2018 has witnessed several additions and improvements in social media trends. You may have observed constant development in influencer marketing, video content and augmented reality. The year 2019 has half done and you may wonder what does this year has in store for you. It is also time to make predictions about social media practices that will be in strong focus in the upcoming year. Here is a list of social media best practices for online marketing that you must watch out for:
1. Chatbots
Chatbots used in social media platforms will be a vital part of online marketing in the year 2019. Most of the companies are using this amazing technology to get in touch with their customers and making it extremely convenient to seek services on Facebook Messenger. Chatbots offers prompt service to customers through social channels as it automatically does repetitive tasks and let users focus on their important work.
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2. Choose your network wisely
Extensive research must be done before making a decision of which network to choose and which one to skip. You can gather demographical data to know more about your audiences and compare figures of all the social channels to make a decision. Once you get hold of preferences of your audience, adopting a specific social channel to promote your brand online will be an easy exercise.
3. Watch your competitors closely
Keeping eye on all your competitors will help you to get an upper hand over others. You can track what other players are doing; you can stick to the same strategies if you feel those are working for them. It will also help you to make an amendment to your plan; you can avoid making mistakes which your competitors are doing again and again.
“Spend some time browsing their site. Check out their testimonial pages. Find out what their customers have to say. Chances are these are hot buttons for people, something you might use.” – as mentioned by Laura Sherman.
4. Consistency is a key to success
Promoting your brand on social media aggressively for a small period is a common strategy; it may not give you expected results in the long term. Instead, you can focus on maintaining consistency and try to achieve bigger goals for your business.
5. Identify your metrics
No matter what you are promoting on social media platforms, your every strategy must be data-driven. Engagement metrics play a vital role in creating a long-lasting relationship with your customers.
“Any form of online marketing is driven by numbers and you should put these numbers in the right context that will hover around key goals of your company.” – as said by Mike Salvaggio, the co-founder, and CEO of SEO Brand.
6. Social Listening
It is an effective strategy that will allow you to know what the audience is saying about your brand on social media platforms. You can track and respond to the comments of people thereby getting valuable insights about your business. You should appreciate the comments of satisfied customers and try to resolve the issues of unhappy customers.
7. Rule of Thirds
It is a rule about what to share regarding your business on social media platforms. You can make 33% of the posts that will be about promoting your brand. Another 33% can be regarding influencer’s ideas in the same industry. And the remaining one-third of the posts can be about your personal stories that will help to enhance your brand.
8. Don’t Repost but Reinvent
Sharing a similar message on social media platforms multiple times may lose the interest of the audience in your business. So, you can consider reinventing the same content in an effective way which will not only look unique but also impress readers with few convincing lines. You can consider hiring content writers or poets to get this job done. They have a fair idea on how to come up with a crispy yet promising content.
9. Use perfect tools
Most of the users are following common methods while posting content on different social channels. But you can search out for few effective tools that will take your content to a completely different level. For instance, Planoly is a perfect visual planner that lets you view your grid prior to posting on Instagram.
10. Assess your results
If you are using social media for online marketing then it is very imperative to set perfect goals. The next important step is to assess whether you are getting enough returns on your investment or not? Using analytics dashboards on respective social media platforms will allow you to get better insights about the audience and their interests.
11. Split Testing
In this effective form of online marketing, you can split your targeted audience into different groups. You can pitch different message to each of the group and then make a comparison according to chosen metrics. You can test different forms of content that include quotes, punchlines, adding emojis or any other form of creative graphics.
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12. It’s about Visuals
Apart from the common text, video content will be the key factor that companies need to focus on in the year 2019-2020. Videos will keep dominating the diverse social media platforms, especially live videos will be a popular trend to watch out for in the next couple of years. By posting original video content on social channels, businesses can attract a new audience in a large number. They can build a healthy relationship with their existing customers.
13. Social TV & Vertical Videos
The increase of vertical videos and social TV will persuade several brands to think of becoming broadcasters. Using this feature, the length of the video will not be limited to a single minute; it can be hours long. Instagram’s IGTV will increase the popularity of social media among users and it will open new avenues for businesses while doing online marketing.
14. Organic Reach
As social media channels are making constant changes to their algorithm, businesses need to work on their strategies and try to increase their organic traffic. Brands that will follow effective methods to enhance their organic reach will continue to get more customer engagement and views as compared to brands that didn’t focus on organic reach.
15. Determine when to post
If you are planning to post some important content on social media channels then it is necessary to identify the right time to post. You can find out more users on LinkedIn during working hours while Instagram is considered as a leisure platform. Another aspect that brands need to consider while adding a post on social channels is how often one should post them. It is recommended to schedule your posts considering user data rather than adding them randomly.
16. Perform a regular audit
Conducting a regular audit on your various social media activities will help you to determine things that are working perfectly for you and things which are not working at all. Performing regular audit will help brands to reconsider their strategies and they can make right amendments exactly when required. This is one of the key practices that you can follow to get the best rewards out of your online marketing campaign on social media platforms.
17. Respond to customers quickly
Customers always keep higher expectations when it comes to responding to their comments or feedback. More than 50% of customers expect you to reply to their tweets in less than 30 minutes. Users are more likely to purchase from your platform. They also recommend their colleagues or relatives to seek your service if you give them a satisfying response. So, replying to all positives or negatives comments of your customers within quick time is the best practice you need to follow on social media.
18. Formulate a content calendar
Creating a content calendar that involves advance planning of what you are going to post online will be a great idea. You can formulate a calendar using excel or Google spreadsheet that features different headings such as – Title, description, keywords, channels and call to action text. This will also allow you to organize online marketing campaigns on social channels for any upcoming occasion or event.
19. An option of paid advertising
Opting for paid advertising on different social media channels will provide a significant boost to content you are trying to distribute online. Paid advertising scheme offers you the luxury to choose your marketing plan according to your budget. Besides this, it will give you guarantee about how many viewers, likes, subscribers and user engagement you are going to get in a defined budget. You also have several alternatives to choose when it comes to the type of advertisement you want to run on social media.
20. Role of SEO
Promoting your business successfully on social media platforms is impossible without focusing on special phrases, keywords, and hashtags. Complementing your SEO strategies with your social media promotion plans will allow you to pierce into the core audience much quickly.
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Final Words
Social media has become an integral part of everyone’s personal as well as professional life. For several companies, social media has played an important role in brand building and improving customer service. If you are promoting your business on social media channels then there are simply no excuses.
Following above-mentioned practices for online marketing will definitely allow you to make social media work perfectly for your brand. Whether you are new in this field or already carrying a lot of experience, you can use the above recommendations as a reference point to get the best out of your online marketing efforts.
Web Developer & SEO Specialist with 15+ years of experience in Open Source Web Development specialized in Joomla & WordPress development. He is also the moderator of this blog "RS Web Solutions".