Social media can sometimes be a bit of a minefield and, to some, can feel a bit like voodoo. Unfortunately, social media in 2020 isn’t looking much easier to navigate. However, that’s why we’ve created this blog – to help demystify it for you. Below I have included our single best social media tip to creating a successful 2020 strategy!
So, what is our number one tip?
Drumroll please…it’s simply: don’t bite off more than you can chew. We see it year and year again, marketers and brands start lots of different social profiles and then find themselves stretched too thinly to manage them properly or create effective campaigns.
Our advice to you, start small and grow. One or two well run profiles that nurture a small and loyal audience will have far more impact and show a greater ROI than lots of badly managed pages. We want 2020 to be the best social year for you and that’s only going to happen when less is more.
But how do you decide which platforms to focus on? Easy. Choose the ones that suits your key audience best (where do they hang out online most?) but also the ones that suit your content; are you better at making a 3-minute video or a 1-minute one? That could be the difference between using Facebook and Instagram.
Need to know more about what each platform can offer? Here you go…
Let’s start with the biggest player, Facebook. Facebook has around 2 billion (that’s not a typo, 2 b-i-l-l-i-o-n) users worldwide. It dominates the online social-phere and has become a marketers’ Everest. It offers a wide range of tools, solutions, profiles and problems…starting with ‘which account should I be using?’. Facebook comprises people, groups and pages, but from a business perspective you really want to concern yourself with pages and maybe the odd group. Facebook’s complex algorithm means it will keep you on your ‘content creating toes’ and will try to lure you to pay for advertising; which can be incredibly successful when you spend time creating compelling ads and targeting the right people. The main thing to concern yourself with on Facebook in 2020 is navigating ‘Creator Studio’ and focusing on 3-minute videos that tell compelling stories: less short-form, more storytelling. Although it offers successes for both business-to-business and business-to-consumer businesses, B2C seem to come off on top more often than B2B.
Then there’s Twitter. Twitter may not have as confusing an algorithm or as many profile options, but it’s still not a walk in the park. However, if you’re telling news stories or commenting on topical issues, then this is the platform for you. Twitter is a great platform for news outlets, documentaries, journalists and live TV programmes. Twitter is all about immediacy, relevance and popular (or sometimes unpopular) opinion. It’s What’s Happening. Twitter’s real unique selling point though is its ability for small fish to talk to the big fish, publicly. Whether it’s Joe Bloggs sharing their opinions to Trump, or Trump sharing his opinions to the world, Twitter offers everyone the chance to be seen and heard. In 2020, you may want to consider how vocal you want your brand to be and to whom.
But what about Instagram? Some marketers and brands have totally harnessed Instagram’s potential, but many have not. Instagram, which is owned by Facebook, now has around 1 billion users worldwide; it’s no longer the new kid on the block. Instagram offers a whole host of exciting features (including filters, vertical storytelling, and tagging) and is seemingly one of the ‘easier’ platforms to generate engagement on. Although it has a similar algorithm to Facebook, Instagram offers brands the ability to break outside of their networks and become more discoverable via hashtags and location tags. Looking ahead, this will become increasingly important in 2020 for brands to reach new and wider audiences; especially with the increasing popularity of IGTV. Instagram offers ‘quick wins’ for consumer product brands, TV programmes, aesthetically strong brands and destinations; but it’s certainly not limited to these.
And we mustn’t forget about the less-cool, but oh-so-powerful, LinkedIn. Of all the social media platforms out there, LinkedIn has got to be one of the most underutilised but highly effective platforms. Maybe it’s because its interface isn’t as ‘sexy’, or maybe it’s because most people don’t know how to use it, but LinkedIn is a fantastic tool for B2B marketers to reach their target audience; or for you to reach commissioners and decision makers. LinkedIn is one big database waiting for you to come and mine it. Could this tool be the answer to your 2020 social media prayers?
Lastly, YouTube. YouTube has over 1.3 billion users and around 300 hours of video are added to the platform every
minute. YouTube is becoming a broadcaster in its own right and the platform of choice for younger audiences to consume longer form video content (previously known as TV programmes). But what does this mean to the creative industry? Well, it means we need to take YouTube very seriously. Whether we use it as our long form content distributor or a place to share our trailers and promos, we need to be including YouTube in our distribution strategies.
As you’ll be well aware, these aren’t the only social media platforms out there, in fact there’s big players like Tik Tok and Snapchat to think about too. However, these more niches platforms practically take a PHD to use effectively, and as I said earlier, stick to the platforms you know best and don’t spread yourself too thinly.
