Long-form videos are back from the depths

One of the main reasons for social media engagement skyrocketing in the past few years is because of short-form videos. Short-form videos are pieces of content that have a high retention rate because of their short and engaging nature. These are a great way to increase your brand’s visibility and help you grow digitally. 

Lately, however, the long-form videos on social media are gaining traction. People are starting to engage better with long-form videos that create curiosity and keep the user hooked. 

You can use this to your advantage and create engaging videos in a storytelling format to keep your viewers engaged. This can help increase the visibility of your brand.

The power of memes 

Gone are the days of boring marketing videos and posts on social media. People love humor and lately, brands have been using this to their advantage by creating content that is fun and quirky.

Memes resonate a lot with a younger audience and help you build a strong connection. You can create Instagram reels or funny TIKTOKs which are easy to go viral and help increase your reach.

I love how Ryanair does this perfectly through their bold approach which most users find funny and positively affects their brand.

Human-generated content for engagement

Let’s say you see an ad with a person smiling and explaining the product and a plain banner with information about the product. Which would you choose? The first one of course!

Humans are social beings which means they appreciate human contact. This is evident when we see that people prefer and interact better with social media posts with people in it over a random post with just text.

So this can be an easy way you ensure that your post interactions are at the max. Just use human-generated content with real people in it. After all the posts are for people like you and me, right?

Community activity as a norm

One of the best for you to establish strong connections and build a loyal customer base is by creating a tight-knit community on a social media platform.

Having such an online community would enhance the trustworthiness of your brand and enhance your image among new users.

A great way you can achieve this is by interacting with your customers’ posts or engaging with them in comments. You need to pretty much just stay active on social media and be attentive to what is happening. Having a dedicated amin who ensures that the brand interactions are on point would really help enhance the brand image.

Integrated E-commerce stores

One of the most effective social media trends for businesses is linking your e-commerce store with social media pots.

Let’s say you see a social media post promoting a handbag and you really like the product. You try and search for the handbag but it takes time, and being frustrated you abandon the search. 

Now imagine if there was a button right on the social media post that takes you directly to the specific product page where you can buy the bag. This is what integrating e-commerce stores into your social media does.

It gives the ability for your prospects to easily buy the product by simplifying the steps involved. This would tremendously increase your conversion rates and boost the sales made through social media posts and Ads

Seo for social media

Social media has become an avenue for search, especially for the newer generation. Nearly 40% of Gen Z prefers using TikTok and Instagram for search over Google.

I recently planned a vacation to Kerala, and instead of searching on Google for places to visit on google, I used social media. Because the articles and Google Maps would suggest tourist attractions that many would already know.

I wanted to have a first-hand review of places so I searched on Instagram using hashtags like #️⃣Kerala #️⃣offbeatkerala and #️⃣calmstaysinkerala. Then looked at Instagram reels and pots and booked my hotel through that.

So if you want to leverage the new avenue of traffic it’s important to optimize your social media posts as well. Make the sharable to increase visibility among people. Optimize your images and use hashtags to ensure that it is optimized for searches.

Lift the curtains for transparency

airup hopping on the latest social media trend in 2024 by showing some behind-the-scenes content at their office to build a connection with their audience.

Have you watched a sitcom or any rom-com? Do you kinda feel sad when the show ends?

That’s because we would have grown a connection with those characters on the show.

Humans are emotional beings, and trust is one of the key factors in establishing emotional connection. Popular brands have been using this to create meaningful connections through social media.

How do they do it?

The brands that have numerous followers show people what happens behind the organization, the people behind the creation of the products they love, and everyday life at the office. All this makes people feel closer to the organization. These behind the curtains content establishes deep connections and increases brand loyalty among customers.

Customer engagement as a measure of success

It’s so 2016 to think that followers and likes are the measuring factors of social media success. The new way to measure your success in social media platforms is through meaningful engagement with posts. Like the replies on the polls, you posted in Instagram stories or the general comments you get in posts.

A page or brand that has an active comment section is seen as much more successful and trustworthy than a brand with millions of followers who are not active. So measuring your success in terms of engagement is a key trend to follow in 2024 to keep you on track to success.

Sometimes follow the crowd

Gymshark implementing one of the key social media marketing trends in 2024 by following the 360-degree camera trend on Instagram to increase visibility.

We all have grown to think that being unique is essential and that is key to success. That is not always the case when it comes to social media.

If you want to increase your visibility on social media platforms sometimes you need to follow the crowd. Let’s say there is a new trending audio on Instagram that everyone is using, in a situation like this using the trending audio to make your own version of an Instagram reel would help increase visibility as it increases your chance of becoming viral.

However a simple replication would only have a negative impact, you should use the trending audio as others but not copy the same video idea as others, this can be the difference between success and failure with this trend.

Micro-influencers

Normally you would pay the influencers with millions of followers to promote your product to increase sales without the need for great brand influence yourself.

This isn’t the optimal method however, a recent trend has emerged where brands prefer small influencers for product promotion over popular ones. This is for two main reasons cost and connection with followers. 

Famous influencers would demand a substantially higher amount of money compared to small influencers. These small influencers though have a comparatively low amount of followers they have a deep connection with them. So when they promote your product their followers are highly likely to interact with the most and make a buying decision.

So, getting in touch with micro-influencers is a key social media marketing trend that you must follow to increase your sales and brand image.

Social media for customer service

A vital trend that has been on the rise is answering customer queries and dealing with customer complaints on social media. Due to the long waiting time in call centers and late replies to emails, customers are beginning to vent out their gifs on social media platforms.

I had a friend who bought a two-way airplane ticket for a trip to Bali from Air Asia, he had some problem with the baggage allowance, so he immediately commented on one of Air Asia’s posts with his grief and they responded immediately. 

This way of responding is a win-win for both parties, my friend had his problem solved, and Air Asia increased the brand trust by responding to queries in the comment section. People seeing this interaction in the comment section would have a high opinion of Air Asia now.

So if you want to solve your customer queries and use that interaction as a way to market your brand’s trustworthiness this social media marketing trend is a must-follow for you.

Targeted Ads

Imagine if you could only advertise to the people who are most likely to buy your product and you only have to pay for those ads. This would be a great way to increase the conversion rate and save a ton of money, right? That is targeted Ads for you!

Social media is one of the most effective places for targeted ads as they will mostly be displayed on mobile phones which most users prefer as a buying device.

Leveraging Algorithms with tailored content

Nike following the social media marketing trend of using tailored content to reach the appropriate target audience.

Ever found yourself on Instagram reels completely engaged? I have, I understand that social media can be a highly engaging platform because of the tailored content it provides.

Almost all social media platforms have intricate algorithms that make sure that the content you see is of interest to you. This ability to carefully curate your social media feed is key to having high engagement.

So how can this be useful for you? Let’s say you sell football boots, who would be your prospects? Footballers and people interested in football, right?

So if you make social media content that is tailored to your potential customers, the social media algorithms would show those posts to those specific groups of people interested in football.

This would mean that your posts are mostly seen by people who would be interested in your products, which can increase your sales by a mile.

Social justice stance

Social media marketing is not just about selling your products and services. It can be a place to establish your brand’s identity and influence.

An effective way brands in recent days are increasing their credibility and image is by taking a stance on social issues and standing for justice.

Voicing out your support or criticism on social issues can help gain trust amongst your audience and also help solve the social issue at hand. This can also be a way to increase your brand visibility.

Learn, implement, adapt, and grow with the latest social media marketing trends

So yeah! This is it, I have told you about all the social media marketing trends that are essential in 2024. Now it is up to you to pick the ones that suit your business and grow! One last thing, always remember that no strategy or trend is perfect, so keep an eye on your metrics and optimize your strategies accordingly.

If you are looking to broaden your online marketing approach however it is better for you to branch out of social media and follow the latest digital marketing trends to maximize your outreach efforts.

Always stay vigilant for any new trends that might emerge as staying updated and relevant is what defines the top 1% of markets from the rest. To stay updated with all things digital marketing and more check out my blogs and articles on JLOGS.