of nature
Cosmic fascination
One Planet: focuses on taking action and finding innovative solutions to create a more sustainable culture. The conversation centers around “action” and “innovation.”
Ethical self
Sustainable steps
Clean corporations
Creator Culture: includes makers, builders, and entrepreneurs and pushes creativity into mainstream culture. The conversation centers around “creator culture.”
Creative currency
Hustle life
Connecting through video
Tech Life: imagines the possibilities of a more connected, more efficient, more expansive future. The conversation centers around “the future of technology.”
Blended realities
Future tech
Tech angst
My Identity: empowered individuals living out loud, sharing passions, breaking stereotypes, and demanding more on issues of gender and diversity. The conversation centers around “identity.”
Fandom
Gender redefined
Represent me
What comes next
Twitter says it will refresh its insights into the conversations shaping culture on an annual basis. It says it will also expand to additional markets in 2020.
Such refreshes will help businesses improve their own Twitter outreach and performance, according to the platform.
In an earlier post, we talked about how to create the kind of engaging, high-quality content for your website that will attract readers, produce customers, and generate better Google rankings. But once you create that content and post it on your website or blog, what else should you do with it? Why, share it on social media, of course!
Hopefully, you are creating content that answers the questions asked by searchers looking for the products or services that your company provides, particularly as they use voice search. Providing that kind of high-quality content will help you get found online. And getting found online will help you move up in Google’s search rankings.
Now here’s how you can use that content on your social media platforms.
If you are lucky enough to have your content show up as a featured snippet on Google, share the link to that.
If your website has an FAQ page – and it should – share a popular question and answer. Or share two. Or three. Or more. One at a time. What’s more, if your FAQ page is thorough enough or helpful enough, it could be your company’s ticket to the legendary featured snippet box.
If you have a blog post that does a great job of addressing an industry question, turn it into an infographic and share it. People love visuals that provide information without a lot of text.
If you have produced a creative video, share it. Social media content consisting of videos receives more engagement and produces more fruitful returns.
Share a teaser. Create interest in an upcoming blog post by posting an image, an excerpt, or a quote.
Share a fact or stat. Your blog post is likely to be full of them. Pick the most intriguing and share them on social.
Pull a quote. Make sure your blog post includes a few lines that are quote-worthy and they can provide fodder for social.
Think quizzes and polls. Figure out an angle that connects with your blog post and post it on social, possibly as a story.
Got a good photo in your blog post? Post it on social. By itself.
Try a meme that picks up a point from your blog post. Make it entertaining.
Summarize your blog post in a list. Post it on social. Include a hashtag.
Reap the social media rewards
Doing all this – and more — will help you reap the rewards of social media. You’ll engage your customers by delivering interactive and professional content that will help improve your online visibility and expand your customer reach.
TCM can do it for you
If you’re not sure how to do your own social media, reach out to Triple Canopy Media. At Triple Canopy Media we would be glad to show you how it’s done. Or do it for you.
Here’s what we do:
We assess your needs, determine which social media platforms will best serve them, and set up a regular process for sharing carefully crafted content about your business via selected platforms.
We create a cohesive strategy and measurement plan.
We integrate the plan across the organization.
Finally, we use metrics to monitor content marketing performance and ROI.
I may be dating myself, but when I think about the importance of thinking first and posting on social media second, an Aretha Franklin song pops into my head.
It’s the chart-busting tune “Think,” released as a single in 1968. The 1980 rerecording for the soundtrack of the iconic movie The Blues Brothers may bring Aretha’s hit more easily to mind, as might its 1989 redo on her Through the Storm album. Its wisdom, however, is timeless.
The song, with its first line, “You better think (think),” is good advice when it comes to social media.
As Aretha sings it, “Think” before you post. Think twice, in fact. Because whatever you post will be in cyberspace forever. You can’t take it back.
Social Media Today has some additional pointers for minding your manners on social media, whether you are creating a post or responding to a negative review or comment.
Avoid sarcasm. After all, it is the lowest form of humor. Try wit instead. But only if you are very, very good at it.
Whatever you say, say it with a smile. A smile promotes professionalism, good will, and good manners.
Be kind. Refrain from sharing negative comments on public posts.
Pause a beat before you post. Or as Aretha says, “Think” first.
Forget about using automatic responses. Speak to people individually.
Be nice to your competitors.
Use hashtags sparingly.
Follow judiciously.
Give credit where it’s due. Tag those whose content you are sharing in your posts.
Watch your tone.
Why thinking and social media are good for business
Social media, if done right, is good for your business. According to the 2018 Social Media Marketing Industry Report, 87% of respondents experienced increased exposure from using social media, 78% reported increased website traffic, and 63% saw an increase in customer loyalty.
There are approximately 3.04 billion social media users worldwide, with global internet users spending 135 minutes daily on social media sites. About the same number — more than 3 billion — actively access social media on their mobile devices.
In the U.S., 79% of people have at least one social media profile, making the U.S. the largest social media advertising market in the world. Ninety percent of these folks reach out to brands or retailers.
That same percentage of consumers say they are more likely to buy from a brand they follow on social media over one they do not.
Aretha’s “Think” was a lucky hit. It made the number seven slot on the Billboard Hot 100 on June 15, 1968, and was her seventh top 10 hit in the U.S. It also reached the top slot on Billboard’s Hot Rhythm & Blues Singles.
So think first and make it to the top. Just like Aretha.
LinkedIn. It’s the most popular social networking site for business-to-business professionals. But if you’re in the tech field, LinkedIn plays an even more important role, according to a recent report.
The new information results from a survey in which LinkedIn queried 5,241 global professionals who recently “participated in or influenced the purchase of various hardware or software solutions,” reports Social Media Today.
Tech vendors should take note of the characteristics shared by tech purchasers, according to the LinkedIn report:
Tech purchasers are collaborative, seeking advice from online sources as well as colleagues.
Tech purchasers use that advice to identify, vet, research, purchase, implement, and renew business technology solutions.
The buying habits of tech purchasers makes the decision-making process for buyers quite complex. It also creates a competitive landscape for vendors.
Key takeaways from the LinkedIn survey
Tech vendors should make sure they have a well-developed presence on LinkedIn, which in April reported it is seeing “record levels of engagement” among its 610 million users. Remember: LinkedIn makes up more than 50% of all social traffic to B2B websites and blogs.
More advice includes:
Know your audience. Within the next few years, millenials, those born between 1981 and 1996 and comprising 25 percent of the population, will be making more than 50% of the tech purchasing decisions. What’s more, there are 87 million millennials on LinkedIn, with 11 million in decision-making positions.
Know your users. 4/5 of employees impact tech purchase decisions.
Make your content informative and worthwhile. Why? Ninety percent of tech buyers look to the outside for useful information. And most Fortune 500 decision-makers and executives like to spend their spare time on LinkedIn, reports Foundation. They are looking for valuable content. So make sure you provide it.
Make your brand stand out. It should convey trust, dependability, quality, support, and service.
Make sure your marketing and sales messages align. Both should align.
We assess your needs, determine which social media platforms will best serve them, and set up a regular process for sharing carefully crafted content about your business via selected platforms.
We create a cohesive strategy and measurement plan.
We integrate the plan across the organization.
Finally, we use metrics to monitor content marketing performance and ROI.
You’re writing a blog post. And you plan to share it on your social media accounts by posting the link with a photo and hoping your followers will click and follow you there. But there’s another way, one that will allow you to generate a month’s worth of social posts from just one blog post.
Share a teaser. Create interest in an upcoming blog post by posting an image, an excerpt, or a quote.
Share a fact or stat. Your blog post is likely to be full of them. Pick the most intriguing and share them on social.
Pull a quote. Make sure your blog post includes a few lines that are quote-worthy and they can provide fodder for social.
Ask a question. Make it thought-provoking.
Make a bold statement that connects with your blog post.
Mention – and tag – your sources.
Create a visual slideshow. Choose the most valuable sub-headings from your blog post, place them into a slideshow that provides a post summary.
Turn your blog post into an infographic.
Think quizzes and polls. Figure out an angle that connects with your blog post and post it on social, possibly as a story.
Got a good photo in your blog post? Post it on social. By itself.
Try a meme that picks up a point from your blog post. Make it entertaining.
Add a GIF to a short piece of copy from your blog post.
Create a video post from your blog post.
Summarize your blog post in a list. Post it on social. Include a hashtag.
More social media post ideas
Still in need of ideas for things to post on social media? Check out this list:
Workplace photo: behind the scenes
An answer from your FAQ
Introduction to new employee
Share product/service popular with your customers
Interview or case study with a customer
Customer review
Community event
Something funny
Your company’s story: share one piece at a time
Podcast
#TBT
Seasonal item
Inspiring quote
Highlight customer of the month
An event you attended
Attention-grabbing statistic
Poll
Fill-in-the-blank post
Video featuring products or people from your business
Repeat top-performing posts
Email newsletter
Infographic link
Survey link
Image
Correct a misperception
Favorite book or playlist
Shout-out to other local business
Industry research
Helpful tip(s) related to your products or services
Celebration of company milestone
Promote your other social networks
Ask people to join your mailing list
Reap the rewards
Doing all this – and more — will help you reap the rewards of social media. You’ll engage your customers by delivering interactive and professional content that will help improve your online visibility and expand your customer reach.
TCM can do it for you
If you’re not sure how to do your own social media, reach out to Triple Canopy Media. At Triple Canopy Media we would be glad to show you how it’s done. Or do it for you.
Here’s what we do:
We assess your needs, determine which social media platforms will best serve them, and set up a regular process for sharing carefully crafted content about your business via selected platforms.
We create a cohesive strategy and measurement plan.
We integrate the plan across the organization.
Finally, we use metrics to monitor content marketing performance and ROI.
The scenario was familiar, as it was one I had repeated dozens of times during the past two years. I was driving my twin 13-year-old grandchildren to the orthodontist. And both were staring at their iPhones.
This time, though, something was different. When I glanced at my granddaughter’s phone, I didn’t recognize the app she was using. Same thing with my grandson.
I was surprised. And chagrined. After all, social media is part of my job.
So I asked about it. “TikTok,” responded the granddaughter.
“Do you use that a lot?” I enquired. “Sure,” she said.
“And what about your friends?” I continued. “Is it popular with them?” “Yeah, everyone uses it.”
“What about Instagram? Snapchat? Do you and your friends still use those apps?” “Sometimes,” she replied, eyes glued to her phone and the TikTok video on its screen. As I watched, her lips curved into a mischievous smile.
At that moment I decided I had to find out more about this social media site.
Bringing the fun back to social media
So I checked out the numbers. As a video creation site, TikTok has attracted more than 500 million users. It was the fourth most downloaded app worldwide last year. And it ranked #3 in the first quarter of this year, topping the chart for Apple non-game apps.
A glowing 2018 New York Times article about TikTok claimed it had brought the fun back to social media. TikTok, wrote Kevin Roose, “doesn’t sound like much. But, somehow, it adds up to what might well be the only truly pleasant social network in existence.”
He said TikTok made him happy. “It’s a safe haven for people that are seeing the world on fire and being like, ‘I need silliness,’” he explained.
A social media network that spreads happiness? A social media network that provides a safe haven for a world on fire?
More about TikTok
Now I needed to know even more. And magically, links to a number of stories about the “refreshing outlier in the social media universe” began appearing in my inbox, each contributing a bit more information about this popular network.
First, I learned that it was no wonder it was my 13-year-old grandchildren who turned me on to TikTok. It is young people who make up the bulk of its audience. The median TikTok user hovers in the mid-teens, according to a March 2019 story in the New York Times. Which may be why “there’s a lot of bad language and racist language in the videos,” each of my grandchildren confided to me privately.
Second, I learned a bit of TikTok history – namely that Musical.ly rebranded as TikTok one year ago, after being acquired the before by Chinese company ByteDance, which describes itself as an artificial intelligence company.
Third, I read that “TikTok has stirred up a revival of short video clips—only now, it’s even more interactive, collaborative, and downright addictive.”
The company website explains it this way: “TikTok is the world’s leading destination for short-form mobile videos. Our mission is to capture and present the world’s creativity, knowledge, and moments that matter in everyday life. TikTok empowers everyone to be a creator directly from their smartphones, and is committed to building a community by encouraging users to share their passion and creative expression through their videos . . . To help users make the videos they’ve envisioned, TikTok developed a native text editing feature that creators can use inside the app.”
According to the New York Times, TikTok operates on a “simple premise” where “Users create short videos set to music, often lip-syncing along, dancing or acting out short skits. The app includes:
templates and visual effects to spice up the videos
a live-streaming feature that allows users to send virtual ‘gifts’ to their favorite creators, which can be bought with real money
followers, hashtags, likes and comments,
filters, as on Snapchat, etc.,
the ability to search for sounds to score videos,
encouragement to engage with other users through “response” videos or by means of “duets” where users can duplicate videos and add themselves alongside.
TikTok boasts 26.5 million monthly active users in the U.S. alone, with nearly 40 million downloads since November.
The majority of TikTok’s users are young; 66% of those worldwide are under age 30. In the U.S., 60% of the app’s monthly active users are 16- to 24 year-olds, and 52% use iPhones.
Users spend an average of 52 minutes a day on the app.
TikTok’s engagement rate is 29%.
Download figures for July 2019 show TikTok in second place, just behind Facebook.
TikTok has offices in Beijing, Berlin, Jakarta, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Mumbai, Sao Paulo, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, and Tokyo.
TikTok and your business
The lessons here are clear. If a target audience for your business is a younger demographic, TikTok may work for you. So think about checking out the platform’s current ad products and find out how to post on TikTok via the HubSpot blog.
Although few brands use TikTok, Google used it successfully to promote its voice assistant, with its #HeyGoogleHelp campaign garnering 150 million views.
Macy’s used it for its “All Brand New Challenge.” The challenge urged mobile users to record videos and inspire others to share their style for the school year. TikTok’s hashtagged video challenges are hugely popular and have the potential to go viral, as users record themselves doing something odd and urge others to respond by adding their own videocreations
However, because TikTok has a high volume of both users and content, videos must be eye catching and super entertaining to stand out. Creativity and authenticity are also key.
Here’s a look at what you could see on TikTok, according to this video from the platform’s YouTube page.
According to the 2018 Social Media Marketing Industry Report, 87% of respondents experienced increased exposure from using social media, 78% reported increased website traffic, and 63% saw an increase in customer loyalty.
But social media is about more than sales. It is about building a strong communication and feedback system that will lead to sales, if done correctly. Outsourcing your social media efforts can help you do it right.
Ten good reasons to outsource your social media
Outsourcing will give you consistent brand messaging, along with consistent tone and voice.
Outsourcing is more cost effective. You save the full-time salary and benefits of a social media manager.
Outsourcing gives you an experienced specialist trained in best practices, without training expenses or a learning curve.
Outsourcing saves you time, time you can use to build and grow your business.
Outsourcing can allow you to provide 24/7 posting and engagement, without hiring staff.
Outsourcing allows you to experiment with different platforms. The experienced social media professional keeps up with them all and can test campaigns on different platforms to see which works best for you.
Outsourcing allows you to give better customer service. Social media is where most people turn when they want answers to a question about an order or a product. The experienced social media professional monitors and alerts you to customer queries that come in via your social media platforms and makes sure they are answered.
Outsourcing gives you access to professionals who know what to post and when.
Outsourcing gives you the ability to collect, record, and store data about your social media accounts, without expending your time and energy.
Six questions to ask yourself about outsourcing
Do I have enough time to manage my social media accounts?
Do I know how to manage my social media accounts and successfully engage with my followers?
Have I established a voice for my brand, one that is unique?
Do I know what kind of content to share and how often to share it?
Can I afford to outsource?
Can I afford not to?
TRIPLE CANOPY MEDIA CAN DO SOCIAL MEDIA FOR YOU
Trust us. Social media is a key element for marketing success. If you’re not sure how to do your own social media, reach out to Triple Canopy Media. At Triple Canopy Media we would be glad to show you how it’s done. Or do it for you.
Here’s what we do:
We assess your needs, determine which social media platforms will best serve them, and set up a regular process for sharing carefully crafted content about your business via selected platforms.
We create a cohesive strategy and measurement plan.
We integrate the plan across the organization.
Finally, we use metrics to monitor content marketing performance and ROI.
Facebook is flat. Instagram is down. Snapchat is on its way back. LinkedIn is seeing more traffic. Tik Tok is a rising star. It can be difficult to know which platform to use to meet our content marketing needs. So let’s take a look at the findings of a few studies that show the rise and fall of social media platforms.
Instagram: up or down?
Engagement rates on Instagram are dropping because of the prevalence of sponsored posts, according to a study that analytics firm InfluencerDB shared with Mobile Marketer.
However, sponsored posts tend to generate higher engagement than those that are not sponsored. InfluencerDB gives two reasons for that. One is that influencers tend to create better quality posts. The other is that Instagram’s algorithms give higher precedence to sponsored posts.
On the other hand, engagement rates for influencer content are declining as Instagram feeds get cluttered with sponsored posts, according to InfluencerDB.
On the upside, since Facebook-owned Instagram launched Instagram Stories in 2016, that function has overtaken Snapchat in overall usage.
Facebook: flat or losing?
According to a Pew Research Center survey conducted early this year, Facebook use – as well as that of other platforms — is flat among adults. However, Facebook still has around 2.4 billion users, and that number includes 69% of adults.
“The shares of adults who say they use Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedIn and Twitter are each largely the same as in 2016, with only Instagram showing an uptick in use during this time period,” according to the survey.
But just last week, Facebook boasted that it is now up to 2.4 billion monthly actives and its daily active users figures continue to trend upward as well. Its most significant audience growth once again comes in the Asia Pacific region.
Other reports take a different view of Facebook’s numbers. Here are a few:
The latest Edison Research ‘Infinite Dial’ report indicated that the platform has lost around 15 million active users in the U.S. since 2017.
eMarketer estimates that Facebook lost around 2.1 million users under the age of 25 in 2018.
Older studies show that found that 42% of Facebook users had reduced their daily activity and engagement and that Facebook has continued to lose popularity with teens.
What about other platforms?
LinkedIn reported in April that it is seeing “record levels of engagement” among its 610 million users.
TikTok was the 4th most downloaded app in 2018. It was #3 position in the first quarter of this year, topping the chart for Apple non-game apps.
Twitter is the top platform for government leaders, but user growth is predicted at just 1%. However, the number of daily users has increased consistently since 2016, with 9% more people using it each day.
Growth may be slowing
The previously steady growth in the use of social platforms in the United States during the past decade appears to be slowing, says the Pew report cited above.
While Facebook and YouTube have the broadest reach among adults, Instagram and Snapchat have a strong following among young adults. These findings illustrate the age-, gender-, and race-related differences in platform use that the survey documented, information we shared earlier this year.
If you’re wondering which platforms to choose to meet your company’s goals and reach your intended target audience, Triple Canopy Media can help. We can assist you in setting your social media goals and metrics so you can actually move the needle forward for your business.
