One of the most exciting things about managing social media as part of your digital marketing strategy is the opportunity it presents to experiment with new features and technologies. More than any other channel or area of digital marketing, social media is an a constant state of flux. Social networks recognize the imperative to constantly evolve because if their technology grows stale or another network begins offering a superior product, users will abandon the platform without a second thought.
The result for brand managers and digital marketers is both a necessity to stay on top of trends, as well as the creative freedom to test new features and tactics. Here are some of the ones brands are adding to their social strategies in 2017.
1 - Instagram Stories Ads
Instagram launched stories ads in March 2017. Stories ads are full-screen ads that display in the stories feed, between user posts. Because of the full-screen nature of stories ads, Instagram promotes them as an immersive and engaging format. Users are able to skip them (for now at least), but because they’re shown full-screen, as opposed to within the main feed, they do seem more arresting than the traditional in-feed ads.
In the few months since the rollout, Instagram has also expanded advertising objective options beyond reach, which is what was available at launch. Brands can now purchase ads across a variety of objectives, including traffic, video views, conversions and mobile app installs. This makes the new format more appealing for brands with objectives beyond brand awareness.
When it’s all said and done, stories ads offer a more immersive advertising format for brands looking to connect with new customers. They also offer the opportunity to speak to your audience in a more casual, friendly tone.
2 - Live video
Live video is taking off in 2017 thanks in no small part to the global rollout of Facebook Live in 2016. In April 2017 Facebook noted that “one in every five Facebook videos is a live broadcast – and over the past year, daily watch time for Facebook Live broadcasts has grown by more than 4x.” Those numbers present a convincing case for live video as an increasingly popular content format -- one that brands can take advantage of.
Facebook Live makes live video super easy to pull off -- it’s available to all users, and it doesn’t require technical expertise or complex integrations with third parties. Brands can use live video to diversify the types of content they’re creating as part of a robust content strategy. Behind-the-scenes, how-tos, interviews, and events are all great options for live video content.
Late in 2016, live video also made a debut on Instagram. Similar to Instagram stories, Instagram’s live video content is ephemeral, disappearing after the stream ends. Live videos appear in users’ stories feed and popular live videos are grouped in the Explore section, adding an element of discoverability.
3 - Focus on Messaging
Messaging platforms are definitely not new, but stronger focus on messaging is included in this list because users are spending more and more of their digital time on mobile messaging platforms like Messenger, WeChat, Whatsapp, and Kik. So, maybe it’s more accurate to say that the overwhelming popularity of messaging platforms is what’s (relatively) new.
It’s easy to see the marketing appeal of messaging platforms given that users are spending more time on them before and they have built-in “stickiness,” meaning users are incentivized to return regularly to check and respond to messages. We’re seeing more and more companies beginning to use messaging platforms to communicate with their customers -- meeting them where they are, so to speak, rather than forcing users to get in touch via email or, heaven forbid, the telephone. It’s a smart move when you consider that 61% of US internet users say they’re interested in using messaging apps to contact customer service (eMarketer).
4 - Location and Hashtag Instagram Stories
Instagram recently rolled out the ability to add locations and hashtags to stories. The feature makes stories a whole lot more discoverable than ever before. Now users can find stories in the Explore tab of Instagram based on a specific location or interest as indicated by a hashtag. The feature encourages deeper user engagement with the platform and makes the entire Explore section of Instagram frankly more interesting than it has been in the past.
From a brand perspective, location and hashtags for stories means that now your stories can achieve greater reach. It’s easy to see the opportunities location tags present for local businesses, and interest-based hashtags have nearly endless applications.
Platforms are always looking for ways to get users to come back more frequently and stay longer each time they visit. The upshot for marketers is more opportunity to tell stories in captivating ways -- something that is becoming ever more crucial in the content-hungry digital space.
To learn more about social media marketing and other digital trends, visit Blue Fountain Media online.