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Since its debut nearly over a decade ago, social media has completely uprooted and changed the world of branding. What initially started out as a tool that kept users connected has evolved into the ultimate business marketing practice. For 2017, new developments and trends have completely switched up the game of social.
To help you to win the social media game of 2017, I’ve compiled a few tips on how your company can stay as a competitive player:
Emojis
Emojis have become the ultimate throwback to the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic. They represent much more complex emotions and messages than their endearing images would initially imply. In fact, they’ve become so absorbed by our culture that major companies are integrating them into their own tools to attract consumers. Consider Apple’s adoption of the icons on the keyboards of their iPhones and Facebook’s addition of emoji “reactions” to the like features of their posts. It’s here that their widespread appeal and availability become an essential tool for brands to use in order to engage their audiences.
When it comes to using emojis, we always advise our clients to keep their brand top of mind. Most brands make the mistake of believing that anything goes in the world of emojis, but that’s not necessarily true. Just as with the design, look, and tone of your social posts, you’ll want to make sure that the emojis you use align with your brand. If your brand was involved with the food industry, sticking to food related emojis would make much more sense for your posts than ones that were related to horoscopes, technology or clothing. The best posts will select emojis and use them in a way that is brand related.
Be Engaging
Hearing crickets after you’ve created a post can be one of the most deterring aspects of social media. Truth is, finding there’s nothing harder than unlocking the social side of social media. We tell our clients time and time again, the only way to win on social media is to take micro, personal interactions and do a TON of them, thus scaling them to a macro level. You have to get personal with your following to turn them into fiercely loyal customers.
The best way to get customers engaging with your posts starts with stopping their scroll. Create posts that will stir up an emotional reaction. Facebook emojis didn’t just come about because people loved emojis. In fact, they came at the demand for a reaction that matched a user’s emotion. For year users complained that the traditional “like” wasn’t appropriate for some posts. To help users engage with one another in a way that was more fitting, Facebook introduced the Love, Haha, Wow, Sad and Angry emoji reactions. Move forward with engagement by creating posts with these reactions in mind. Use them as a guideline for the type of content you push in the future.
Live Video
Live video began to gain its momentum in 2016 thanks to platforms like Facebook Live and Twitter’s Periscope. This year the trend has completely exploded and has now become the norm on the newsfeeds and homepages of consumers. Companies who wield these tools in their favor will create a brand that resonates with followers and develops a strong connection.
Case in point, consider a scenario in which your brand posts a regular video versus a live one. Social media channels are now working to keep live video top of mind for their users. As such, they’re pushing notifications of live videos to page followers so that they get drawn to an opportunity to see their favorite brands have live sessions. So, where regular videos you post on your social page might get lost in the clutter of a user’s social video, live video will get your brand pushed directly to a user.
Of course, brands are profiting from live videos in more ways than capturing the attention of users. Mostly, this is because the ways in which today’s users consume media is rapidly changing. Today’s consumers are flocking to streaming services like Netflix and Amazon and abandoning their cable subscriptions. Live video serves as an answer to the gap created by the dip in access to live television programs. 2016 saw the use of live video for news coverage by major networks such as CNN, Fox News which included the Presidential Debates. Due to the availability discussion that took place online about the debates and the number of viewers watching inflated dramatically.
Automated Tools
The multitude of social media channels available to brands today is making time management all the more important. But, it’s here that we find that most brands tend to struggle. They rely on calendars to remind them to create posts or they go by whim. Unfortunately, it’s a tactic that brands can’t afford to fall back on. Mostly because there are too many social channels to manage.
Today’s users are using Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat all at once and as a way of fulfilling different needs. Brands have to spread out and use these tools in order to find them and connect with them. Fortunately, automated tools can help brands to stay on top of their posts and keeping relevant amongst their followers.
