Have you started planning your 2017 marketing campaign? If not, make sure to take note of these 3 trends for social media to incorporate into your strategy. If you have made your marketing plan, be aware of these trends as you go into 2017. Staying on top of the trends will give you a competitive advantage!
Here are the 3 trends in social media you’ll want to implement in your 2017 strategy:
1. Visual Content
Have you noticed lately when you get on Facebook that the first few posts in your news feed are either videos, images or photos that friends have shared or posted? (Jump on Facebook now to see!) Why is this? Ranking, of course. Content that is accompanied by a visual actually gets 94% more views than content without a visual. The more views, the more engagement, which then ranks it higher in your newsfeed.
Apply this: Instead of just sharing a plain blog post, consider repurposing it into visual content. Some blog posts have great potential to become an infographic! Infographics are actually liked and shared on social 3 times more than any other content type. Another option is to repurpose the blog. For example, pull out “10 Tips” and create a visual with those 10 tips.
2. Use Employees as Brand Ambassadors
What better way to expand your brand reach than to have your trusted employees sharing company content on their own social channels? LinkedIn is a great channel for this opportunity. Chances are, your employees are connected or following people who may be interested in the company’s content. Having employees share the content extends the audience more than you may realize.
Apply this: Encourage higher level employees or employees in your marketing department to share recent updates from the company page to their own pages. The company CEO should share every recent update on their personal channel as well!
3. Personalize Your Content
What are the main goals for the company? Who is the company trying to reach? These are the questions you want to ask when developing a strategy and content. If there isn’t a strategy behind it, how is it going to be successful? Digital automation provides the data and tools you need to get the content to the right audience at the right time. Sharing of content to the right audience at the right time will increase the overall engagement of that post. If the content your company is producing is generic, it will be overlooked on social channels.
Apply this: Use data to drive your personalized content. If one of your main social channels is Facebook, consider using Facebook Insights to find out what time your audience is online and the demographics of your audience. You can also see which posts are getting the most engagement and response.
Maximize Your ROI
Some of these trends may appear overwhelming or sound as though they have too much involvement for the amount of time you have, but consider your current strategies? Are they no longer working? Are you not seeing the ROI you first did when you implemented that strategy? It’s time to start using visuals, your employees, and personalized content to see the results you want for 2017!
