Social Media Marketing Strategies That You Should consider in 2019

How about you try now to explore on the things that can help you and your business grow with the help of social media marketing strategies?

Have you ever asked your marketing team why you’re social media marketing have lower engagements last year?

Don’t go and do the things that never worked for you.

This 2019, it is a year of looking forward to implementing and starting anew.

Read also: Digital and Social Media Marketing Courses to Improve Your Skills Today

In case you haven’t known yet, the latest 2019 Global Digital Report is already out. Guess what? There are new data and facts to consider for your social media marketing strategies.

Ready for the discussion? Begin with getting to know the social media statistics for 2019.

Social Media Statistics for 2019

Photo from statusbrew.com

The report, which was earlier launched this month, noted a significant increase of social media users from January 2018 to January 2019.

Almost half of the world’s populations are now active users on social media.

This means 3.484 billion people are on social media compared to the 3.196 billion active social media users in 2018. 

This could only mean one thing. Social media is undeniably the best platform to market your business in this digital era.

What are other facts in the report that you needed to know? Here’s a list for you.

• There are 3.256 billion social media users using their mobile phones.
• Top five regions in the world on social media use include Eastern Asia, Southern Asia, Southeast Asia, Southern America, and Northern America.
• Most of the active users on social media are mostly male with ages 25 to 34 years old recording the highest numbers at 19 percent. The 18 to 24 years old age group is in second and then the 35 to 44 years old age group follows.
• Females on the other hand have similar ranking. Most of those who are active are the 25 to 34 years old. The 18 to 24 years old and the 35 to 44 years old age groups then follow.
• Average amount of time per day spent on using social media is now at 2 hours and 16 minutes.
• Facebook still remains the top social platform for this report with a registered 2.271 billion active users. Of that number, Facebook reported that 2.121 billion could be reached by advertisements.
• There are 1.47 billion people that are logged in daily on Facebook. 
• About 88 percent of Facebook users are accessing social platform using mobile.
• Currently, there are 80 million small- and medium-sized business Pages on Facebook. Of that number, there 6 million who advertises using this social platform.
• Youtube is second in rank with 1.9 billion active users. 
• These users watch a billion of hours of video.
• It works for 80 different languages worldwide.
• Most of these active users use mobile with a 70 percent figure on views.
• In 2018, it was the top mobile app on Apple based on the number of downloads for last year. On Android, it ranked third, according to Statista.
• Instagram has already 1 billion active users. Of that number, 894.9 million can be reached by advertisements. 
• Of that number, there are 500 million who are using the app every day.
• Ages 13 to 17 years old use Instagram daily at 63 percent.
• Users “like” 4.2 billion posts per day, which makes it the happiest place on the internet.

What does this say about 2019? It says that you already need to be on social media lest you get way behind the other businesses that are already there.

What possible social media marketing strategies should you come up with the new statistics in front of you?

Here’s another list that you may consider.

Social Media Marketing Strategies for 2019

1.) Listen

In communication, there’s always the sender and the receiver. In a conversation, there’s someone who will tell the story and there’s the other one who listens.

When you do marketing on social media, you don’t only give information or promote something but you also listen to your audience. 

Have you tried searching the name of your product or your brand on a social platform? Have you read the comments that they have been telling about your brand? What do they say? The important thing to ask is, “What did you do to those conversations?”

According to Forbes, you can jump into that conversation. If it’s about a concern over your product, you can address it by dropping a comment on the conversation.

Social media users really appreciate brands that extend help or address their needs and concerns in one way or another.

It’s the responsive ones who get the more returning clients. Plus, they also appreciate personalize responses. What clients hate is scripted response as if you are talking to a robot.

Make the connection with your clients as personal and emotional as possible.

2.) Video marketing

Have you noticed big brands really spending an ample amount of their budget just so they could advertise on national television?

The putting up of the ad on TV is only a part of the cost. This still excludes the actual production of the video.

But, no matter how short, it still catches people’s attention and it makes them remember their products.

How much more if you put it on social platforms with lesser ad costs or maybe even for free?

That’s how powerful a video material could be.

It’s no wonder why Jollibee Food Corporation, the company that owns several fast food restaurants in the Philippines around the world including Jollibee, made their video content more personalized and appealing to its Filipino market with their Kwentong Jollibee (Jollibee Story). It appeals to the emotions of their customers and is relatable because it features stories that almost everyone can relate to. They have this series of stories released in February this year during the Valentine’s Day that got millions of views on Facebook and even on Youtube.

With videos, you can go as creative as possible.

You can also explore compared to the limitations that the traditional text format can give you.

3.) Turn your employees as your brand ambassadors.

What better way to promote your product but through your own employees themselves?

Let them talk about your product more on social media and your social media marketing strategies.

People believe more on products and services if they have friends or relatives who have already used it and can attest to its effect.

According to Forbes, you need to find ways to motivate them. How can you make your brand grow if even the people working for you do not believe on it?

You can tell them to share content from your Page to their own individual accounts.

Also, create clear guidelines. Share what is only shareable for that week or that day. You don’t want them sharing the incorrect information.

4.) Static and video ad combined

According to Facebook, the alternate usage of a video and a static photo drives the most online conversions. 

Even as early as 2014, some marketers have been using this type of strategy on Facebook.

But even up until now, this is still applicable and even continues to dominate among the social platforms.

This is why social media apps like Instagram and Youtube have increasing numbers of active users because they capitalize on the need of users for visual content.

5.) Going mobile

Forrester Research shared with Mobile Marketer a result of their study and it showed that mobile is accounted for 72 percent of the growth in spending on online video advertising. 

By 2023, it is forecasted that there will be 9 percent growth in terms of share on online video ad market.

The same study was also quoted in saying that the trends of those who are streaming ad-supported content have grown upward over the last three years.

Even the number of users who are currently active on social media through their mobile phones has increased too.

The 2019 Global Digital Report revealed that there are 3.256 billion active users on social media via mobile devices compared to the 2.958 billion recorded in January 2017 to January 2018.

You can’t just simply ignore the recent statistics and not go for mobile friendly versions of your ads and other social media campaigns.

It’s just at the tip of a user’s finger. One click or tap on their mobile phone would now make a really big difference.

6.) Short-lived Content

Its popularity can’t also be ignored.

Face the fact that stories, in order to be appealing, has to be human and authentic.

In fact in 2017, a global study found that 86 percent of consumers say, “Authenticity is the key when deciding which brands to like and support.” 

Since stories like this only last 24 hours, there’s that craving from the audience to show more about the content that was shared.

Both Facebook and Instagram have “Stories”.

One tricky part is you need to attract the audience quickly.

Also, your content should consider that these stories are available for mobile versions.

7.) Online Reviews

Obviously, if you are selling something, you really want to know how customers think about your product.

Also, people would really love to make reviews as their preference whenever they book a hotel, visit a tourist destination, or even when making purchases online.

Those who get the highest reviews have that edge over the others in terms of buyer’s preference.

It’s best that you also encourage your clients especially those who have been with you for a long-time to make reviews about your brand or about your products online.

You can even give out incentives to them like a discount coupon or a voucher.

In this way, you can encourage them to continuously help you improve your products and services while also promoting your brand at the same time.

8.) Influencer Marketing

Nowadays, it’s no longer brands that are tapping this marketing strategy.

This has proven of how great they’re potential and effect to the social media users.

Some social media users think that they can trust this person because he or she has been an expert in this type of niche.

In doing make-ups, Michelle Phan is a name that you ring when it comes to make-up tutorials.

Alexis Reed or also known as @fatgirlfedup on Instagram is another influencer and a fitspiration when it comes to losing weight and how you can do it. She also started the campaign on diet bet. This is an online bet you make for yourself. All you need to do is lose at least 4 percent of your weight in order to win.

A perfect example is Maine Mendoza, an actress but was famous for her dubbed videos that she posted online.

Now, she has launched her own lippie from cosmetic company MAC and has just recently flown home from New York for a new collaboration there.

She currently has 3.2 million followers on Instagram and 5 million followers on Twitter.

But make sure you pair with the right influencer.

There were reports last year that there were some influencers who had to buy their following.

Always exercise caution in dealing with one or better yet asked around those who have previously worked before them in order to gauge if they are fit for your ad campaign or not.

9.) Doing live videos

This is different from the pre-produced content.

Live videos have been very widespread on social media since last year.

With news outlets going live, people have the idea of doing live videos whenever a big happening or a special occasion is taking place.

However, for brands, the live video, like any other videos, have to grab the attention of viewers or followers.

If it does not click, you’d know that people would easily move on and go to other contents.

Attention span of a single human being has reduced to 8 seconds, if you can’t catch their attention by that time, they’ll likely abandon your live video.

Give them a compelling reason to watch and stay on with you.

10.) Personalize your messaging

As what was mentioned earlier in this article, people nowadays especially on social media look for more authentic and relatable content.

It increases conversions since you tailor fit your messages based on your audiences.

Timing and topic are also keys if you’ll employ this strategy.

It’s one way of building an audience since your discussion will be focused on specific topics that will interest them.

Through this, you can invite new customers to follow you on their social media accounts.

For ideas on trending topics, you can check out Instagram search panel in order to also help you out in your campaign. They have organized their posts based on the preferences and topic that interests their users.

They have contents for food, style, fitness, shopping, DIY, TV & movies, beauty, décor, travel and a lot more.

Also, when you do this type of strategy in messaging, you have to show them that you care.

Listen to what your audience is saying online. Through this, you can see which information can be helpful to them. Once they see it and you’ve made a very good content, they’ll likely share it too with their network of friends and followers in their own social media account.

Now that you have this list, pretty sure you are quite excited to employ all of this with your own brand.

But before you do anything in a hurry and regret it, you must first consider some things.

• What is my audience like on my social media accounts?
• What are their profiles?
• What are people usually talking or raving about online that can benefit my brand?
• Do I have the right people with me now in case I’ll work with these social media marketing strategies for my brand?
• If I don’t have the team to work on it, can I find a social media marketing agency that can help me out?
• How can I look for help?
• Should I go for solo professionals or work with a social media marketing agency?
• Do I have the budget and funding to outsource if I wanted to?
• Am I comfortable in working with an agency?
• Can I employ all of these strategies for my social media accounts or select only the ones that work?

Always ask yourself on whether how beneficial are the social media marketing strategies you employ for your business.

It is best to exercise caution. Marketing alone is a difficult task. What more if you need to deal with social media where you need to understand also its dynamic and system?

Read also: Top Social Media Marketing Trends that Local Businesses Should Not Ignore in 2019

You need to do a lot of reading and exploring on new trends especially on social media.

You can’t just do generic or general messaging. You have to be more specific.

You have to listen too from feedbacks and comments. You need to do a lot of work.

But work doesn’t mean you have to burn out yourself.

Do you need help in your social media marketing strategies? You can look around and you can find one.

References:

wearesocial.com/global-digital-report-2019
wearesocial.com/blog/2018/01/global-digital-report-2018
blog.hootsuite.com/youtube-stats-marketers
blog.hootsuite.com/facebook-statistics
blog.hootsuite.com/instagram-statistics
www.forbes.com/sites/lilachbullock/2018/12/20/5-social-media-strategies-that-will-grow-your-business-in-2019
www.facebook.com/business/news/insights/creative-combinations-that-work
www.mobilemarketer.com/news/forrester-mobile-will-drive-72-of-growth-in-online-video-ad-spend/525203/
stackla.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Stackla-Data-Report-FINAL.compressed.pdf