Social Media Marketing Trends for 2024
Alex Crews
Digital Strategist
Authenticity and Relatability:
Brands that are authentic and sincere are appreciated by audiences. This is because it builds trust between consumers and businesses. Customers who aren’t aggressively marketed to are more likely to connect with brands on a personal level. Genuine and relatable content can create a meaningful relationship between the brand and its audience. Despite the increasing digitization of our world, people still desire human connections, even in the business field.
Short-Form Video:
With decreasing attention spans, it has become crucial to capture the audience’s interest within the first 2 seconds, or else they won’t hesitate to keep on scrolling. Thanks to TikTok, various other platforms like Facebook (Meta), Instagram reels, YouTube shorts, and even Snapchat have realized the importance of videos. Posts that incorporate videos instead of static images usually lead to more engagement. Marketers have found that videos can help increase traffic by 87% and generate leads by 86%.
Social Listening:
Social listening is a technique used to monitor and analyze the conversations that your customers are having about your business, brand, or industry on various online platforms. By “eavesdropping” on these conversations, we can identify our customers’ pain points, understand their feelings, discover unsolved problems, and learn what people are reacting positively to. Social listening is also a valuable way to gain insight into industry trends and keep an eye on competitors. Additionally, you can use interactive methods such as posting online quizzes or live polls on your Instagram story or website to engage with your customers and get their feedback.
User-Generated Content Will Increase:
Word-of-mouth marketing has always been a powerful tool, and the online world is no different. User-generated content (UGC) is a term used by marketers to describe the posts created by customers that showcase a business. Clothing brands are a common example where customers post pictures of themselves wearing their outfits and tag the brand or use a hashtag provided by the company. However, UGC goes beyond e-commerce industries and can include other posts about recent purchases or interactions with a business. This can include posting a photo of a new house and giving a shout-out to the realtor or posting photos of a freshly cleaned kitchen and thanking the cleaning company. According to Nielsen’s “Trust in Advertising Study” in 2021, 77% of participants stated that they were more likely to purchase a product if it was recommended by their friends.
Increased Use of Social Networks to Directly Communicate With Customers:
In today’s fast-paced world, customers expect businesses to respond to their queries within an hour. With the rise of omnichannel communication, customers reach out to businesses through various platforms such as the email listed on their website, Google My Business messages, and social media platforms like Messenger or comments. When customers message a business with a question on Messenger, they expect a prompt response. There has also been a trend of users reaching out directly on Facebook posts to seek clarity about a business. Every touchpoint with the customer is crucial for generating more leads and conversions for your company.
Overall, these are just a few of the social media trends we can expect to see increase and evolve in the coming years. Cheers to a new year and many more to come for your business!
