Social Marketing

It’s safe to say that by the end of this year, traditional marketing will have been fully eclipsed by social media. Yet social media is still growing and I believe hasn’t even reached the peak of its popularity yet.

Video has become the most popular form of social media marketing. On top of this, most social media marketers use video over everything else. A third of marketers have reported that visual images are the most important form of content for their business, with blogging coming second. Video alone has surpassed blogging in usage as a social media marketing tool. When people hear information, they're likely to remember only a tenth of that information three days later. However, if a relevant image is matched with that same information, people retained 65% of the information three days later.

Most of us walk around with smart phones that have cameras that can record in high definition, so it is within our grasp to easily create images and video content for social media marketing. In many cases, the cameras are better than the phones themselves. Recording high definition video or photos using a smartphone is easy if you want to explain a product or demonstrate something. 4G internet connectivity means also that photos and videos can also be quickly uploaded and saved in the Cloud. However, I find that usually the two big problems with local businesses is their skill at capturing interesting images or film footage and, when it comes to filming themselves, their self-consciousness. The key thing to remember is that posts on social media have a short shelf life and the viewers are very often forgiving when it comes to quality of video recording. (You Tube proves that time and time again).

A huge percentage of marketers (94%) use Facebook. A recent study found that two out of three marketers claim Facebook is their most important social platform. However, what is interesting is that marketers are focusing less now on developing loyal fans. For the first time in years, generating leads has become more of a priority for marketers than cultivating a loyal fan base. This could be a sign that engagement is becoming less important than metrics and automation.
So the trick is to post regular and more often than not post images and video footage. Here are some tips when it comes to posting. Post things that invite a conversation and have a clear “Talk to us.” Create posts that ask your audience for their ideas, opinions or even advice. Don’t struggle to constantly come up with new content for your social media updates. It’s alright to repost and reshare your best blog content and images. Be an ongoing source of timely and relevant information in your area of expertise, regardless of whether you’re the original source. No-one is going to pay attention to you on social media if you do nothing but advertise yourself.