Marketing trends now more than ever are building on social media engagement over older forms of advertisement, such as print, or TV advertisement. From TikTok to Chatbots, social and web media can shape a brand and help it explode!
Influencer Marketing Using influencers to market your product/service can be a very effective way of advertisement. This has been seen through platforms such as Instagram and TikTok, where even micro-influencers can share your product with your target customer base. Ensure you research an influencer before making a deal, as this may be marketed to an audience that you are not trying to attract, leaving a lack in engagement. This is popular through ‘Para social’ relationships which are increasingly popular through almost all social media platforms.
Video Marketing Video content is almost expected by customers to gain insight into a brand's product/service. Almost every company will create a video that can educate and inform a customer through the promotion of the product and/or service. A prominent example of this video success can be seen through Instagram, where ‘videos generate 21.2% more interactions compared to images (Socialbakers, 2020)’.
Chatbots Chatbots are becoming more and more prevalent in big industry names and their websites. Typically, consumers can feel overwhelmed if they find your website over-saturated with information, having a chatbot can offer the customer a quick alternative to find the product/service they are after, whilst also giving the option to ask any further questions. ChatBots are often automated messages, meaning customers can receive an almost immediate response to their query, without the need to contact your business through email, for example, which would take a longer amount of time to receive information for the customer.
TikTok as a Platform TikTok is one of the fastest-growing platforms for social media, and currently has 1 Billion users across the world. TikTok’s seen a huge growth in its engagement levels, with the average minutes per user almost doubling from Oct 2019 to March 2020. More than 90% of US companies spend money on social media content, whilst only 4% use Tik Tok as a platform for this promotion. The TikTok market is less saturated than other platforms, allowing your brand to stand out and grow a large customer base. TikTok has also recently released their business creative hub, this is an in-app resource that is free to all business accounts on the platform. This offers guides on content creation, as well as ongoing trending topics which will help you shape your brand's TikTok to be the best it can be.
In summary, your brand's relationship with your audience is key. Ensuring that the customers association and experience with your brand and product is positive can drastically increase sales across all sectors. 2022 will see the continuation and rise of businesses succeeding who prioritise content production and engagement over sales techniques.