Online Marketing is Rapidly Changing
For the last few years, internet marketing has been growing at an exponential rate outpacing traditional marketing platforms like TV commercials or newspaper ads. The internet allows us to advertise our products and services to a targeted group of people with reduced wastage ultimately delivering more people who are more likely to buy your product.
It is astonishing how many major companies still don’t fully utilise this amazing platform which allows them to reach the broadest possible audience, in a more personalised way. A common question we receive is “Where should you advertise your products or services online?” or “Which platforms are the best bang for your buck?”. Our response is always – Social Media sites!
Social media sites are THE place where most people spend their time connected to the web. And best of all, the price of entry is dirt cheap compared to other marketing platforms. Just think about it, the most users, the biggest reach and arguably the best targeting! Could you ask for more?
But there are some big changes coming to the way Social Media marketing works in 2019. Things are shifting in a way we’ve never seen before so you might be asking yourself “What social media trends will be most profitable for my business?”, “Which ones will allow me to grow at a steady pace? Or even better, exponentially?” Well, luckily we are here to help you. In the following article we’re here to give you 5-Data Baked Social Media Trends which will improve your advertising endeavours in this ongoing year.
So let’s begin.
1. In-The-Moment Content is the new way to go
High quality professionally shot content is usually expensive and massively time-consuming to create. Many companies invest huge sums of money into a highly-produced TVCs and online content which doesn’t have a guaranteed ROI or guaranteed engagement with potential customers.
An ever increasing trend born out of this inefficiency is the new and effective trend of In-The-Moment marketing. So what is In-The-Moment marketing? Why is it so effective?
Well first, it can be super cheap to make. Originating on Snapchat but later adopted across multiple other platforms like Facebook Stories and Instagram, these new ‘in the moment’ content pieces are rapidly becoming the preferred way in which most people will consume and share content. The standard newsfeed has stagnated and it’s time to evolve, making way for Stories – an easy to consume, easy to make, very customisable content method ideal for targeted marketing.
By some estimates, In-The-Moment marketing will surpass Newsfeed marketing in just a few years time. It puts the biggest companies in the world and the smallest start-up on the exact same playing field. Also, in addition to being quick and cheap to produce, you can customise your content to such a degree with just an iPhone that you can hit all the right buttons for a group of customers that your content is designed for.
2. The Biggest Brands Can’t Ignore Social Media Ads Anymore
Until recently, a lot of major brands have missed the potential of leveraging Social Media sites as their main advertising platform. For them, it was considered a waste of money and something too hard to figure out. This has opened the door for first movers and start ups who have traditionally been more experimental and nimble with boot strapped budgets paving the way for larger more traditional advertisers.
Nowadays it’s impossible to ignore the power and influence of Social Media. Facebook and Instagram are the biggest advertising platforms in the world next to Google and big brands just can’t afford to ignore Social Media platforms anymore.
The evolution is happening all around us as we now see big brands using Social Media sites as one of their primary advertising platforms for paid media, with some even going a step deeper by leveraging popular Internet celebrities and influencers to promote their products. The value which they provide is incredible when combined with the right strategy as they are the perfect medium for targeted marketing because of their loyal and highly engaged fanbase.
Sooner or later even the most stubborn brands will embrace the power of Social Media marketing and invest much more money in it and the blue ocean we’ve been enjoying for years becomes even more cluttered.
3.AI Enhanced Customer Experience
A few years ago AI was just a part of science fiction, a technology that seemed unreachable and out of this world. But with the rapid growth of computer sciences and technologies, AI has become a reality in 2019.
But how can AI enhance customers experience? How can it improve your marketing campaigns on Social Media sites?
The AI used on Social Media sites is still relatively simple, yet very effective. The most common is the notorious ‘Facebook Algorithm’, a self-learning AI that collects legal information of every person using the Social Media site. This algorithm sees the pattern of their searches, what do they search the most, what kind of content do they engage with, what kind of news, products and etc. From this information, the AI calculates which ads are perfect for your potential customer and which ads they are most likely to click on and potentially buy the product. AI is literally creating personalized ads based on the info its gather from the users – Minority Report anyone?
One area a lot of smaller brands trip up with is the volume of data required to successfully leverage the machine learning of AI. We’ll do another article soon on setting ad budgets, but the key thing to remember here is the AI NEEDS data. Without a steady stream of data inputs from the ads you’re running, the algorithm is unable to make accurate predictions for ad delivery and you’re effectively just gambling with your ad spend. You definitely want to start small, but don’t start too small otherwise failure is guaranteed!
Another way in which AI is used by Social Media sites is for customers support. Some experts predict that by 2020 80% of all customer support services will be run by the AI bot. AI bots are much more efficient, effective and can “Work” 24/7 seven days a week. Non-Stop functional customer support.
All in all, AI is definitely a Social Media trend that will continue to grow over time.
4.Omnichannel Marketing
Until now, multichannel marketing was the most popular marketing strategy. Pushing your product on various different websites, social media sites, apps, magazines, radio, tv etc was the way to go. But this marketing strategy focused on each platform separately. This will all change with Omnichannel marketing!
This new marketing strategy is not solely based on Social Media trends in 2019, but it plays a big part in how companies will use Social Marketing platforms from now on. Omnichannel Marketing uses all internet platforms to provide the end user with the advertisement that is perfectly tailored to them, and in the end, gives your company the highest chance of selling your end product to them.
Omnichannel Marketing is a huge leap forward in advertising because nowadays nobody buys products from a single source. Especially the younger generation which often combine a number or sources before making a purchase decision – word of mouth, online reviews, keeping track of all new products the see through Social Media sites, advertisements etc.
That is why connecting your online marketing campaigns in one connected and highly efficient chain is so important. Simple integration and attribution modelling of Social Media post can lead to a chain of events that will result in a sold product!
5. A Rise of Social Media TV and Vertical Videos
Far gone is the era of video marketing happening exclusively on television channels. With the rise of Social Media, video marketing has started it’s shift from TV exclusivity to web ubiquity. Nowadays you can see pretty much the same commercials on tv and online. But there is a new trend which more and more companies are embracing- the simple, yet highly effective Vertical Video.
Mostly prevalent on Instagram, Vertical Videos have become their own standalone format in addition to the traditional square or widescreen format to advertise your products on Instagram and other Social Media sites. But why is it so effective?
As discussed above, you can create content that is tailored to a specific audience or your most loyal customers cheaply using whatever smartphone you have access to. Also, the market penetration of full screen smartphones means people are consuming more video, more often and usually without the use of a traditional TV or computer screen. This new video format feels at home in the palm of your hand and offers advertisers and content creators a new dimension to play with to engage their fans and customers.
Our prediction is that as 2019 unfolds, we’ll see more vertical video than ever before as advertisers flock to engage users with content native to their feed and chosen viewing device.
Conclusion
These are Social Media trends that will take will take the world by storm. Don’t be the one who gets left behind.
Excited by all of this and want to dive in head first?
Our team of experts live and breath social media so you don’t have to. Contact us now via LinkedIn mail or by clicking the link to book a FREE 45 minute strategy session where we’ll help you create a no strings attached social media action plan for your business!
https://www.meetme.so/DarianJames
