(Submitted by Melissa Carter, Business Development Specialist, Small Business Development Center, OSU South Centers)
With a new year brings new marketing ideas. The biggest question is what is going to be big in the world of social media. Here’s seven tips and trends that could benefit your online presence in 2017.
1 – Put People First. This isn’t really a new concept. But knowing your audience and your customers helps guide all marketing decisions. Talk to your target audience, or the demographic you are looking to attract about what they are looking for with online marketing.
2 – Live is Here to Stay. I’m sure you’ve seen it. You get the notification that your weather guy or sportscaster is Live on Facebook or Periscope. Now is the time to use livestreaming to your advantage. This helps to engage and interact with your audience as well as showcase your storefront, product, or service.
3 – Here Today, Gone Tomorrow. Expiring Content on Instagram and Snapchat is very popular with the millennial generation. Your business can utilize it to share a special deal, showcase a product, or show off a day in the life of your operation. Don’t worry about it being perfect, it’ll disappear in 24 hours.
4 – Incorporate Brand Ambassadors. These are loyal customers or trusted employees that are speaking about your business on their social media platforms. From wearing clothes to showing how to prepare food purchased at a farmers’ market, these individuals tap into their networks to gain increased exposure to your business.
5 – Mobile, Mobile! From Nectafy, 88% of consumers who search for a type of local business on a mobile device call or go to that business within 24 hours! Is your website mobile friendly? Are you accepting mobile payments? If you aren’t, now is the time to make sure you can be found via a smart phone.
6 – Social Messaging. Using WeChat, Facebook Messenger or other social messaging apps allows your customers to instantly contact you. Businesses should take advantage of this by sending shipping information, answering questions about products/services, or offering customer support.
7 – Pay to Play. Unfortunately, Facebook Pages themselves are getting harder and harder to be seen unless the business pays for an ad or boosted post. The good news is, for relative low costs, your message can be seen to hundreds of people in your target region.
Looking to revamp your marketing strategies for 2017? Contact me (Melissa Carter) at carter.1094@osu.edu for more information.