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Social Marketing Trends and the Impact on Business
Due to the continual shift in metrics, algorithms, and customer behavior, social media marketing has become tough for companies. This level of complexity is rapidly growing. Even if you’re passionate about social media marketing, being challenged by shifting technology and metrics may be stressful.
In addition, new privacy rules governing social media marketing are putting businesses in a difficult position when it comes to sharing information about their consumers. We are seeing more intertwined facets of marketing, communications, and technology. Marketers must be ready to deal with the advanced technological skillsets, new privacy laws, and the rising complexity of a changing society.
For marketers reaching a large audience of potential customers has made social media an attractive option for businesses of all sizes.
We are all aware of the importance of social media in our lives. Marketers and customers are in the same boat. Many social media apps and platforms make it easier to sell and buy things online, but it is also the best way to keep customers engaged in future transactions. Reaching several potential consumers and interacting with them is a plus point for marketers. You can call it the most efficient and effective way of building connections with people.
So, digital marketing, specifically social media marketing, is a way to enhance consumer engagement. If we look at the consumer journey, we see that majority of the consumers follow all the latest trends on platforms such as Instagram and Tik Tok. This has lead to higher engagement online as people hop between platforms.
As a result, there is no doubting that social media marketing significantly influences customer journeys and opinions. That is why people turn to social media platforms to determine the importance of an exceptional product.
The internet is your open market, and the content is what draws people in. Digital marketing plays a role in how a company can make a sale, spread its reach, assess competitors, and market products.
Social Media Users and their Behavior:
Over the past 1.5 years, there has been a noticeable shift in the behavior of social media users. That change has had a significant impact on the way brands and businesses interact with their audiences on social media.
According to the World Wide Worx, South Africa’s e-commerce sales increased by 66% last year due to the pandemic. That is because South Africans were increasingly opting to buy goods and services online.
The South Africa Social Media Landscape Report 2021 found that the top five social media platforms that brands are highly active on in SA are Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google, and Instagram. So, there is a high behavioral shift in the way consumers make their purchases.
Digital Marketing Experts and Social Media Trends:
It seems that social media trends are a hot topic on the agenda of social media experts these days. This trend will surely give a further boost to the marketing development in the coming years.
We see that in recent times, one of the most popular social marketing trends is influencer marketing. Influencer marketing is a type of marketing that focuses on promoting a company or product through prominent content creators. These content creators can significantly impact their followers, and they can promote your brand or product to a larger audience.
Also, with the increased usage of social apps, marketers now know the importance of social media marketing. Therefore, it is their priority to use and take advantage of this chance. Consumers are eager to browse things online and make purchases from the comfort of their own homes.
Moreover, social media has made it easy to share the brand experience with others. That can be one of the contributing factors to enhancing the brand image and brand awareness. So, the more people talk about your service or product, the wider will be your audience reach. The higher the likes on your social media pages, the higher would be the consumer engagement.
Hence, it is essential to incorporate social media into your digital campaigns. Social media is a powerful tool that marketers can use to reach out to potential customers and followers. It is important to remember that social media should be used as part of a larger digital marketing strategy and not as a standalone tool. Social media can help build brand awareness, create engagement, and drive traffic to your website if used properly.
Lastly, the trend of using live videos also can have a significant impact on businesses. Live video allows businesses to connect with their customers in real-time and provide them with valuable content.
Marketers can use this content to promote services and their products in general. People who used social media in 2021 counted for 3.6 billion. Marketers need to make efforts and plan strategically to gain and retain consumers. According to current data, there will be 3.96 billion social media users worldwide in 2022, up 4.8 percent from the previous year.
Similarly, in an annual study of social media trends in South Africa, Facebook remains the social network of choice for marketing, while TikTok is swiftly gaining support among businesses and consumers.
According to the 2020 edition of the South African Social Media Landscape, issued this week by World Wide Worx, over a third of big businesses want to join TikTok, the fastest growing social media network among consumers. Fewer than 20% of brands have utilized it in the last year.
From the facts, it is also evident that the emergence of social media platforms has increased brand visibility. For some businesses, the urge to rank their websites has increased. These companies wish to appear on search engine results pages. The same, in other words, means that you as a business are making an impact if your site is growing.
Thus, how you use such social media platforms and conduct various digital campaigns to draw attention and engagement is dependent on how you use them. Overall, to be successful in the long run, marketers must adapt to and follow these trends.
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