In an era where digital interaction has become an integral part of our daily lives, keeping up with social media trends is like keeping tabs on society’s pulse. What once was a winning move can easily become a misstep in the blink of an eye.
From sustainability and social responsibility to gamification and social commerce, keep reading to discover our predicted social media marketing trends for 2024.
In 2024, we expect to see a continued push towards video-first content.
Statistics show that social video content generates 1200%1 more shares than text and image content combined. Because of this, we expect brands will be ramping up short-form videos, live streaming, and interactive videos to provide social media users with a wide range of attention-grabbing content to effectively engage audiences.
Reactive content involves posts in response to current events, trending topics, or popular conversations happening online. We expect brands to be jumping into conversations more in 2024!
However, not all brands are going to do it right. The key to creating reactive content is to add something of value to the discussion already happening. Additionally, misjudged or insincere attempts at capitalizing on trending topics can backfire and harm a brand’s reputation. It’s essential to strike a balance between timeliness, relevance, and maintaining the brand’s voice and message.
From Lemon8 to Threads, we’ve all seen quite a number of niche social media platforms emerge onto the scene—and 2024 is bound to bring more.
When a new and promising social media app pops up, brands will be encouraged to jump on the platform and say “hi” early. Brands that adopt new platforms early will garner the best organic reach and follower growth, differentiating themselves in spaces that haven’t yet become overly crowded.
Due to TikTok’s skyrocketing success in recent years, it’s no surprise that countless brands have decided they want to get on the platform.
Since we don’t see TikTok’s success slowing down, you can expect that brands will continue to sign up for this app to reach their target audience—especially if Gen Z and Millennials make up their main demographic.
Beyond just tapping that sign-up button, TikTok ads will reign as a leading advertisement solution. It’s easy to see why this creative medium owns the social media landscape, as TikTok ads have a potential reach of 109.5 million users in the U.S. alone.
Fifty-four percent of consumers are more likely to be loyal to a brand that strives to be environmentally responsible or has sustainable and ethical business practices. Social media has fostered a culture of transparency, making it easier for consumers to scrutinize and hold brands accountable for their actions. Consumers search for brands that align with their values.
This social media marketing trend for 2024 will see more brands incorporating sustainability initiatives and purpose-driven content into their feeds to genuinely connect with socially conscious audiences. We expect they’ll look to showcase their commitment to ethical practices and engage in conversations surrounding important social causes, openly sharing their efforts, goals, and progress.
Social commerce involves using platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok to sell products or services directly to consumers. It’s a convenient and seamless way for people to shop without having to close their apps.
Facebook was the first to kickstart this trend in 2016 through their platform’s “marketplace” feature. By 2018, Instagram introduced shoppable posts for brands through which consumers could check out on the app itself. Come 2021, TikTok and Shopify teamed up to create TikTok Shop, enabling users to enjoy in-app shopping.
As advertisers struggle with attribution in a cookieless world, social media apps will continue to remove friction to user purchases from organic posts and paid ads on social media, which will help inform optimization within their ad tools.
AI-driven personalization has emerged as a significant trend on social media due to its ability to enhance user experiences and drive engagement.
AI algorithms analyze user behaviour, preferences, and interactions to offer personalized content recommendations. This ensures that users see content that aligns with their interests, increasing engagement and time spent on the platform. TikTok’s For You feed is just one example.
It can also be used to create personalized ad campaigns on social platforms by analyzing user data. Brands can tailor their messages, products, and offers to specific audience segments, leading to higher conversion rates and ROI.
Given how it helps brands more accurately target their audience’s interests, we think it’s here to stay in 2024.
Gamification incorporates elements of games—such as challenges, rewards, and competitions—into social media platforms, making the user experience more engaging and interactive. Gamification increases content discovery and feed engagement by 68%2. By offering some form of reward for certain interactions or achievements on a platform, gamification incentivizes social media users to participate more actively and frequently, as it contributes to a sense of accomplishment.
Here are some of the popular ways gamification elements are being integrated into social media marketing:
Additionally, gaming features can create revenue streams for social media platforms through in-app purchases, advertisements, or sponsorships related to the game-like experiences.
Through chatbots and AI, brands can analyze common conversations surrounding their products, provide instant answers, and add personality to their messages on social media.
At the end of the day, these elements help streamline processes for both consumers and your team. Being able to instantly provide users with helpful answers will solidify your brand as one that prioritizes satisfied customers.
Sorry Google, but whether consumers are looking for travel ideas, style tips, product research, and more, social media has become the go-to search engine.
The way people search for information—especially Gen Z—is ever-evolving. One thing’s for sure right now: TikTok and Instagram are the key pieces when it comes to figuring out answers to search queries. As such, optimizing content for social discovery and exploration is a must if you want to be seen. Relevant keywords are a must!
As we wrap up our exploration of the exciting social media landscape in 2024, one thing is abundantly clear: the realm of digital interaction is evolving at an astonishing pace. From the pervasive integration of AI-driven personalization to the captivating rise of gamification for entertainment, these trends are reshaping the way we connect, share, and experience the digital world.
The trends we’ve explored are not just fleeting fads; they are the foundations of a future where our digital experiences are more enriching, personalized, and impactful than ever before. If you’re ready to incorporate these social media marketing trends into your 2024 marketing strategy, it’s time to call The Influence Agency.
Our expertise is in 360° digital elevation. From social media advertising to influencer marketing to branded content, we’re the team that can transform your online presence. We’ve worked with clients across industries and can’t wait to get started working with you next!
Talk to us today to discover more.
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Are you aiming to increase web traffic or grow your social media presence? Figure out why you’re leveraging paid media in the first place and build your strategy from there. Having clearly defined goals in mind will help you focus on your brand’s key priorities.
Designing strategies that cater to all three stages of the buyer journey ensures that you’re maximizing your brand’s reach. Every user at every stage is valuable—and you have to make sure you’re creating paid media content that speaks to each audience type.
Effective paid media is tied to targeting the right keywords. If you’re leveraging paid search ads to appear on SERPs (search engine results pages), then in-depth research is necessary. Bid on the keywords that are most relevant to your business to trigger only the most effective ad appearances.
Gather your team—because it’s time to start coming up with ad copy that wins attention. The key is to resonate with your audience and inspire engagement. Be real. Be relatable. And most importantly, don’t underestimate the power of creativity.
Do the landing pages on your website effectively push visitors further down the sales funnel? If not, you’re letting potential customers slip through your fingers. Optimize each of your landing pages so that they nudge users towards converting.
The options are plenty when it comes to paid advertising, including Google, Meta, TikTok, LinkedIn, Microsoft, and Pinterest among others. Analyze who your target demographic is, research where it’s best to connect with them, and then target the platforms where you wish to build awareness.
If you’re ready to build your paid media ad campaign, you’ll find that it will be further broken down into “ad groups” to ensure more effective pay-per-click advertising. These ad groups house one or more ads that have similar targets or categories. Let’s say your brand’s website features categories such as clothing, shoes, and accessories. Creating ad groups according to keywords that fall under these categories will help the PPC system decide when to show ads for these products.
Retargeting ads are bound to succeed because it’s a second shot at a conversion. Visitors have shown interest in the product/service once before, and sometimes all it takes is a little reminder to push them to the checkout page. So don’t forget to retarget and aim better this time.
In the world of paid media, what works and what doesn’t? You’ll have to run A/B tests to find out! Whether you’re testing which keywords bring more traffic or which social platforms earn more ad engagement, you won’t find out what really works for your brand until you test it.
Revisit your initial goals. Did your efforts bring about the results you expected? Tracking results is an essential step in your brand’s paid advertising campaigns. The data you collect from currently running ads will help lay the foundation for your future campaigns.
After tracking your results, you’ll be able to see where adjustments are necessary. There’s always room for improvement, so keep striving to consistently resonate and build trust with your audience—it’s how to create paid ads that pay off.
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