Gone are the days when companies are able to treat social media as an afterthought, or as a supplemental marketing channel. Today, social media platforms are where a business has an opportunity to consistently demonstrate its value, and reinforce its voice. Social networks are the go-to platforms where customers ask questions, offer accolades, and air complaints. No business can ignore the significance of its social media presence, because it influences how people perceive its brand.
The growing importance of personal branding to business branding
Particularly for small businesses, putting a real, human face to a brand name helps to build loyalty. A brand that’s more relatable, and has the human element, naturally garners more trust, and trust is essential for building relationships.
One way to humanize a brand is to promote the personal brand of the business owner or a high-level leader. This tactic has become a staple for many organizations, as demonstrated through guest blogging, podcast and webinar appearances, and other publicity opportunities. By enabling your audiences to get to know the character and expertise of company leadership, a business can strengthen its brand reputation.
Long-form content for making an SEO impact
While word count is not the only thing that can impact how prominently an article will appear on search engine results pages, SEO experts agree that long-form content can give you an edge.
Although Google doesn’t penalize blog posts if they fail to reach a certain word count threshold, it stands to reason that a high-quality article with 1,600 words will likely outrank a high-quality article with 500 words. It’s for that reason that I believe we’re seeing more publishers requiring guest authors to submit articles with a minimum of 1,000 or more words.
Acceleration of personalized marketing
With more companies digging into their data and using it to create customized marketing campaigns which target individuals' interests at different points in the buyer's journey, the pressure is on.
Customers have come to expect brands to tailor special offers and discounts to their wants and needs. To accommodate that expectation, more businesses will need to consider targeted advertising and retargeting campaigns on social media channels.
Video’s prominence as the preferred form of content
According to research by Wyzowl, 97% of marketers say that video has helped increase user understanding of their product or service, and 76% indicated that it has helped increase web traffic and sales. That doesn’t seem far-fetched, given that 95% of people have watched explainer videos to learn more about a product or service, and 81% have bought a product or service as a result of watching a brand’s video.
Live-streaming will continue its emergence as a powerful way to engage people on social media. According to statistics compiled by Go-Globe, two-thirds of all internet traffic in 2017 was streaming video. By 2020, 82% of internet traffic is expected to be video content.
For more details on our products and services, please feel free to visit us at Creative Direction, Advertising, Branding, Communications, Logo Design