Introduction
Nowadays, when you think of digital marketing and online campaigns, it’s virtually (no pun intended) impossible to remove the influence of social media from them. The advent of social media platforms heralded a new era of the digital age where every 20th-century business is expected to be present on at least one form of social media. This is supported by the fact that an estimated 3.5 billion people worldwide possess a smartphone. This essentially facilitates a neverending connection to the digital sphere.
Social media platforms are required to be constantly updated in order to remain relevant to technological advancements and to the general populace. Apart from that, they also face massive competition with new up-and-rising companies aspiring to create the next, big social media platform. It’s a tough business. As a result, all these factors culminate to influence how users and marketers interact through social media. Many businesses tend to post their ads on social media platforms, and there are even tools that will generate reports about how well these ads are doing.
Thus, if your job entails social media in one form or another, it is imperative to find out about social media reporting tools, and you can simply Get the free template now! Furthermore, it’s pertinent to acquire a comprehensive understanding surrounding these elusive yet pervasive social media trends.
A Digital Cleanse
Current social media user figures have exceeded 2019 predictions, thereby reiterating the apparent importance of effective digital branding through social media. A company has a greater capacity to reach a wider audience than ever before. However, social media is a double-edged sword.
Ramifications of increased social media access and usage have resulted in an observed rise of users choosing to remove themselves from social media, either temporarily or permanently. They do this by deleting their apps or profiles completely. This phenomenon is significantly different from previous trends of opting one platform over the other; instead, it involves an entire ‘detox’ from social media altogether.
A huge reason pertaining to this is due to the over-consumption or overstimulation of content on social media. Social media algorithms have purposely been designed to be addictive to the human brain. Its intuitive user interfaces like ‘homepages’ and ‘explore pages’ facilitate consistently pushing desirable content out to us based on our preferences as dictated by user activity. Consequently, users spend hours at a go mindlessly scrolling through these platforms. Sometimes, however, consuming such curated, idealized content starts to paint unrealistic expectations of our perceptions in real life which can have detrimental impacts on one’s mental health.
Another reason for a social media cleanse could be the proliferation of ‘fake news’ in recent years. It’s become increasingly easy to fabricate false news to promote ill-intentioned (or corrupt) agenda. Following such news instills wrongful misconceptions that could be potentially harmful if consumed by impressionable users like the youth.
In spite of all this, social media isn’t going to die anytime soon. It’s evidently become the new norm and accepted way of life as society continually advances. Its importance seems almost comparable with the invention of steam engines during the industrial revolution — that’s the extent of irrevocable influence social media has on modern-day society.
With that being said, more instances of social media cleanses does, however, correlate to a fall in consumer traffic. Hence, it would be wise to ensure that your other marketing channels are alive and well-accounted for. Channels like email and search engine marketing are still relatively relevant to this day. For maximum impact, your digital branding should be well dispersed across all your channels. Additionally, you’d want to create a lasting impression through this content — quality over quantity, don’t mindlessly push out content for the sake of it. Carefully curate it in an appealing and memorable manner to your target demographic.
Creating support systems
It’s undeniable that the power of (instantaneous) connection through social media is unparalleled. Engaging and encouraging audience interaction has been simplified to comment sections under posts. Not only can you directly reply to customers, but customers can also interact with one another.
Many bigger brands, unfortunately, fail to capitalize on their larger followings. Rather than attempting to be more personable and increase customer loyalty, they completely neglect their followers in their individual posts. No engagement happens at all. Ironically, it’s the smaller brands with significantly smaller followings engaging more with their consumers. Not only is this commendable, but in the long run, this will help elevate their businesses as it continues to expand. This is because consistent engagement leads to the establishment of solid brand support. Subsequently, the growth of communities will attract more customers, ultimately fulfilling a self-perpetuating cycle.
Being more honest and transparent in detailing the process of your brand development/struggles is also a great way to grow your audience community. People appreciate honesty because it translates to vulnerability and empathy. In turn, they instill reliability and trust. Thus, such content encourages conversations and mutually uplifts members, resulting in a substantial support system.
Hearsay, hearsay
Now, while the concept of social media influencers may seem new and highly specific, it really isn’t. The practically universal access to social media entitles everyone to create (as many) profiles as desired. Moreover, the flexible privacy options enable individuals to decide how public they want to be. As a result, these conditions act as the perfect breeding ground for anyone to become a social media influencer. All it requires is a decent following, establishing a content niche, and good user engagement for you to become a valuable resource to companies. In a sense, you can liken these influencers to public figure entities like celebrities and politicians, albeit on a relatively smaller and niche scale. By now, it’s also no secret that paying celebrities to participate in promotional campaigns rake up hefty sums. So why not use multiple influencers who are both cheaper and cumulatively reach a similar scale as a single celebrity? Never underestimate the power of word-of-mouth recommendations. In fact, studies have shown that many customers base their consumer decisions through recommendations from friends and loved ones because of reliability. Hence, the same principle applies to these influencers.
Closing statements
Thus far, I have only begun to scratch the surface of the immense world of digital marketing. While the branding tactics mentioned in this article pertain mostly to the human aspect of digital marketing, this strategy is a force to be reckoned with. As the sole purpose of firms is to be profit-maximizing, many of them become completely fixated with stats and numbers. However, they forget that behind these figures are individual, human customers. Thus, understanding the human psyche stands to reason as being the most fundamental prospect of growing a good business efficiently and effectively, more so than what regular business marketing measures can promise.
