SocialBee’s top tips for social media for 2019
With minced pies in the supermarkets and John Lewis’s Christmas shop opening its doors on 20th September, the countdown to Christmas has officially begun. It only seems like yesterday we saw in 2018! Life seems to move faster and faster these days, and it’s no different in the world of social media.
Around 1 million active users join various social media platforms every day so with this enormous potential audience, social media platforms are always adapting and competing against each other to capture the largest portion of that potential audience as possible. Social media is embedded in everyday life and it’s not going anywhere. It acts as a vital method of social proof for your potential customers – if you’re not on social media, you don’t exist.
We’ve seen some changes in most social media platforms throughout this year. Facebook has once again changed its algorithms to ensure that new feeds promoted more “meaningful interactions,” by prioritising posts from friends, families and groups, and pushing posts by businesses much further down the pecking order. They also introduced Facebook Stories in direct competition with Snapchat. Twitter increased its character limit from 140 characters to 280 characters, and just this week announced that it is going to restore chronological timelines as an option. Instagram did something very similar after negative feedback following their timeline changes back in 2016.
And it seems some of the big hitting social media platforms have faced some hefty demons this year too. Facebook experienced their fair share of controversy with the Cambridge Analytica data scandal which followed hot on the heels of the fake news accusations both before and after the Trump presidential campaign. The social media landscape and journey is a moving one, and sometimes it might seem almost impossible to keep up!
But what’s ahead for 2019? And what top tips can you capitalise on to ensure both you and your business stay ahead of the game?
- Content is key – just being seen on social media through organic reach can be challenging, especially with all the different algorithms the social media platforms throw at us. This is where content is so important, and quality content is the holy grail. You should aim to create useful and engaging content so that people will read it, watch it, love it, and share it.
- Remember to go live – or at the very least post video. The use of live video is growing massively on social media and you should aim to ride the wave. Posting even the smallest video on your social media, just recorded using your phone is a great way to start. Interview a member of staff. Ask a customer for a quick review. It’s estimated that by 2019, video will make up an incredible 80% of all internet traffic so don’t miss out on this huge trend.
- Change it up – being top of one social media platform just won’t cut it these days. Not everyone is on every single platform so if you want to maximise your reach you need to work out the platforms that will work best for your business and get busy on them. But don’t fall into the trap of copying and pasting your content across all of them. Repurpose your content across multiple platforms and make it relevant to each one.
- Pay to play – the days of “free” exposure on social media for businesses are over. If you really want to ensure that your posts, particularly on platforms like Facebook and Instagram are seen, you’ll need to incorporate a little marketing budget to invest in ads.
- Get your storytelling hat on – it’s no coincidence that Facebook have launched their stories feature! Create a narrative that will resonate with your audience. It’s original and unique. Think of your story as a sequence of events with some key elements that gets your message across as it concludes. Knowing your audience and making sure you connect with them to maximise the story’s potential is vital.
It’s difficult to predict exactly what the big players will throw at us in 2019 but whatever happens, it’s more important than ever to be part of the game. SocialBee Social Media can work with you to develop your social media strategy tailored to the exact needs of your business. We’ll use our experience to harness the potential of each platform to help it work best for your business into 2019 and beyond.
Drop me a message and let’s meet for coffee…….and cake!