Social media platforms are one of the fastest evolving medias available online. With algorithms and trends changing so quickly, in this blog our newest team member, Olivia takes you through some of the latest developments to be aware of and consider in your marketing strategy.
Instagram stories
Instagram stories are great because they allow you to post as much temporary content as you want, without interrupting your Instagram grid. As each story only lasts 24 hours (unless added to a highlight), the feature can help show a different side of your brand – your personality! With approximately 86.6% of Instagram users engaging with stories every day, they allow you to engage with your audience quickly and easily, without them having to scroll through their entire newsfeed.
A fantastic way to engage audiences through stories is to add the Q&A sticker feature. This will allow your audience to interact with your business through a few simple taps on their phone. Asking questions that are important to your consumers is a great way to build a level of transparency between your brand and your personality. It’s also a great way to share specific information in a more engaging way. More so since there is now the option to reply with a video, which may be more compelling. Responses can be made by sharing the replies on another story, or just simply replying to the question in Instagram DM’s.
As a business you could try questions like –
“Ask me anything…?”
“What do you want to know about what we do?”
“What’s the thing you most struggle with?”
Overall, this feature is a great way to maximise engagement with your audience as you can start so many conversations on many topics- business related or personal.
Podcasts
Yes, that’s right, podcasts are still a really engaging trend. Podcasts are a form of content which once hid behind large social networks, but are now more popular than ever. They offer a great, easy and accessible way of advertising while giving you an opportunity to share your voice or the area you work in.
Unlike other methods of advertising, podcasts require the smallest amount of engagement and can be listened to whilst doing everyday activities such as driving, working out or while sat at your desk. Chatty podcasts help bring down that “brand barrier” which could be between yourself and your customer, while giving you the ability to show the face (or voice) behind the business.
The short audio-based content in podcasts can help you build a stronger connection with your consumers through the personalisation of the content you produce. Niche, community related subjects surrounding your business will help broaden engagement with others within the community who may not be aware of your business. Think of it as a spoken blog – consumers will be more attracted to it as it requires less attention.
Social commerce
Selling products and services is easier than ever with the addition of social media. The entire shopping experience from product discovery to checkout can now take place entirely on social media platforms.
Both Facebook and Instagram have jumped on the trend and offer shopping features, giving users the opportunity to shop their favourite companies seamlessly – without even leaving the app. You can integrate your Etsy shop and grow your consumer audience.
In 2021, YouTube launched an e-commerce option, and we wrote about this in our blog (read here). This function allows you to watch videos of products in use, and then purchase these straight away. Further advancing the success of influencer marketing.
Optimizing a commerce feature on social media is really important for small businesses to maximize engagement. It helps reach wider audiences through the suggestive algorithms and makes your content more ‘shareable’. Alongside this, data insights gathered by selling online will allow you to retarget customers with relevant products and offers.
Short form video
As discussed recently in our ‘Reach more with Reels’ blog, short form video is increasingly important in optimizing your content engagement levels. Short, snappy videos are the perfect way to entertain audiences, especially in a time where attention spans are at a low, due to popular platforms like TikTok. Instagram Reels, YouTube shorts and TikTok posts are just few ways you can use short form video to market your company. These concise shorts can feature anything you seem fitting to your company, from very short 5 second advertisements to 60-second-long product demonstrations.
If you would like to understand how your business could create and utilize short video content, get in touch.
To keep on top of the latest social media trends, get in touch with the Youbee Team by calling 01133 235959 or emailing hello@youbeemedia.co.uk.
For social media management advice, work with Youbee Media or join one of Becky’s marketing workshops for expert consultancy support.
