Long gone are the days when companies could reach their target audience without social media marketing. Today, social media presence isn’t optional, and the market is getting more and more saturated. You have to keep up with the latest social media marketing trends to reach your audience.
Is any proof needed? Let the numbers speak for themselves: over 200 million small businesses are on Facebook on a monthly basis, and over one million businesses advertise on Instagram monthly.
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Trends of Social Networks
Not only that but 7% of marketers consider Twitter X as the best social media platform for customer engagement, and 94% of B2B marketers distribute content on LinkedIn.
With the great number of brands on social media, Internet users are spoiled with the amount of information they receive daily. Marketers need to find actionable ways to stand out from the crowd.
To outsmart social media algorithms and hook an audience’s attention, marketers should keep up with the changes on social sites.
1. Gen Z and Social Media Marketing Trends
If you have been focusing on millennials, we have bad news for you then: Gen Z has entered the workforce, and this generation has over 75 million people who are not teenagers anymore – they are consumers who influence $600 billion of family spending.
The good news? As specified in the Nielsen report, 85% of Gen Zers learn about products on social media and 59% of them are more likely to connect with brands online.
For marketers, it’s high time to take Gen Z seriously and connect with this generation. When it comes to hooking Gen-Z consumers, it’s important to understand their social media preferences: favorite platforms, type of content, and messages.
According to an infographic from Upfront Analytics, these people love using Snapchat, TikTok and Instagram, so you’d better adapt your strategies with a focus on these platforms to target Gen Z.
However, if you are a parent of a child on social media, you may want to monitor their usage.
If you want to bring your business to the next level, you’d better find out new creative ways to communicate with Gen Z on social media. After all, this group of people will dominate the market soon.
2. Lifestyle Photography
Social media content is not just about overly-polished ads. It’s about connecting with your customers in a genuine way, so marketers should show off their products without being too salesy.
While marketers use social media ads as a way to reach their target audience and deliver their brand message, there’s a better way to sell on social media.
Although you can upload multiple photos in a single post to demonstrate your product from different angles, it’s better to create lifestyle photos.
First of all, it sells the lifestyle, not your product. Plus, it hints at what they can get after buying your product. It’s no wonder people love lifestyle photography.
For example, Lululemon has focus on sports lovers, so the company promotes a healthy lifestyle, and it lays a bet on photos that show how to use its products in its intended environment.
If you publish content that promotes a lifestyle that your buyers associate with themselves, they are more likely to like, comment, and share your content.
All in all, it’s a proven way to increase a post’s visibility on social media, and therefore attract more potential consumers.
3. Influencer Endorsements
Modern customers don’t trust traditional ads: 92% of people look for online word-of-mouth recommendations while making purchase decisions. Since customers rely on influencer endorsements, it’s no wonder 39% of companies plan to increase their influencer marketing budgets.
Nowadays world-known celebs like e Jenner work with different brands to promote their products on personal social media accounts. Since these people have a great impact on their following, it’s no wonder brands want to do business with top stars.
Obviously, working with top stars can be expensive: the more followers an influencer has, the more he or she charges for a post. For example, Kylie Jenner makes an estimated $1 million per sponsored post on her Instagram.
The good news? No matter what influencer marketing budget you have, you can collaborate with micro-influencers to spend less money on promoting your product.
Moreover, niche influencers have better engagement, so it’s even more cost-effective for both big and small brands to work with micro-influencers.
When it comes to influencer marketing, the key to success is to find the right influencer with the same target audience, and the engagement rate is social proof.
4. The Rise of Vertical Video In Social Media Marketing Trends
If you wonder whether your business needs video marketing, the short answer is yes: 90% of customers say videos help to make purchase decisions. What is more, 75% of worldwide video viewers use smartphones to watch videos, so there’s a rise in vertical video.
Over the last year, there’s been an 80% increase in time spent watching videos on Instagram or TikTok, and the platform is seeking out alternative ways to keep its users engaged.
In June 2018, Instagram rolled out IGTV, a standalone vertical video application, that allows users to upload video files for up to 60 minutes. Of course reels have become the rage over the past few years on Instagram and on Facebook.
For brands, it’s a perfect opportunity to interact with their followers. From sharing tutorial videos to recording offline events, there are many ways for brands to hook their audiences.
For example, Sephora kills two birds with one stone: by posting how-to videos, they not only educate their followers, but they also promote certain products.
To produce content your customers want to consume, you need to create vertical videos and use IGTV as well as reels and YouTube shorts. No matter what marketing goals you have, there are different video ideas for you to consider.
You can use behind-the-scenes videos to build trust, tutorials to increase brand awareness, product reviews to boost sales, and much more.
Just give vertical videos a try and engage your followers.
5. Ephemeral Content
Who else wants to invest in content that disappears within 24 hours?
At first blush, marketers should focus on evergreen content. It’s proven that you can turn your followers into customers with ephemeral content.
Ephemeral content, also known as short-lived content, is getting more and more popular among users: 500 million accounts use Instagram Stories daily, 2.24 billion users watch Facebook Stories and 63% of social media users watch live-streaming content regularly.
Since this content vanishes after 24 hours, a FOMO (fear of missing out) effect works well. Customers are afraid of missing something important, so they consume ephemeral content.
For brands, it’s a perfect way to encourage customers to take any action without wasting much time.
Moreover, you can share content without clogging the main newsfeed up with posts.
Here’s the list of ideas for Stories:
- time-limited offers
- product launch
- behind-the-scenes content
- user-generated content
- breaking news
No matter what social media platform you use for business, whether Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook. It’s important to create ephemeral content to interact with your customers and beat social media algorithms.
6. Social Media Marketing Trends with Augmented Reality
With the rise of modern technologies, augmented reality (AR) has gained popularity in recent years. AR creates the illusion that virtual objects are in the same space as real.
Plus, it allows users to be in touch with the real world while interacting with virtual objects around them. It’s no wonder people are interested in AR.
Although most people associate AR with the gaming industry and fun, it has huge potential for eCommerce as well. According to Statista, the augmented and virtual reality market is expected to reach a market size of 209.2 billion U.S. dollars.
Moreover, businesses can use augmented reality to interact with their customers in an interesting and funny way. Here’s a little case study by Michael Kors: it is the first company that has used the AR ad format.
The brand used AR to let a shopper try on a pair of sunglasses.
Customers can’t touch the product when they shop online. Thus, augmented reality helps them to see whether your product suits their needs. As a result, consumers make purchase decisions faster.
Whether you allow your potential customers to try new virtual hairstyles or place furniture in their homes, there are limitless possibilities for integrating AR into your business. For brands, it’s high time to jump on the bandwagon and give AR a try.
As you may know, Meta ( formerly Facebook) is heavily now into AR Tech. Mark Zuckerberg had been all over AR. However, after the user’s feedback, Meta will no longer require VR headset users to log in with Facebook accounts.
The Final Thoughts on Social Media Marketing Trends
Social media marketing is constantly changing and evolving. To reach your target audience and engage your social media followers, you need to know what they love. There’s no better way to do it than keeping up with the latest trends is a must. You no longer can be lazy with your social media.
Moreover, the end of 2024 will be here before we know it. It’s time to adapt your social media marketing strategy to make the most out of your campaign.
What do you think of the social media marketing trends for 2024 and beyond?
She has 30+ years of experience in marketing/advertising with 12 years of experience in content marketing, social media, blogging, and SEO.
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Thanks for sharing this great piece of content.
Long before now, I have resolved to incorporate my lifestyle into my marketing effort so that more people will see that thing I preach truly works. I know many people will say I’m crazy but I don’t really care at this time.
If I become an influencer doing it then I can create a fresh stream of income off it.
I hope to try augmented reality in 2019.
Cheers!
Emenike
This is really a fantastic post. As a new joiner in the industry, never have I ever thought I would learn so much in one comprehensive post. I feel so overwhelmed and feels like I am so behind!
Hi Lisa,
Good to read Hugh’s post on your site.
Yes, the year ahead is surely with the social media, yes, any business big or small can depend largely on social media.
The present trend is that people largely cling on to the media, so it’s an easy place to tap more benefits.
As you mentioned, proficient marketers are looking for current digital trends to create a winning social media marketing strategy for the year ahead.
Yes, it’s now a must to concentrate on these area.
I found this on Bizsugar and upvoted and commmented.
Keep writing.
Keep sharing.
Season’s Greetings to you all.
Best Regards
~ Phil
Thanks Philip, he really provided a wealth of info here for us. It is amazing to see how many small businesses are social media today. It was also interesting to read how different generations use social media differently. Thanks for coming by Philip and have a great holiday and Happy New Year!
Hugh,
I recently talked at a conference on podcasting. What do you think about audio content creation in 2019?
Thanks for reading a piece of mine.
Yay! Thank you.
Thanks! Glad you like it.
Hey Hugh, thanks for the article.
I learned a lot about where social media is heading and how to approach it.
I love your distinction between marketing a product and marketing a lifestyle made possible by the product. I never though about it like that and I can see how it’d be persuasive.
P.S.
When I clicked on you link in the bio, it took me to a 404 page. It might be a temporary glitch but if not you’ll want to correct that.
Cheers!
Hi, Nikola!
Thanks for the comment. I’ve fixed it.
Hi Hugh,
I so.much agree with you, these aforementioned social trends will continue beyond 2019. I also want to add that “social listening,” the act of crawling social media sites to pinpoint mentions and all other social activities is a trend to watch in 2019, as well as “personalization.”
The need to personalize your content has never been more important now than ever before. It helps you bond with your target market.
Hi Moss!
You’re 100% right. Social listening helps to understand what your customers say about your product and make it a better fit.
Hello Lisa and Hugh,
Social Media has been evolved so much in recent years and have gained lots of momentum in terms of marketing and business promotion. I really like the lifestyle photography. Its definitely personalized things and help businesses to connect with their customers. Brilliants tips and ideas you have shared here. Shared on social media sites.
Have a Great Christmas.
Vishwajeet
Hi Vishwajeet, thanks for coming by on this. Oh yes people want to know who they are doing business with today. Personalization is key! Thanks for sharing everywhere too. Enjoy your Christmas Vishwajeet.
Hey Vishwajeet! I’m so happy you like the post. And a special thank for sharing it.
Hello Hugh,
Truly a great article, Nowadays, It’s quite tough to aware people about your business and sell products/services through social media. These tips seem really effective, What I like the most is influencer endorsements and there is nothing bad in spending some money on collaborate with micro-influencers, If other influential people share your content on their page then it’ll definitely give value.
Thank you for sharing.
Sophie Thomas
Good to see how lifestyle photos are trending in 2019 Hugh. I work such photos into my blog and brand from time to time, being a globe trotter who enjoys sharing my lifestyle, including life away from the laptop. Big time commit to social for me, next year. I love it.
Oh yes Ryan, they are. I love seeing those different parts of the world Ryan. Thanks for coming by on this one and Merry Christmas!