Social media trends hardly ever stay the same. One minute, people are posting 1-hour videos that are going viral, and the next, 30-second reels are the in-thing. You cannot expect to rely on the same old methods and still get good results. So, what’s trending in 2022, and how can you make the most out of it?
1.User-Generated Content is a Top Priority
Brands have realized that they are not as trustworthy as what their clients say. Think about it. Suppose you want to buy a milkshake. Will you trust the restaurant that touts its shakes as the best in the market? Or will you try a shake that your friend believes is the best shake in the world? We believe what our friends, colleagues, and associates say about products. So, you would likely go with the shake that your friend had tried. So, how does this work for you as a business?
First, you must grow your social media presence. After all, how can people talk about you if they do not know you exist? Start by polishing your social media account, updating your bio, and posting engaging content. Then purchase cheap Facebook followers to complete the look and pave the way for organic growth. But your work is not done yet.
Next, you need to watch out for people who praise your business and post their comments or posts on your page. To encourage more people to post user-generated content, you can run hashtag campaigns, post giveaways, or other incentives to keep them interested. Take what they give you and post it on your page. For example, if you sell beauty products and someone buys them and tags you, this is positive user-generated content. Use it to sell more products.
2. Entertainment is Now Crucial
What should you do to convince people to buy your product or service? Let’s paint a picture. Two people run fitness programs and rely on social media to reach their audience. The first regularly posts bits of her workouts, showing how she targets different muscle groups. The reels, which are about a minute long, are enough to give a glimpse of her workout programs.
Moreover, fans can follow these reels to develop a workout program. On days when she does not post her programs, she posts funny videos about working out. Or shows some bits about her life, including hanging out with her friends. As such, fans view her as an all-rounded fitness enthusiast and can connect with her in more than one aspect.
The other fitness enthusiast is all about work. Her posts are all about how she can help you transform your body. Every reel focuses on how she has helped other people get to their weight goals, and it’s always one success story after the other. While motivational, the posts are pretty much repetitive and predictable. Fans can tell that the story will be about someone who lost weight, wants to lose weight, or something about her week-long program. Even when she offers freebies, they barely scratch the surface. She offers blanket ideas and hopes to pull fans to buy into her program with these nuggets.
As you might expect, the first fitness enthusiast has over a million followers, with some international celebrities in tow. The other is still at 20,000 followers despite her constant posting. What does this tell you about the audience on social media? Even if you are selling a product, people do not want salesy content all day. They want entertainment – they want something real.
3.Nano Influencers are a Thing Now
In the past, brands would focus on working with influencers who had hundreds of thousands to millions of followers. The thinking was that this following would convert into sales. However, this has not always worked. Often, most of the audience are fans. They idolize celebrities or influencers but cannot afford to buy the promoted products or are not interested in them. So, some of these marketing campaigns did not work.
Then brands realized something. Influencer marketing comes down to trust and authenticity. If a social media user can foster these, they can influence people to buy a product. Take the example of a mum who shares her journey on social media. She may have about 5,000 followers, but you can find that out of these, up to 3,000 are also mums. And if she were to post about a baby shop, about 1,000 of these mums would follow the link, and maybe 100 would buy something in the shop.
That’s a lot of influence! And the brand would not have to pay much for the exposure resulting from this post. Brands are now focused on engagement rates rather than numbers. This measure has worked to their benefit, enabling them to get high rates of return on their investments.
4. Customer Satisfaction Comes First
What’s the sure way to ruin your brand reputation? It takes just one bad interaction between your sales team and a customer for your business to go viral – and not in a good way. Sometimes, your customer care team will encounter a disgruntled or rude customer who wants to have their way and is adamant about it. Even where reason dictates that the customer is wrong, your team can never stoop to their level. The recording, screenshot, or whatever evidence the customer gets will find its way to social media. In a few hours, days, or weeks, your team will wish they had handled things very differently.
Brands know this all too well, having seen big companies lose out on millions of dollars in revenue because of customer dissatisfaction. That’s why most businesses are now focused on delivering the best possible customer service from the first point of interaction to after-sales services. How are they doing this?
They are listening to what their customers need by creating efficient customer feedback loop systems. They are also using this input to launch better content marketing strategies and improve their products. This back-and-forth enables them to build a better relationship with their clients. While it cannot prevent all bad reviews, it is highly effective in promoting positive user experiences.
Rather than using social media as a platform to sell, use it to serve your audience, and the sales will follow. All the best!
