What is the Future of Social Media? Inbound Trends to Watch For
The future of social media was a hotly debated topic even just 15 years ago. The uses, potential, risks, and rewards were unknown, and its use as a business or marketing tool was still in its infancy.
Today over 90% of businesses utilize social media to market directly to customers and connect with other businesses. There are an estimated 4.5 billion social media users worldwide. It’s a lot of data to consider and a lot of potential customers.
Social media marketers discovered that it didn’t matter what platform users chose – their engagement behaviors are far more critical. Across all major social media platforms, user engagement changes the user’s algorithm, and social media algorithms pick and present what ads are most effective and relevant to the user.
Essentially, engagement behavior impacts trends, and staying on top of trends makes for more effective marketing.
Key Takeaways
- Businesses need an effective social media presence to survive – see which social media platforms drive the most demand and engagement.
- Understand what social media audiences are looking for. Learn to assemble a team that understands online behaviors and can make the most of your company’s social media presence.
- Learn effective B2B social media marketing practices to help you bypass common roadblocks.
Social Media Marketing Boom
Because the social media marketing landscape has expanded so quickly, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed – businesses sometimes make the mistake of believing they’ve missed out on the social media gold rush.
The social media market continues to expand yearly, seeing a particularly sharp increase in the wake of certain global events. The COVID-19 pandemic increased overall time spent on social media platforms, leading to increased ad engagement and e-commerce.
Alt-Text: Infographic showing the increase in social media use since the beginning of 2020.
Marketers taking advantage of the social media marketing boom see consistent increases in exposure, increased traffic, and improved sales.
Companies that harness and utilize engagement information have access to a vast scope of information. With increased information comes increased understanding: your marketing team can better predict trends and develop opportunities that put your business ahead of the curve.
Social Media is Shaping the Future of Marketing
Recent factors like COVID-19 and the influx of Generation Z social media users have forced rapid, large-scale trend changes. The bulk of today’s internet shoppers have vastly different habits and values, which means agility in marketing is key to keeping up with trends.
Modern social media culture responds well to certain online behaviors and operating practices. Businesses don’t need to guess, gamble, or fight to stay ahead – following the trends allows you to carve out a corner of the market.
Community Creation
Social media users love a community – to be part of something and share their experience with others that love a service or product.
Create an online community by interacting with customers and creating engageable social media content. The idea of “brand loyalty” has shifted into “brand communities.”
Today, groups often rally around a brand or company beyond what is being sold. Modern online shoppers connect with a company’s values and conduct as much as their products and services.
Starbucks created a brand community by reinvesting in its workers.
LEGO created theirs by acknowledging the importance of their customers, remaining transparent, and valuing customer input.
Brand communities are pivotal for “internet word-of-mouth” – essentially, free marketing.
Trial Efforts Becoming Habit
The retail world changed drastically in the last few years, with companies adopting major innovations in hopes of survival.
Many companies rolled out trial options – like “curbside pickup,” food delivery services, and online incentives – that became habits for customers. Food and beverage industries, which underperformed in the ecommerce market for years, saw a nearly 75% growth in 2020.
Harmonization and Streamlining
Customers want to be heard and valued. Equipping your team with the power to get real-time feedback permits prompt, effective responses.
Embedding Televerde seamlessly into your user experience means knowing what your customers want and when they want it. You can use that information to craft tailor-made responses. Not only is this an advantage over your competition, but it also converts an audience into customers that keep coming back.
The Future of B2B Social Media Marketing
Business-to-business (B2B) marketing and transactions are fast to lucrative lead generation, sales, and growth. It comes with unique challenges – only about a quarter of prospective customers want to speak with a salesperson. Close to 60% of customer decisions are already made before ever talking to a sales representative.
Social media marketing is the best strategy for B2B marketing for several reasons:
- Budget-Friendly: Social media marketing is incredibly cost-effective, especially when considering the power of “online word-of-mouth.” This can be sharing content, sending links, even just clicking “like,” and altering the ad algorithm. With the right team, every social media B2B marketing dollar goes a long way.
- Relationship-Based Sales: Buyers want to buy from someone they have a relationship with. Social media marketers are already skilled in hearing what customers want and connecting with them. Utilizing social media for B2B marketing and sales improves the relationship, encouraging future transactions.
- An influx of Referral Traffic: Connecting with other businesses means that their online traffic often becomes your online traffic.
- Return Targeting: Not everyone that visits your company website will buy on the first visit. With more partnerships and referrals, returning users are easily targeted and ultimately converted into customers.
B2B marketing is more accessible and effective when adding the social media element and a skilled team to help keep it together.
Alt-Text: Graph showing most effective B2B marketing tactics.
The Televerde Advantage
The talented roster at Televerde gives your business a powerful advantage over your competitors and puts the best tools for social media marketing in your hands.
We combine technology, human engagement, best practices, and client partnership for optimal results – more effective marketing means more traffic, and that’s more money in your pocket.
