Social media marketing trends to boost your campaigns for the second half of 2019

One of the reasons we love working with social media is that it’s ever-changing and a constant and exciting challenge.

Developing an understanding for the new trends and algorithm updates is key to driving results through social media marketing so we dedicate time each week to keeping ourselves up to date with any changes, experimenting with new campaigns and learning.

This month we’ve carried out a lot of research and tested what’s working well and what’s not and compiled a list for you to take away to boost your own campaigns for the remainder of 2019. If the first half of the year was slow and steady, try something new from this list. All these ideas are easily implemented without needing large resources or budget.

Case Study: The Replace Base

An online retailer of mobile device repairs and replacement parts

Cross-channel paid advertising is working well for B2B on unexpected platforms

We’ve recently had great success with a B2B brand that doesn’t lend itself well to Instagram. This is a service-based business that doesn’t generate any images and is based on private relationship building – under the radar.

Our client wanted to try Facebook and we have been posting regularly, but also had an advertising budget to use. We created long-from posts with simple branded images and set up cross-channel advertising to include Instagram. The reach on Facebook has been fantastic and the engagement level achieved so far is 43%, which is an excellent result for a non-visual, non-ecommerce brand. The business doesn’t have an Instagram account, and this isn’t content we would normally post on Instagram either, but the post has gained a lot of traction with the right audience and reached people that otherwise wouldn’t have known about the company.

LinkedIn engagement levels are booming

LinkedIn has added several new features, including a range of reaction buttons. Rather than simply liking a post, users can now “celebrate” “love” award something “insightful” or show that they are “curious”. Microsoft has reported a record level of engagement and an increase in revenue too.

We’ve certainly noticed an increase in reach and engagement for most of our clients, but more on the personal profiles than company pages. Sharing company page content onto your personal profile for your connections is a good strategy to get more eyes on your messages. We’ve also noticed company pages are getting more views in general, so make sure your page is regularly updated to avoid giving the impression that your business is dwindling.

Stories and storytelling are what people want

Who doesn’t love it when a story pops up? It’s a great chance to get distracted! Stories on Facebook and Instagram are performing much better than feed posts. Video, as we know, is a key part of any social media campaign, but anything short and snappy from a smartphone will do the job, as long as it’s relevant to your followers. Creating template designs for your stories and managing them into highlights is important too and will give your Instagram account the professional look and feel it deserves.

User-generated content is a great engagement strategy

Hashtags are working well for user-generated content and, of course, getting your users to contribute to your social feeds means less branded posts are needed. User-generated posts naturally attract more engagement, firstly, because they are more “human”, but secondly, when a user is featured on your brand page, they’ll be proud of this and will want to brag about it to their friends. Anything that is a shot of your customers using your product, visiting your business or benefiting from your services is a win. Make sure you’re keeping an eye out for social mentions using social listening tools so that you can find unprompted posts about your brand too.

We love social media and would be delighted to help you implement any of the above strategies for your brand. Our experienced and creative team works with all sizes of business across Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn. We can also help with YouTube.Contact usto learn more about templates, strategy planning, paid advertising, and social media posting services.