6 Social Media Trends you Need to Know About for 2019

As we head on in to 2019, it’s important to remember that social media is an ever-changing field and if you want to succeed, you have to be able to adapt. So, to help you navigate the New Year, here’s a round-up of 6 social media trends you need to know about.

1. Focus on quality over quantity

In 2019, it’s going to be all about quality. Users do not want to be flooded with posts for the sake of it. If you want to stand out in a newsfeed this year, you must focus on quality.

So many businesses and marketers are guilty of hopping aboard a trend wave and riding it with irrelevant, ill thought out content. Don’t fall into that trap. Knee-jerk responses to trending topics or events does not necessarily lead to success on social media.

Make sure that everything you post has a clear purpose. Whether that’s to inform, entertain or educate – consider whether your posts are relevant before sharing.

Higher quality content leads to a higher quality following made up of people who genuinely relate to you.

2. Choose your platforms wisely

Just because social media is powerful, it doesn’t mean you need to be on every platform. Far from it. Businesses that make the mistake of creating accounts on every platform because they think it’s the right thing to do can end up wasting a lot of unnecessary time.

Remember that every social media channel has its own purpose and audience. There are plenty of people who use multiple platforms but they go on to each one for different reasons. Consider your audience before creating profiles on multiple social media channels.

Here’s a handy guide to help you choose the right networks for you.

3. Be human

Social Media is all about being personal and showing that your brand has a personality – which in 2019 is what consumers want to see. Faceless, corporate companies don’t tend to thrive on social media as their narrative is too cold and impersonal.

In 2018, we saw some great examples of businesses showing a personal side. Here’s a round-up…

Tesco Mobile take the biscuit when it comes to showing a more human side on social media. Their quick wit, sass and approachability makes them a clear forerunner in the online personality stakes.

 

Southwest Air demonstrates a great example of customer interaction here. Although this is not a complaint, they engage swiftly and show that they respect customer opinions.

 

4. Be clear on your goals

Guesswork and unreachable goals are only going to hinder your social media performance. Start 2019 off with a set of achievable, measurable goals. Whether that’s to grow your following by 5% in a year or to achieve a 10% higher conversion rate on your Facebook ads – make them reachable.

Start by making sure you are 100% clear on your target audience. You may think you already know this but if you haven’t been achieving great results, this may be something you need to work on. Get your team together and spend some time creating customer personas. Really thing about their pain points, what makes them tick and how you can help them.

Once you have a clear picture of your audience in mind, you can then begin to formulate some focused goals. Make sure you share them with your team so everyone is singing off the same hymn sheet and driving forward your objectives.

 

5. Always think about customer experience

The beauty of social media is that it enables a two way conversation between businesses and consumers. Although organic social reach is declining, you can still use each platform to engage with your target market.

To do this well, be sure to post interactive content which will encourage engagement. Think polls, quizzes, Q & As and competitions. Use these tools to ask for their opinion and encourage users to start a conversation.

It’s also important to monitor these interactions so you can intercept any negative comments or feedback. Be careful how you handle negativity as simply ignoring or deleting this won’t look good. Show that you’re desire to help people and do what you can to turn any negatives around.

 

6. Make your visuals eye-catching

There are plenty of helpful tools such as Canva which can help you to create truly stunning visuals with minimal effort. Overlay images with text, create infographics and use images that really stand out. For free images which have a less ‘stocky’ feel, head to Unsplash or Pexels.

To get some inspiration for this, check out what larger brands are doing. Look at the way they compose images and how they use text. Take inspiration from them to help make your visuals really pop. Mediocre images just won’t cut it in 2019.

 

To sum up

As we head into 2019, social media is only going to grow in popularity. New generations (old and young) are increasingly setting up accounts meaning audiences are growing for businesses.

Remember that people don’t go on social media to be sold to. They want to interact and have two-way conversations, whether that’s with brands or friends. Don’t be that brand that just spouts constant sales messages with little regard for what audiences want to see.

The most effective social media strategies start with the intended audience. If you get your audience and show you understand them, they’ll be far more engaged with your content.