5 Social Media Marketing Tips To Try In 2019

Social media marketing is an excellent way to reach your target audience anytime, anywhere, and on their terms. At Digital Radar we want you to succeed, so we are sharing our best tips to make the most of your social media marketing efforts in the coming year.

1.COMPELLING VISUALS

According to online marketing expert Marcus Sheridan, 80% of what we consume online will be video content, by 2019.

Compelling visuals can come in the from of photos or videos. People these days (insert grumpy old man voice) don’t have the longest attention spans, so using these forms of content can draw in your audience quickly and keep them hooked to get to the good stuff… the copy. Show consumers something eye catching and lure them into reading more. We believe images and video should be a huge part of your social media marketing strategy in 2019.

2. ANALYTICS

Understanding customer interactions across all touch points is the #1 challenge for marketers.

If you aren't already using some form of analytics, the new year is the perfect time to start. Every platform has their own version and if you use a publishing tool, they should offer some form as well. Now is the perfect time to reflect on the previous year, and compile important data to inform the upcoming year's social strategy. After all, if you don't know how your content is performing how can you know what you should continue to do, and what your page could live without? We believe using data is the best way to measure success and know if you are reaching the right consumers.

3. LIVE STREAMING -  ‘IN-THE-MOMENT’ CONSUMPTION

81% of Internet and mobile audiences watched more live video in 2016 than in 2015.

According to research this number will continue to grow at an accelerated rate. Consumers want to feel like brands are real people, not just corporations, and live video is a great way to convey that feeling. The use of live video streaming within platforms such as Facebook and Instagram make your brand appear more relatable, and ultimately available to their customers. There are lots of ways to utilize live streaming, such as behind the scenes footage, office or workplace tours, and product tutorials. It is important to remember while implementing this strategy, though, to have strong video quality and to keep in mind your surroundings when filming. Sorry to burst your bubble, but no one wants to watch you mumble about your product/service in front of the clutter in your garage. As a rule, you should know what you are going to say before you go live.

According to Entrepreneur, 200 million Instagram users use Instagram Stories each month.

Utilizing the story feature on Instagram and Facebook is another way to provide in-the-moment content, if you aren’t quite ready for live video. Stories can even be scheduled in advance provided you have the right publishing tool at your disposal. We believe in-the-moment content will be incredibly important in the new year.

4. TRANSPARENCY

58% of adults don’t trust a brand until they have seen ‘real world proof’ that it has kept its promises.

Trust and transparency go hand in hand. Transparency is something we try to provide throughout all aspects of our marketing and we encourage businesses large and small to do the same. Consumers want to purchase things from brands they can trust, like within a healthy relationship, trust should be the foundation. Being transparent also makes your audience feel included and taps into the human need to be heard. No one wants to interact with companies shrouded in mystery, that appears to be hiding things from consumers.

5. MESSENGER AND CHATBOTS

As of 2018, 15 percent of American adults (per a recent survey) say they have used a chatbot to interact with a company in the prior 12 months.

Let’s face it, consumers aren’t always chock full of patience, when they have questions and concerns they don’t want to wait very long for an answer. The use of chatbots and messenger gives your customers the ability to communicate with you anytime and from anywhere, which also adds to that transparency thing we were talking about. Using these tools can also ease the strain of your workload by setting up automated responses to ensure your clients/customers know their being listened to.

If you're feeling overwhelmed with your  social media responsibilities and aren’t sure how to implement these tips we've shared with you for 2019, reach out! We would love to talk with you and form a relationship based on transparency and quantifiable results.