A lot—especially with audiences changing priorities and needs constantly.

While Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn will remain standards in your social media arsenal, social media evolves as quickly as our audience’s attention spans. In this regard, we often see a lot of new strategies on our usual go-to platforms and we get introduced to new platforms as well.

Because of the pandemic, people are actually spending 20% more time in apps—with social media apps topping the list.

Image Source

So, what does this mean for social media marketing?

1. Social Media Metrics Are Shifting

Standard metrics for social media engagement still focus on likes, comments, retweets, and interaction with followers. There’s buzz that major platforms are shifting away from traditional metrics, however. Instagram likes may be removed, for example, which means we may soon need a better way to measure how effective our Instagram campaigns are. This could include social listening and sentiment analysis as a way to go beyond surface-level data.

2. Growth of Niche Groups and Communities

In the spirit of building more meaningful connections on social media, businesses should really pay more attention to niche groups instead of targeting broad audiences. This allows brands to respond to their audiences in a more personalized way and create meaningful dialogue that reflects the brand’s unique voice.

3. Focusing on Social Ads

More social media followers are getting comfortable with the idea of fusing shopping and social media. This means social ads are going to be more effective than ever. Facebook ads, for example, can now deliver personalized ad experiences that are dynamic, with calls to action that can change depending on who’s viewing it.

In a more straightforward approach, Instagram’s shopping feature also highlights the rise of direct social selling. This provides an additional platform for e-commerce that won’t require audiences to click to another link.

4. More Scrutiny for Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing has definitely grown in popularity, but along with this is a stronger focus on influencer credibility and authenticity. In other words, influencers today are being scrutinized more. Are they really users of a product? Do they actually understand what it does? Do they share the same values as the brand? These are questions that are often being asked of influencers now.

5. Stories Are Still Going to be Big

The rise of social media stories can’t be denied. Instagram first started it, with other platforms soon following suit. Facebook Stories alone was supported by about 500 million daily users as of April 2019 and it doesn’t look like the feature is showing signs of slowing down. Video content will continue to boom as more people seek more engaging content.

Hope my answer helps! If you have any questions or want to discuss any items on this list, please feel free to email me via Leadspanda. I‘ll get back to you as soon as I can.