How to Take Advantage of Social Media Marketing Trends
It's no secret that social media marketing trends change rapidly. For example, you can see a trending hashtag on TikTok before you go to sleep, but when you wake up everyone is talking about a new hashtag or a new meme on Twitter.
It's true that for some small businesses and startups, it can be difficult to invest a few hundred dollars to solidify a social media marketing strategy. In addition, the lack of experience of many entrepreneurs to detect these trends and know how to capitalize on them in real time, makes it even more difficult to compete with large competitors that have great resources, both human and financial.
The good news is that developing a successful digital strategy is possible without having to have huge budgets or a huge amount of work. It just takes a bit of innovation. In other words, even if you have a tight marketing budget, you can compete with the big players in your industry.
Discovering the secrets of digital marketing
If you spend a portion of your time browsing Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or any other social platform, you have probably seen trends appear out of nowhere. These trends may seem elusive, but the worst thing you can do is sit idly by. You must jump in and offer relevant content that stands out from the rest, before the topic ends. Here agility is the game.
To navigate social media, you must pay attention to what is constantly being said and your research skills. Identify where you should wait by asking yourself “What is going to be relevant to my primary audience?
A good way to answer this question is to see who your main competitor is and what their social media marketing strategy is like. Defining what type of hashtag or emoji to use, or what type of content performs the best, is definitely a good place to start.
Keep in mind that when joining a trend that is still incipient, you should join the first user or group of users who used it. If the trend takes off, you become one of the first users, which will give you more exposure for your brand or business. In the event that this trend does not have greater deployment, it will be another great learning for the next opportunity. Remember that all you need to keep going is creativity and a positive mindset.
How to take advantage of browsing social networks
For most people and users of social networks, access to these platforms is purely recreational. However, if you are immersed in the world of digital marketing, these 4 strategies will help you navigate networks with a north.
- Invest at least 10% of your marketing budget on social platforms.
For those wondering, TikTok didn't appear out of nowhere. On the contrary, this Chinese social network was created in 2016. And just like this social network, there are many others in the digital world that still do not have the attention they deserve. That is why I recommend that if it is within your means, you start by investing between 5% and 10% of your marketing budget in new social platforms. Learn how they operate and identify how you can make your brand fit. At the same time, dedicate the rest of your efforts to the most popular social platforms such as Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. When your portfolio is distributed in this way, you will not lose too much if a company does not develop.
- Conduct A / B testing with your content
The goal of these tests is to test different variables such as hashtags, text types, graphics, videos, and images, to see what works best. Once you find what generates the best performance, focus your strategy based on these variables. However, allocate a small portion to continue testing, in order to never be satisfied with what you think works.
When it comes to getting on a trend, keep in mind that to some extent it is valid to replicate content, so I recommend that you change the material you use in some way, giving it a new angle. In the event that you reuse images or videos from third parties, keep in mind that in many situations having authorization is enough and in others it is not. Regarding memes, they are a very good way to get on a trend and require very little editing, so they are a very good way to generate eye-catching content with few resources.
4. Avoid wanting to have a quick victory.
In social networks, as in everything in life, trends come and go. However, winning in the digital world is a long-term career. Proof of this is that it can take months or even years for your account to take off on a platform. So I recommend that you stay positive and move on.
If you are working on a new platform you have more options for growth, so I recommend that you invest some of your time there, but do not expect to have an overnight success on a platform that has not yet been fully developed.
Social media has proven to be great for developing personalities, brands, and businesses, allowing small businesses to compete and have a window in which to communicate with their audience. Follow these four strategies so that you can take better advantage of these platforms and the trends that are developing in them, to contribute to the growth of your brand.