This article was originally written for Inside Magazine and was featured as part of our monthly column entitled The Inside On Social Media.
If your business is on social media, and you’re looking to make it work for you, then this article can help! Below I take a look at the 5 top trends we’re seeing from our clients around the world, and explain how they effect you and your business.
1. TikTok will continue to thrive
I’ve spent enough time in this monthly column going over the importance of TikTok and its continuously growing impact on pop-culture and the consumer habits of younger shoppers, so I’ll keep this one short. If you’re not already on TikTok I can only assume you are A) one of very few luddites in the western world, or B) you’re over the age of 40 (perhaps both!). Either way, if you’re not already aware of the immense power of this social media giant then there’s little I can say to bring you up to speed. The platform continues to grow, as does the power of those businesses who’ve mastered its incredible organic reach. In short, get on TikTok and make it work for your business.
2. You will NEED to spend on adverts
In case you’re not already aware, social media is a business. BIG business. And as much it’s no secret that platforms such as Facebook, Instagram & Twitter are lowering the organic (unpaid) reach of its users content, forcing them to pay for ads to reach people outside of their network. This trend is going nowhere and if our clients are anything to go by then we’re seeing a stark trend in companies pulling spend away from Google Ads and funnelling it into social media. Personally I think a happy medium between the two is the best approach, but there is certainly no doubt that if you want social media to work for you then you’ll need to get that credit card out!
3. Shoppers will want expect to buy your products directly through social media
Increased social media consumption over the past few years combined with stay-at-home mandates has meant users have got very familiar with spending money directly through social media. This has opened up a tidal wave of platforms now allowing customers to purchase from their favourite brands directly from their newsfeeds! This trend is not going to slow, and will only become more normalised now that TikTok and Instagram have started rewarding creators for using their platforms to sell. If your business sells physical product, I’d highly recommend looking into how easy it is for your customers to do so directly through social media; and if its not easy, make it easy!
4. No one will want to talk to your company on the phone
This has been happening for a long time now, but the pandemic certainly sped up the inevitable realisation that (drum roll please)… younger customers don’t want to speak to you on the phone! Newsflash, most under 30’s don’t even know what a landline is anymore, let alone how to use one (physical buttons? What’s this!). With that comes the fact that customer service is now expected to take place on social media. I had a problem with a flight recently and the whole customer service experience, from raising the complaint to finding a solution, took place in under 10 tweets to the airlines help desk. In short, if you’re on social media then you need to make sure that customers messages, questions, and comments are getting replied too. Otherwise, before you know it, your company will be the latest in line to fall to the masses of outraged users who can’t believe you didn’t reply to their tweet about the 2-for-1 deal on bath towels not being vegan-friendly.
5. Long form video is dying
This is no surprise with the HUGE growth of TikTok and Instagram Reels. If the average attention span online was 3 seconds, it’s now 1. If you’re making video content about your brand then it needs to be short, sharp, and often played over a bed of a trending music track! In short, nobody wants to watch a 15 minute video about your packaging methods, but they do want to watch a 15 second dance set to the latest Harry Styles track with VoiceOver explaining your eco-friendly distribution methods!
These trends are something we're seeing growing hugely amongst our client base, and do not believe any of them are slowing down. Be forewarned, move with the times or get left behind! It’s that simple.
Jordan J. Whittingham.
The Inside on Social Media.
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