Did you know there are 4.76 billion users on social media?

Social media is crucial to brand development, awareness and loyalty. It is the key to converting your customers into returning customers. With the average person using around 7 different social media platforms with an average daily usage of 2-3 hours, this means a social media presence for your brand is essential to be viewed as a trustworthy brand as well as reaching your wider audience.

What is the importance of micro-influencers?

A social media presence is not only important to raise brand awareness, micro influencers are also effective in increasing brand sales and reach. Micro influencers have an influence on their following audience. They set trends, influence opinions and views, and engage with their followers.  Uplnfluence have found that micro-influencers have nearly an 18% engagement rate on TikTok. Investing in micro-influencers has been proven more effective than some traditional marketing techniques. With social media usage being so prominent in this day and age, people look up to and follow micro influencers. 

In 2023, 71% of brands expect influencers to play a bigger role.

With social media usage always on the rise, micro-influencers have the power to introduce new customers to a brand or product and increase sales. 30.6% of Social media users who are female and aged 16-24 follow micro influencers. This highlights the importance of using micro-influencers and engaging with the right influencers that attract the type of consumers you want for your business. 

When it comes to choosing the right micro-influencer to work with you need to consider their social media content and engagement rates. 48% of consumers are starting to distrust influencers due to them posting more branded content, so, selecting the correct influencers for your brand is crucial. An influencer who posts more organic content will be viewed as a more valued influencer. This means micro-influencers and nano-influencers are better to target. With the rise of micro-influencers and the continued growth of social media platforms, brands will continue to invest in influencer partnerships to promote their products and services.

How important is a TikTok social presence?

With more and more social channels being created it is key to have a social media presence on the correct platforms for your company. As social media is forever changing, platforms with ‘infinite scroll’ are rapidly growing e.g. Tik Tok or Instagram. TikTok allows you to tell a story about your business as well as create more engaging content. With millions of active users, it is a great platform to reach a broad audience. TikTok’s algorithm promotes engaging content that has potential to go viral, this means that if your business creates a video that resonates with users, it has the potential to reach a large audience quickly.

TikTok is a relatively low-cost platform, making it a cost-effective way for small businesses to reach a large audience. Businesses can create and share videos with minimal resources, allowing them to compete with larger brands. It is also known for its authentic and unpolished content, making it an ideal platform for businesses to showcase their personality and connect with their audience on a more personal level. Incorporating TikTok into your marketing strategy diversifies your marketing efforts and helps you reach new audiences, particularly younger generations.

How important is an Instagram social presence?

Instagram in particular has become one of the most popular social media platforms, with over one billion active users worldwide, an instagram presence is necessary. It has allowed businesses to market on their platform by connecting with their customers. Instagram also makes it easier for businesses to keep up to date with the latest trends. Instagram trends can inspire you to be more creative with your content.

By trying out new formats or styles, you can keep your feed fresh and engaging. New features such as reels and IGTV can help with engagement rates. They allow you to show the meaning behind your business and customers love to see an insight into the reality of a business. However, storytelling through social media is now becoming more complicated. Consumers no longer want a simple and passive narrative. Allowing customers to ‘put the pieces together’ is more engaging for your consumers.

Consumers find niche, sub-cultural knowledge and nostalgic knowledge of the past more interesting. Understanding your audience is essential to having an engaging online platform.  Overall, Instagram is likely to continue evolving and adapting to new trends and developments in technology and social media. While it's difficult to predict exactly what will be popular in 2023, we can expect to see more creative and innovative ways for users and brands to engage with their followers on the platform. 

Should I create a social media plan with upcoming trends in my industry?

Looking into and curating an in-depth social media plan can help put your brand ahead of the curve by understanding and preparing for upcoming trends. Insights such as Mintel Reports provide in depth market insights and upcoming trends. By understanding these trends and weaving them into your social media plan, you will be ahead of the competition, allowing you to stay one step ahead at all times. Conduct market research for your brand and competitors to see where there is a gap in the market and where there could be any improvements made. Understanding your competitors and their services is crucial to having an understanding of your industry. If you're the first in your industry to jump on a new trend, you'll be seen as an innovative and forward-thinking brand.

When creating your social media plan, it is important to look into SEO.

Conducting keyword analysis for your brand and using these keywords in all social media posts to boost your awareness and have consistency throughout all posts. Using your social media to post links to your website is crucial to getting more clicks through to your site. This will create higher traffic levels, more shared links, and improved search rankings. Creating blog posts with SEO keywords filtered into it are also effective in ranking higher on google and increasing your website traffic. A good practice is to link your SEO blog posts on your social media posts for brand exposure.  

Did you know 28% of 16-24 year olds discover brands and new products through social media? This showcases the importance of dedicating your marketing techniques to the appropriate audience using social media. Understanding your customers needs will allow you to tailor your marketing efforts to their preferences and to reach your desired audience.

If you are needing help with your social media and content marketing please contact us. 

Hannah Crampton.