Technology is changing quickly. In a post-Pokémon Go world, we know it can be hard to keep up with. We’ve done the work for you and aggregated a few tops trends you should pay attention to in your marketing this year. Not all options will be best for your business’s digital marketing strategy; look at who your audience is and where your brand can shine.
Trend: Real time
Get on your customer’s good side. Seventy percent of Twitter users expect a response from brands they reach out to in less than an hour. Increase your customer service rating and get on their good side early.
If you snooze, you lose. Snapchat is truly real-time. Get in the moment with on-demand geo-filters and get your brand seen in a specific location for a few hours at minimal cost.
Chamber tip: Get in early with an on-demand geo-filter purchase for your event. Bonus: they have templates for download to get you started.
Trend: Live video
Press play via Facebook. Live videos are actually getting through the timeline algorithms, hooray! Your video is 10 times more likely to be seen. That means more engagement!
Be seen on Periscope. Owned by Twitter, this platform is a close second for getting your business on screen. Downside? It’s hard to build a new following from scratch, and your videos disappear after 24 hours.
Come here, Meerkat. This platform lets you add a schedule of your live events so followers can prepare and receive a notification before you go live. However, there is no option to watch it later.
Chamber tip: Rehearse and be prepared! As the face of your brand, you want to be engaging, smooth and informative. Don’t forget to tell your audience that you’ll be live ahead of time so they can tune in.
Trend: Social media advertising
Multi-platform goodness. Since Facebook bought Instagram, you can now implement your Instagram ad through Facebook manager. No need to do things twice with these accounts.
Link up with leads. LinkedIn could be your business’s best friend. Though their advertising costs more than pennies, you can target people based on industry, job title, job function, company size and much more. The tool is still new enough that it’s not overrun with a crowd of sales sharks. Cozy up while you can.
Trend: SEO
They aren’t teaching cursive anymore. With a mobile-first mentality and voice-search growing (Hello, Siri…), Google probably knows more about you than even you do (well, almost). Each searchis building a robust library.
Chamber tip: Do a quick search and see if your brand shows up. Not on the top? You’ve got some work to do.
Tell me where I can buy red socks with stripes. Searches are robust, and seekers know exactly what they are looking for. Create content that solves a problem and you’ll have a better chance at being seen. Be specific, but you don’t have to be overly-polite. Just ask Ben’s Grandma.
“YouTube it.” You know, like when your friend tells you to “Google it.” They’re one and the same, which is why if you produce video, you should have a YouTube presence. This is the only video platform that has a robust, Google-like search algorithm. Disadvantage: it’s saturated with users and competitors, and the quality of videos isn’t always professional.
Chamber tip: Pay attention to these top three SEO-ranking factors when you’re putting anything on the web and leave it up to RankBrain (Google’s machine-learning artificial intelligence system that learns on its own to sort through the search results. Cue Styx’s, “Mr. Roboto”).
This is a toe dip in the water compared to the wave of social media strategies coming down the line. As a business, you can start small and be agile enough to change your strategy on the fly. Find out where your audience is (hint: they are on mobile), and listen to what they are engaging with. Implement a strategy that pushes you to your edge. Be brave, and most importantly have fun!
Maggie McEntee is the digital communications and brand manager for the Denver Metro Chamber.