2023-12-05
'Social Media' is a household word among Gen-Zs. There are 4.9 billion social media users globally. That is 60.5% of the global population. Social media trends are a popular metric which affects the creation of a social media user base of more than half of the world population.
On average, social media trends change many times a year, with some trends lasting longer than others. Keeping up with these trends is essential for businesses and individuals to use social media as a marketing and branding powerhouse.
As we look ahead to 2024, here are five social media trends to incorporate into your strategies.
Audiences seek transparency and authenticity over being bombarded with marketing messages. Consumers in the digital age want to connect with brands that are real and that they can trust. The more authentic the content, the more brands can build relationships with their audience and create a loyal following.
Leveraging user-generated content (UGC) is one way to enhance your social rank through authenticity. UGC is content created by users, such as customers, rather than by the brand itself. UGC is a powerful medium to connect with your customers at a deeper level. It offers a more genuine and relatable perspective that can help build stronger bonds between your brand and followers.
In 2024, organisations that prioritise "entertaining content" over "promotional content" will see positive results. People use social media not primarily to seek brands trying to sell products or services, but rather to be entertained. The content that social media users prefer includes finding inspiration or motivation, feeling excited, being moved, and learning something new.
Brands can establish a long-lasting social media presence by creating entertaining and educational content for their followers instead of relying on big influencers for promotion.
Today, organisations use full-time professionals who specialise in creating internal B2B content. Many brands operate dedicated departments for content creation, while many marketing teams also function as microlearning units, investing in creating high-quality content that educates and informs their target audience.
This shift towards microlearning is already happening and is only going to become more prevalent in the future. Companies that embrace this trend will be well-positioned to succeed in the years to come.
With an increasing shift towards microlearning and edutainment, content creation is evolving to become more results-driven brand ambassadors. They will be valued for their previous results rather than their popularity and experience in producing high-quality content that will resonate with their target audience.
A survey done by Hootsuite shows that organisations plan to increase the use of AI by 318% for customer support activities in 2024 and a 260% increase in the use of AI for editing images in 2024.
AI will serve as the proficient developer while marketers provide the creative project managers. Today, marketers come up with ideas and concepts, and AI will help to execute them. This partnership will allow marketers to be more creative and efficient in reaching their target audience effectively in 2024.
Marketers can use generative AI tools to enhance their storytelling, create eye-catching social media posts and produce engaging text content, images and videos for blogs and social media. AI tools also help with repurposing and enhancing existing visual and text content.
AI-driven changes in the marketing and marcom industries have led to the creation of a new job role named “AI generalists”. AI Generalists, as the name suggests, are versatile individuals capable of performing multiple tasks using generative AI tools. They are adopted in creating and writing content, generating and editing images, developing video scripts, and generating and editing videos.
The average social media user logs into seven platforms each month. Marketers find it challenging to keep up with the constant release of new features by numerous social networks. Rather than attempting to juggle all platforms at once and experiencing a decline in time, money, and resources, brands are prioritising channels that bring them the highest number of eyeballs and ROI.
In the fast-paced world of social media, TikTok and YouTube Shorts reign supreme with their unmatched short video engagement and LinkedIn, the go-to platform for professionals to network.
TikTok and YouTube Shorts allow brands to connect with their target audience in a fun and engaging way and remain the king of capturing attention and driving engagement. The two platforms continue to grow in popularity, with higher user engagement and retention figures, proving to be fantastic tools for brands that know how to use them.
The algorithms are very effective at recommending videos to users, who are likely to be interested in them. This means that brands can reach a large and engaged audience with their content.
LinkedIn’s user base includes millions of professionals from many industries and sectors, making it an essential platform for creating and fostering B2B relationships. Storytelling is considered one of the most vital skills on LinkedIn.
In 2024, C-suite to executive employees at B2B brands will participate in leading social media communications, allowing them to connect with their customers at a more personal level to build trust while positioning themselves as thought leaders in their industry.
Brands have come to realise that engagement is much more important than having tons of followers, as it measures the number of people interacting with brand content. The more people who see and share the content, the more it grows in reach and the greater the chances of the bran getting noticed, which in turn will lead to an increase in brand loyalty and sales.
Social media algorithms are getting smarter. Algorithms will start to favour content that gets attention and encourages community engagement. The number of shares and direct messages will become an important KPI (key performance indicator) for social media managers to pay attention to.
With this social media, professionals will need to create content which will make users comment, like, repost and share to increase the reach and build a strong community around their brand.
The fast-paced world of social media is evolving, with trends and strategies. Adapting to these trends is vital to harness the power of social media.
Would you use social media trends as the missing piece of the puzzle to skyrocket your brand?
What trends do you use to grow using social media?
