WHAT’S NEW TO SOCIAL MEDIA IN 2020?
Over the last few years, social media has seen a shift from a purely social way of communicating with friends to a potent tool for businesses. Now almost all social media is an advertising platform which is available for businesses to target their potential customers.
With the rise of social media, it’s become easier for businesses of all sizes to connect online directly with their customers.
What can you do differently in 2020?
Here are just a few examples of how businesses can connect with their customers online.
Facebook is currently the largest social networking site in the world and is used already by almost every type of business.
For many years Facebook has allowed us to use paid campaigns to reach our potential customers. From remarketing (ads that follow you around the internet) to video ads, Facebook now allows almost every type of ad you could think of.
For 2020 Facebook has announced that in an effort for businesses to be transparent they will be introducing a limit to how many ads one page can run. Though they haven’t announced an exact number, yet it is likely that this will only affect large businesses who are already running multiple ads.
Instagram is a photo sharing social media app. It allows companies and business to showcase their images, videos, stories and most recently live videos. Though Instagram currently doesn’t allow links from posts, it does allow businesses to have a specific profile that allows you to link directly to their websites.
Businesses and influencers are currently taking advantage of Instagram stories. Instagram stories offer a great way for brands and influencers to collaborate. You can team up with an influencer that is relevant to your target audience or would be likely to use your product or service. We recommend only using influencers if it makes sense for your brand, 100’000 new followers are great but if none of them are likely to buy your service then is there really a point for you?
Instagram stories may also allow you to add links to products or a website. You can add a swipe up link if you have more than 10,000 followers on your account.In 2019 Instagram introduced IGTV (Instagram Tv) which allows you to upload a 60-minute video, Although there hasn’t been much of an uptake for smaller businesses just yet, its one definitely to keep an eye on.
With over 300 million active users, Twitter gives businesses a cost-effective method of talking to your customers. As the shelf life of a tweet is estimated at about 20 minutes, Twitter has become the most beneficial for conference attendees and live events. Many attendees find having a company live tweet while they are at a conference very informative. Not only does it provide real-time updates on sessions, vendors, and social events but also adds life to an event and opens it up to a larger audience.
On twitter-like boosting a post on Facebook, you can Promote a tweet if you feel like more of your followers should see it.
LINKED IN
LinkedIn is a professional social media site where industry experts share content, network, and build their personal brands online. It is also used to help businesses grow their leadership and authority in order to attract new clients or even employees to their page.
LinkedIn also offers advertising opportunities such as boosting your content or creating ads. Typically the cost per click is much higher than that of Facebook. However, for those looking to target other businesses it is worth giving a paid ad a try.
Most recently LinkedIn now allows you to invite people to follow and like your business page. This is great for those who may feel like their LinkedIn page isn’t getting the likes that they expected.
TIK TOK
TikTok, one of the newest (and trendiest) social networks was formerly known as musical.ly. Tik Tok is a social media platform for creating, sharing and discovering short music videos or comedy skits, similar to ‘Vine’. TikTok is currently available in over 150 countries and has over 1 billion users. TikTok main users are those between 13 – 30, so those with a younger target audience should look creating a profile.
Companies are starting to use TikTok to grow their business. However, TikTok’s current ‘big brands’ have done a great job of using it for brand awareness rather than generating traffic or leads. There are currently no paid ads yet, but companies can pay social media influencers to promote their products or services.
TikTok is quirky by nature, brands need to be creative to gain the attention of their audience. A simple ad or sponsored influencer endorsement might not be enough on this fast-paced app. Brands currently using it are also taking advantage of this by engaging with their younger audiences and show off the lighter side of themselves through funny videos and challenges. Here are a few examples of companies getting the best out of TikTok:
- NBA
- The Washington Post
- Guess
- The San Diego Zoo
- Chipotle (USA)
Though TikTok for businesses hasn’t quite hit the Ireland or UK just yet, the audience is growing.
Depending on your business there is likely one or 2 social networks that could become part of your everyday marketing. Choose the networks that you believe will bring the most benefit for your business rather than having a small presence on all of them.
