It’s a New Year, time for Resolutions! But, instead of resolving to ‘lose weight’ or ‘get organized’, how about we resolve to create a new social media strategy that really works? One that can help move your business forward in 2016 instead of falling behind? I can hear everyone thinking, “What a great idea! But, what should I do differently?” Recently, we talked about What’s in Store for 2016 where we tell you about the digital media trends for 2016; now let’s look at some things you can add to your Social Media Strategies.
Start Using Video
KCPB’s 2015 Internet Trends Report showed that while total internet consumption is increasing more slowly than before, video is now almost two-thirds of all traffic! Time to find a way to post some videos. Cats are great and all, but testimonials and demos may be a better fit. Or, if you can find a cat doing something that can be related to your product, go for it! A good caption can go a long way.
Keep Them Talking
No one wants to get endless marketing emails, their newsfeed flooded with product pictures, or an Instagram feed that’s nothing but shameless self-promotion. Trust me, I’ll unsubscribe, block, or unfollow a company in a heartbeat if all I get is another ad! Instead, make your posts interactive. You can ask questions or run contests, anything to spark conversation. One of my favorite companies posts a “Mystery Macro Monday” picture each week, and invites followers to guess what the image contains. While the company is photography related, they don’t sell anything used to produce the images. Instead, the owner understands her customers and has started a weekly campaign that gets them talking to her, and to each other. She has created a community where people want to hang out, and when they’re ready to buy, she’s at the top of their mind!
Can you guess what it is??
Hashtag It
Unique hashtags are perfect for keeping your audience engaged. They reinforce the ‘social’ part of social media, allowing your followers to find the rest of the conversation, the part that Facebook and twitter are busily working to suppress without paid reach. And a great hashtag can easily give you an extended conversation, just search #castmemarc to see an engaged contest that went viral. Marc Jacobs decided to use Instagram to search for new models, and got over 118,000 posts! The message here is clear, find something your audience wants to talk about and create a hashtag and a reason to use it.
2016 is a New Year, with new trends that will come and go as fast as fashion. Make sure you take the time now to renew your social media strategies and stay relevant to your audience. Happy New Year!