Dozens of articles list ten or more trends that are happening in marketing and as you read each one you get more and more overwhelmed. They aren’t feasible for the average business, only large brands and enterprises have the resources to actually put all those in action.
However, trends exist because they are based on tendencies in consumer behavior or new technologies that fulfill a need. It’s important to analyze which ones your company can employ to stay relevant to your customers. We’ve noticed two essential elements of digital marketing that will create value for every business.
Over the past few years it’s become evident that brands need video in their marketing plan. Video is now important on all platforms and a top component of brands’ social media marketing strategies. It enhances the experience on websites, makes digital advertisements stand out, it adds variety to social media posts and is dominant in Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat stories.
Youtube’s history exhibits the long-lasting interest we have in video. The company started in 2005 and has surged to the top. About 1 billion hours of YouTube videos are watched per day. To put that in perspective, the hours watched on Netflix is around 200 million per day.
Video allows consumers to connect with brands, products, and other consumers in more ways than pictures can. According to Hubspot, “more than 50% of consumers want to see videos from brands” compared to any other type of content. They also found that “70% of consumers say that they have shared a brand’s video” which shows how interesting and engaging videos are to most consumers.
The versatility of video ensures that consumers interact with the content for as long as they want. They can watch their favorite Youtuber’s 10+ minute video or go watch the same Youtuber’s more personal 10 second Instagram story. Consumers can opt-in and out of video posts, ads, and stories anytime they want which gives them so much of the control in this content game we’re all playing.
Any business can start creating and using video to strengthen their marketing. Large brands work with agencies or video production companies. Some brands have a videographer or an employee with filming and editing experience. Even if you don’t have a production team or videographer, anyone can use their phone to make a video.
For Facebook and Instagram stories, the videos don’t need to be commercial quality. They can show the human, personable side of your brand. A short video on stories can be simple behind the scenes of the office culture, a conference, community event, and even demonstrate different ways to use your product. The powerful and multifaceted nature of video proves brands should invest time into it.
As mentioned above, stories are useful, and they can build up the trust between your brand and your customers. Building the relationship between your brand and your customers is possible across other social platforms as well. Social media has only continued to grow and become vital to all brand’s marketing. Businesses can advertise in posts, stories, and feeds. Brands can now sell through the apps making the buying process more efficient and less work for the customers.
For example, Instagram launched shoppable posts where businesses can list the price of the product shown and consumers can checkout in the app. Brands can be run solely from these platforms. They can handle customer service issues through comments and direct messages and promotion can be done through ads and positive word-of-mouth from influencers or consumers themselves.
Social media is all about user-generated content, where users dictate what’s created. They do this by providing instant feedback to brands through comments, likes, subscriptions and sharing the content with their friends. Based on that engagement, more content is created and filtered to the consumers. On Instagram, a user’s “Explore” page will be catered to their interests based off their likes and other engagements. Thus, while you’re expanding your brand’s use of social media, you must listen to the consumers.
No matter what work your brand does, there’s a social platform where you can find and connect with your consumers. If you don’t know where to start with social media, we recommend Facebook. Statista shows that Facebook has the highest number of users at 2.41 billion. Brands can utilize the elaborate features in Facebook’s Business Manager now to curate advanced and targeted ad campaigns.
The advertising on Facebook is as simple as it is complex, any business profile can advertise a post by simply pushing the “boost” button. Also, your brand can merely create an account and do some competitive research to see how others in your market and industry use social media to their advantage. Social media is constantly evolving but one truth remains constant, it brings tremendous value to users and brands.
These two elements of marketing are improving all the time and consumers have shown nonstop interest in both. While hours spent watching TV is decreasing, people are simply consuming video in platforms such as social media and streaming services. Nowadays, if individuals or brands don’t have a single form of social media it’s frankly an anomaly and may be a deal breaker. They both have exhibited that they aren’t going anywhere. Thus, these are two trends that are worth participating in for all businesses, small or large.
What social platforms do you connect with your consumers on? If you want to incorporate video into your brand’s marketing, we can help!
Click here to learn more about marketing.
Sources:
https://www.singlegrain.com/digital-marketing/digital-marketing-trends-2020/
https://www.statista.com/statistics/264810/number-of-monthly-active-facebook-users-worldwide/
https://www.brandwatch.com/blog/youtube-stats/
