The Latest Social Media Trends You Need To Know
The holidays are approaching and I hope everyone reading this makes time to be with those they care about. Now let’s get right into it, with the latest social media trends you need to know. Be sure to check out the latest or visit my blog to see more recaps.
Content Marketing Predictions for 2022
A survey conducted by Studio ID with over 100,000 marketing respondents, providing a look into predictions for content marketing trends in 2022. Here are a couple of my favorite predictions:
A Shift For Content Formats - Marketers expect a continued shift in content formats, specifically podcasts, white papers, and webinars. Survey respondents expect a rise in overall podcasts created by brands, continuing their steady rise in popularity throughout 2022. Nearly 60% of respondents indicated they expect to see more podcasts next year.
Demonstrating ROI - We've talked about attribution data before and how marketers face the challenges of demonstrating ROI through their respective channels. Nearly 30% of survey respondents reported demonstrating ROI as the biggest recurring challenge facing their marketing programs.
Five Strategies For The 2021 Holidays Guide
The holidays are approaching, and marketers continue to prepare for 2022 as well. Listrak has put together a guide featuring five strategies for the holidays and beyond. Strategies worth noting include:
Engagement Ensures Visitors Become Browsers, and Browsers Become Buyers - When possible, look for ways to maintain consistent sends across email, SMS, and social to ensure the traffic sent to a website is well-qualified and warmed up. For example, Listrak recommends using SMS to tout new arrivals, location-based events, flash sales, and other timely items, while reserving email for needs with a longer lead time.
Continue To Nurture the Customer After Every Sale - Between a rise in eCommerce and the pushing of Buy-Online-Pick-Up-In-Store (BOPIS), there's a push for brands to implement a powerful post-purchase strategy to retain new subscribers and buyers acquired during the holidays. Brands are looking to stay in contact with shoppers and keep them informed throughout the entire shopper journey, adding transactional messages to communicate process details and confirming when the order has been delivered or ready for pick-up in our case
8 Graphic Design Trends For 2022
The lists keep coming, this time with eight graphic design trends with an infographic from Venngage. Kudos to the Hot Box team for already implementing a lot of this between House of Brands and Sunnyside, but here are some personal favorites of mine:
"Ads that look like me." - A push for more representation from marginalized groups in marketing visuals. America is a country with people from all walks of life, and a brand's marketing efforts should reflect that in the creative.
Making Data Fun - Social media users are more familiar with seeing complex data displayed through graphs and other visuals. How can our brands continue to use data visualization to keep our audiences engaged?
Branded Memes - Have you ever been scrolling on your phone, and you see a meme, but as you look closer, it's actually from a brand? As brands continue to explore other mediums for their content, marketers are looking at other cultural moments to tap into that stem from social media.
Until next time! Have you come across any relevant news that advertising and marketing professionals need to know? Leave a link in the comments below and let us know.
Social Media Trends Worth Knowing
Welcome back to another week of social media trends and news, relevant to advertising and marketing professionals. If you haven’t caught some of my other recaps, be sure to check them out here, and here.
Okay, So What's Happening With Facebook?
Facebook seems to be in the news every day, but it really feels like that over the last couple of weeks. Most recently, Facebook experienced what might have been the most significant outage in its history on Monday, affecting Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and even employee access to their buildings.
While the outage affected most brands, agencies, and marketers alike, Facebook faced bigger problems following the testimony from Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen, a former data scientist at Facebook.
Her testimony prompted Mark Zuckerberg to personally respond to the scandal earlier this week. It's still too early to tell if any changes will come from these events, but the pressure is certainly on.
Tips and Tricks For Instagram Marketing
A Redditor shared their tips and tricks for success on Instagram in a trending Reddit post on r/SocialMedia. Most of these tips are things we're already implementing across all our brands, but here are some tips worth holding on to.
Think about using a CTA and keep it at the end to make it effective. Don't forget that questions can be a CTA as well.
Carousel (Slideshow) posts are a great format for content. They increase reach and engagement due to their ability to keep users on a specific post (e.g., audience retention time).
Engage and respond to users' comments on Instagram. They'll likely engage back, not only increasing the overall number of comments on our posts but also indicating to the algorithm that more users should see our content.
Comparing Social Media and Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
One of my favorite Chicago marketers, Andy Crestodina, recently shared an infographic highlighting some differences between Search (SEO) and Social Media. The great news is that we, as marketers, all play in the same sandbox, and our efforts help move patients and customers throughout different parts of the funnel.
Andy shows how brands utilize Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Social Media to get the word out about their marketing initiatives. Andy summed it up but briefly, but both channels are used for inbound marketing. And yet, they operate in different ways.
"In search, you know what they're thinking, but not who they are. In social, you know who they are, but not what they're thinking."
I hope these updates were relevant and provided some value to you! Let me know in the comments what other tips and news are relevant to you.
Social Media Trends You Need To Know
I’ve felt reinvigorated in learning all things social media, recapping some of the latest trends and news affecting brands and marketers alike. And I’m excited to share some more with you today in my latest blog post. We’ll cover Instagram Shopping, Fall insights from Twitter, and four quick tips for creating content as Reels.
Instagram expands the platform’s advertising capabilities by enabling ads within the Shop tab.
Instagram Introduces Ads Within Shop Tab
As Instagram continues to expand its dedicated shopping platform, Instagram Shop, the platform recently introduced ads within the shopping tab.
Instagram Shop enables users to browse, discover and shop for new fashion trends directly within the app. With over 130 million Instagram users tapping on a shopping-related post every month, there is an opportunity for brands to reach new customers through Instagram ads.
From a marketing perspective, Instagram sees this as an opportunity to reach users further down the funnel and are already considering products to purchase.
The seasons are changing and that means marketers are getting ready for major holidays, cultural trends, and more.
We officially said goodbye to summer last weekend, which means much of the United States is preparing for fall. And with that comes the latest trends and conversations on various social media platforms, including Twitter's POV on all things Fall.
In the latest overview of conversations on the platform, Twitter is seeing three key trends, including:
Twitter users are excited for fall, with a considerable increase in "can't wait for fall" tweets (+112% in July 2021 vs. June 2021), indicating a more positive tone than last year.
An increase in back-to-school tweets, with 2.3x more "back-to-school" mentions than the 2020 average. And more parents and kids are feeling more optimistic about it than last year. Compared to the previous year, there's a +76% increase in feelings of joy (YoY). And that "return to normalcy" isn't just for students either, with "back-to-office" tweets up 76% compared to 2020.
Finally, with the 2021-22 NFL season starting tomorrow, football fans let their favorite teams and brands know about their excitement. There was an +80% increase in Tweets (YoY) related to "football anticipation," and more niche topics about football (e.g., Fantasy Football, Hard Knocks) are growing as well.
Gordon Ray, Brand Development of Instagram has some Reels tips for you. Click the link below to see all four in action.
4 Instagram Reels Content Ideas
Last but not least, we wanted to leave you with four content ideas that are great for Instagram Reels. See how they come to life, courtesy of Gordon Ray, Brand Development of Instagram, in the link above:
1) Make a fun product demo and play with speed (Fast or slow)
2) Build trust and community by highlighting team or coworkers, and go behind the scenes
3) Create excitement with an "unboxing" video
4) Let people know where they can buy your products using shopping tabs or links
Social Media Industry News Worth Sharing
If you didn’t catch the previous blog post “4 Social Media Trends Worth Knowing,” then click here before reading any further. This week, we'll be taking a deeper look at how Instagram’s “Search” algorithm works, how brands can tap into nostalgia marketing, and the Instagram has finally removed the swipe-up. Let’s dig in!
Instagram’s Search feature utilizes three primary elements.
In another opportunity to have a peek behind the curtains, Instagram shared how its search algorithms work and how brands can optimize for better discoverability.
Last year, Instagram expanded its search options to show a broader set of relevant keyword matches instead of being limited to profiles, hashtags, and geographic locations. Instagram is now looking to display an even more comprehensive range of results based on your query.
"We're making search results better for exploration. For example, a search for "space" will show you space-related photos and videos, too. This is especially helpful when you don't have an exact username or hashtag in mind when searching for a certain topic."
A critical tip regarding keywords and hashtags from Instagram: "For a post to be found in Search, put keywords and hashtags in the caption, not the comments."
I'd take the above with a grain of salt because having longer captions can cause users to not engage with or view a post, further hampering a post's ability to show up in feed or be discovered through search. Additionally, the cannabis industry overall is hindered on the platform due to platform guidelines, so we may not be able to take advantage of the updated search capabilities in the first place.
Nostalgia marketing has been tapped across multiple industries and business categories.
Our friends over at Sprout Social recently put out a blog post discussing nostalgia marketing and how brands can activate on this social media trend.
Everything from reintroducing older products that fans know and love like Hi-C at Mcdonald's (e.g. Reintroducing favorite strains) or creating new products that fans wouldn't expect, like General Mills' "Monster Mash" cereal that combined old favorites like Count Chocula, Boo Berry, and Franken Berry.
Or even an experiential event that touches on nostalgia, like the recent MLB "Field Of Dreams" game inspired by the 1989 Kevin Costner movie, which was the most-watched regular-season baseball game in 16 years.
Nostalgia isn't a new marketing trend, but how can brands tap into it as our target audiences continue to grow older?
Meet the Instagram Link sticker, providing brands and creators a new method to drive web traffic.
This change has been coming for a few months now, but Instagram is officially removing the swipe-up function for a new feature, the link sticker. Apart from the apparent gesture difference, the critical difference between the two features is that viewers can respond to stories with a link sticker but cannot reply to swipe up stories.
While the feedback for this new update has been mixed, to say the least, Instagram believes this will be best in the long run. Vishal Shah, Instagram's former head of product, told The Verge that stickers fit more with the way people currently use the platform. Link stickers give far more flexibility in how and where brands present a link and make it easier to integrate it far more creatively with the art or photography in Stories.
Note that the same restriction as before is in place for who can post links, so users that are not verified or do not have 10,000+ followers can not use the link sticker. Expect this change to affect all brands in the coming days.
4 Social Media Tips & Trends Worth Knowing
Welcome back! It’s been a little bit since my last blog post, but I have more social media insights and trends to share with you.
See below for more info!
Instagram Releases New Shopping Feature “Drops”
Similar to Supreme, Telfar, and many other brands, Instagram enables brands on their platform to create hype around seasonal product releases.
According to Instagram, “Instagram Drops” will help users discover more products, see what’s coming, sign up for reminders and view the newest products and collections that are already available on the app.”
As brands look to expand into merchandising and swag for their most passionate fans, there are opportunities for consumer-packaged goods (CPG) brands to create some engagement and excitement around exclusive gear.
8 Social Media Content Ideas to Incorporate
Buffer provided some thought-starters for brands to create content effectively and incorporate it into a social media strategy. Our teams have already done a few of these things in one shape or another, like making videos, using engagement prompts, and sharing company news.
There is an excellent opportunity for small business owners and social media marketers to implement these things more systematically. Our teams are looking at ways to do so for upcoming content calendars.
How To Grow and Engage an Audience On Instagram
Social Media Examiner shared are some tactical ways we can continue to grow our audience on Instagram. Similar to the above article, these might be things your brand is already doing through social media content. Tactics like encouraging user engagement through social media posts, asking questions, and responding to DMs, Comments, and Mentions.
Instagram Outlines How Its Search Algorithm Works
In another opportunity to have a peek behind the curtains, Social Media Today put some info together on how Instagram’s search algorithms work and how brands can optimize for better discoverability.
Last year, Instagram expanded its search options to show a broader set of relevant keyword matches instead of being limited to profiles, hashtags, and geographic locations. Instagram is now looking to display an even more comprehensive range of results based on your query.
"We're making search results better for exploration. For example, a search for "space" will show you space-related photos and videos, too. This is especially helpful when you don't have an exact username or hashtag in mind when searching for a certain topic."
A critical tip regarding keywords and hashtags from Instagram: "For a post to be found in Search, put keywords and hashtags in the caption, not the comments."
Let me know in the comments if you plan on implementing any of the above or if you have any useful social media tips worth sharing.
5 Social Media Trends For The 2nd Half of 2021
As we head into the secondnd half of 2021, I've felt re-energized and excited to discuss all things marketing and social media! Hopefully, you're feeling a similar energy and looking to improve on your social media strategy. So, without further ado, let's get into 5 Social Media Trends Heading Into The Second Half of the Year.
1) Direct To Consumer (D2C) For All Brands
The pandemic caused a drastic shift in how consumers engage with brands and vice-versa. Consumers who had never ordered an item felt compelled to due to a variety of reasons. People were looking to limit the number of times they could be potentially exposed to COVID-19, and online shopping gave them a safe way to get the items they needed or wanted.
Even if you were wearing double masks and gloves while you went outside, there was such a demand for essential products like soap, toilet paper, paper towels, and cleaning wipes that you couldn't even find what you were looking for. So is it any surprise that so many CPG brands saw record profits over the last year?
Other brands that succeeded were those that were already engaging with their customers through online shopping channels. Specifically, Direct-To-Consumer (D2C) brands were not only seeing continued sales during the pandemic, but they also saw an increase in new customers as consumers looked to new brands for their shopping needs.
If you haven’t seen Magic Spoon Cereal in your local grocery store, that’s not a surprise. This D2C cereal brand grew its customer base over the last year.
When I was working at Grassroots Cannabis at the start of the pandemic, after our businesses were deemed essential, we saw a dramatic shift in consumer shopping behavior. We went from roughly 30% online orders to approximately 70% online orders within the first few months of lockdown.
There was already data showing that brick-and-mortar shopping was decreasing, and the pandemic only accelerated that timeline. So now more than ever, brands are looking to establish a D2C strategy regardless of size. From Mom and Pop shops to global brands like Nike, who recently closed wholesale accounts with department and online stores to focus on their D2C efforts.
2) The Rise of Reddit
When I first provided some social media tips in 2020 , I didn't touch on Reddit and how advertisers were already flocking to the platform. Fast-forward nearly a year later, and that still rings true.
According to Reddit research, the platform expects significant growth across its niche communities. And is fastly developing additional ad products and improving target capabilities for advertisers.
Since then, brands in various industries have allocated marketing spend to Reddit as a platform and have also executed platform-specific campaigns that have grabbed the attention of millions and achieved actionable business goals. CPG brands like Welch's, Pepsi, and Absolut use Reddit to successfully reach individuals of all ages and drive positive brand sentiment.
For Welch's , the brand utilized video assets targeted at Gen X men on relevant subreddits and enabled users to engage with the brand directly by enabling comments on their ads.
Welch’s sparked conversation and opened a direct conversation with the brand by enabling comments on their ads.
The campaign drove a higher than average View Through Rate and doubled the average Completion Rate for videos compared to Reddit benchmarks. And drove a 94% positive brand sentiment among comments in their engagement prompts.
Reddit isn't just useful for awareness-driving, top-of-the-funnel campaigns but also for driving conversions at the bottom.
A post on the MeUndies Subreddit, where a user compares the brand to another competitor, Lululemon. Nearly “identical” products, so why not go with the significantly cheaper brand.
MeUndies, a D2C online underwear and loungewear company, utilized Reddit conversion ads to drive purchases. The ads ran as promoted posts and utilized interest-based targeting, focusing on a variety of relevant subreddits. By optimizing towards CPA and ROAS goals, the MeUndies team was able to reach efficient CPAs.
By the end of the campaign, MeUndies saw a 60% lower Cost-Per-Click (CPC), a 5.6x Click-Through-Rate, and 61% more effective Cost Per 1000 Impressions (CPM)s, when compared to platform benchmarks.
When it comes to Reddit, I am an avid user and a beginner when advertising on the platform. I look forward to sharing insights and results of my first Reddit campaign!
3) Shoppable Social Will Continue To Grow
Even for brands that plan to utilize brick-and-mortar locations, retail e-commerce is here to stay. If anything, it's only going to get bigger. According to Statista data of retail sales worldwide, projections show that the United States alone will go from $374 billion to $407 billion by next year. By 2023, the U.S. alone will account for nearly 22% of global sales.
We'll see this global trend continue to shape the most popular social media platforms in 2021. For example, on Facebook and Instagram, integrated shopping already exists through Facebook Shops and Instagram Shopping. Both enable users to purchase products directly from within the app.
On Pinterest, consumers are already actively looking for inspiration and are closer to purchase than users on other social media platforms. According to platform research, 89% percent of Pinterest users actively look to purchase while on the platform.
The Pinterest business page for Parachute, a Bedding and Home company, enables Pinners to not only get visual inspiration for their products, but also make a purchase from within the platform.
And advertisers are already utilizing the platform's social commerce tools, including Product Pins and ad units that take consumers to Product Detail Pages (PDPs) or a landing page where a Digital Free Standing Insert (DFSI ) can house a coupon for a variety of retailers.
Pinterest also launched Shopify integration for brands on the platform and enabled marketers to add their products or catalogs to a Pinterest Business Page.
And according to Sprout Social data, nearly 80% of executives surveyed expected to be selling their products or services on social media within the next three years. For other platforms like TikTok, Snapchat, and potentially Twitter, engineering teams across these companies are developing new innovative ways for consumers to purchase products directly within an app.
4) TikTok Isn't Going Anywhere
Despite the rocky year TikTok had over the last year and potentially getting banned, the platform and business as a whole seem to be making the correct steps to further establish themselves as a home for advertisers.
With nearly 700 million monthly active users and 65 million of those being in the U.S., there's an opportunity for brands to reach an active, engaged, and growing audience. A recent study shows that TikTok users spend roughly 46 minutes a day scrolling through the app, giving brands an excellent opportunity to show up in their target audience's feed.
Idahoan partnered with influencers on TikTok to help reach a younger audience for their Instant Mashed Potatoes through authentic and engaging content.
TikTok's growth seems poised to continue, with the social media company hiring key employees from other social media platforms. And more of my clients continue to ask, "Should/Can we activate on TikTok as a brand?" From an advertising perspective, TikTok has much more competitive costs when it comes to Costs Per 1000 Impressions (CPM). And advertising on the platform is becoming accessible for brands of all sizes.
From a content perspective, brands utilizing influencer marketing, and User Generated Content (UGC) continue to succeed on the platform, reaching millions of consumers.
5) Data Privacy Will Be A Focal Point
When I first started my professional career as a digital marketer for a FinTech startup working to solve a global issue, data breaches, and privacy. Little did I know that nearly a decade later, the same trends I saw back then are just as important now.
After the iOS 14 privacy update through Apple, consumers have been opting out of being tracked by advertisers. So far, data seems to show that roughly 96% of U.S. consumers have opted out of some form of tracking on their mobile device in iOS 14.5, and the impact that will have on marketers is still unknown.
Have you decided to opt out of tracking when it comes to the apps you use on your devices?
And in Washington, a bipartisan group of Senators is looking to reintroduce the Social Media Privacy Protection and Consumer Rights Act, to protect consumer data privacy when collected by large tech companies like Facebook and Google.
This is already affecting how social media platforms and if you're actively running campaigns, you've seen the updates, pop-ups, and emails from Facebook. However, when it comes to targeting on paid social, audience options are limited, and once used, audience insights and cross-channel attribution are becoming more difficult to utilize effectively.
To counter this, we could expect social media platforms to showcase new identity and tracking capabilities. For brands and digital marketers to utilize first-party data for what would now be considered "traditional" targeting a more personalized experience.
