Use These 3 Social Media Trends to Increase Your Engagement

Social media trends are changing at a rapid pace and can often be fleeting.  It is vital for business survival to remain engaging online–which let’s be honest–requires a lot of effort.  Don’t sweat diving head-first into every new trend breaking the internet, just use these three content strategies to increase your engagement.  And don’t worry, these trends aren’t going away any time soon!

1. Lights, smartphone, action!

The first of our social media trends to focus on, video! For years now, video has been paving the way for the most “engaging” content on the internet.  From viral cat YouTube videos to hard-hitting news segments, video significantly outperforms all other methods of content generation.
It’s not enough to just provide video content though.  Users are now wanting to participate and engage live, in real-time.  As a result, businesses, organizations, and brands are shooting live video of interactive content and then streaming it for viewers.  This gives consumers the ability to “join in” and which creates an immediacy that is unbeatable for engagement.  Researchers from Forbes are saying that a whopping 82% of audiences would rather watch a live video than read a traditional social media post.

2. The new word-of-mouth social media trends

Influencer content is on the rise!  You’ve probably seen some of your favorite brands partnering with local and global social media influencers.  This is all to generate leads and ultimately conversions.  Influencers have a wide social media presence but haven’t achieved “well-known celebrity status” quite yet.  Influencers usually have anywhere from 1,000-100,000 followers on their social media channel.  The great part is that often this type of marketing is low-cost, because influencers will commonly accept items for trade.

Another form of “free” promotion is user-generated content.  Brands and companies aren’t spending a dime for promotion but instead, are encouraging their audience to talk about their products and services.   User-generated content creates organic exposure that can be utilized on your social media platforms.  It also builds trust, name recognition, and a wider range of engagement.

One way to utilize this type of marketing is to urge followers to use a standard hashtag, this allows you to view who is talking about you.  You can then comment, like, and share consumer posts straight to your channel.

3. FOMO (fear of missing out) content

Ephemeral content is a growing fad and is defined by social media posts that disappear after a short window of time (often 24 hours.)  Users love this type of content because it fosters an attitude of “I’m missing something if I don’t view this content right now.”  Using snapchat, Facebook Stories, or Instagram Stories gives you the ability to post several times a day without filling up your audience’s feeds.  The short-lived content is a wonderful substitute for live videos but still creates the same urgency and attraction.

If you need a little help implementing these strategies, especially in the Huntsville or Decatur area, Red Sage is ready.  We have a variety of customizable social media services to meet your specific needs – from full-scale social media strategic plans to best practices training sessions.  Give us a call to chat 256.560.0098 or email info@redsageonline.com, and we’ll help you get started!