“Should I even bother with facebook anymore?”
“Can you tell me how to do Snapchat?”
“Why do I need to spend money on social media?”
These are all questions I get pretty regularly from retailers. One thing we all know about social media is that it’s always changing. Knowing these types of questions are prevalent across industries and level of expertise, FleishmanHillard’s Justin Goldsborough recently hosted a Social Media Refresher to talk through five trends on social media.
Media consumption is changing
There are more ways than ever to connect, and the environment is noisy and fragmented. 75% of our waking day is spent consuming media and smartphone use continues to rise. With this in mind, Goldsborough encouraged marketers to create content in ways to grab attention and cater to the screen we’re on. No matter what, he said to look at marketing in an integrated fashion rather than looking at the channels in silos.
Facebook organic reach is dying
The numbers aren’t good for facebook organic reach. Goldsborough quoted 1-2% of a page’s audience seeing a post on facebook organically. What’s this mean? It means we should start budgeting to spend more money on facebook, says Goldsborough. This spend should be geared at driving more engagement because people don’t interact with the page, they interact with the feed. Goldsborough also encouraged showing personality with the brand, as it can drive organic engagement. The good news, according to Goldsborough, is facebook has incredible targeting. This means you don’t have to spend a lot to get higher interaction.
Influencer marketing is on the rise
Consumers trust the recommendations of others over brands. Influencer marketing continues to become more popular because of this, but the quality of the content produced by that influencer is what drives the efficacy of the campaign, says Goldsborough. Goldsborough’s team has three main consideration points when determining whether to partner with a popular personality. They are reach, relevancy, and tone.
LinkedIn is no longer all about jobs
LinkedIn has shifted from jobs to content, says Goldsborough. Among the social platforms and among mainstream news providers, LinkedIn is #1 in thought leadership, discussion, and news for users in a business frame of mind. According to Goldsborough, the users of LinkedIn are also business decision makers, making it a platform good for generating leads, but also distributing content relevant to business professionals.
Social media skills gap is widening
Not everyone knows how to use social platforms in the way marketers do. Goldsborough cautioned the group to think about that when we’re pitching ideas and trying to move across platforms. While we are comfortable with how things will work, it doesn’t mean everyone is. Despite this gap, though, the good news is creating “crave worthy” content will still always be the most important aspect of social. As one of Goldsborough’s colleagues put it, crave worthy “doesn’t just make you like a photo, it makes you wish you were in it.” My personal favorite takeaway from this session came when Goldsborough shared a piece of content Chevy put out last year. It is a great example of content that resonates. You can see it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Llm_-z6tRDo
One thing we all know is social media will keep changing and will continue to evolve. Taking a step back to look at how our approach to it is a necessary part of being smart marketers. Goldsborough’s sessions provided the perspective needed to do just that.
