Marketing Tactics You Want to Retire in 2019
November 20, 2018
There comes a time for every company when evolving and improving marketing plans becomes a must. Sometimes, even the most tried and true strategies fall by the wayside, especially as technology continues to advance and bring new and exciting ways to advertise products and services across the internet.
One of the most major ways companies are changing their marketing tactics is by including more social media in their online presence. It’s no longer enough to have just a website, or just a blog, you also need your feet in several social media platforms to make waves in the modern web. From Facebook and Twitter to Instagram and Snapchat, there’s no shortage of methods to express yourself socially online.
Research for the second quarter of this year suggests that Instagram is the best way to spend your time and money when internet marketing is the plan. In fact, many companies have begun investing more and more in Instagram vs. other modes of advertising. The social media company was up 177% in 2018.
How does Instagram make such a difference to the marketing of big business? Influencer marketing lets companies reach out to audiences they might otherwise have no access to by specialized placement of ads and products by those with high ranking profiles and high-numbered followers.
There’s a lot to learn from experts in the field of social media marketing, including what’s no longer working. Here are a few tactics you should think about retiring for 2019.
Don’t Try to Make Your Product Seem Perfect in Influencer Campaigns: One of the faulty tactics marketers use through social media is trying to create a vision of a perfect product that your influencer ranks highly. Of course, as a business you want your product to succeed, but often times, the best advertisement on social media is the honest one. If your product is as great as you think it is, it’s going to have some pros and cons and a good influencer will highlight the best features while touching on a few of the negatives. For example, a new clay face mask might be rated as going on smooth and leaving skin silky and soft, but having a bit of a strong odor. Now, lots of these types of products have scents to them, so this is a small, but significant con to mention, because it shows viewers that this isn’t some standard paid ad where an actor is saying what you want them to say; this is a real-life experience of the product and potential buyers will respect that.
Focusing on Followers Rather than Views: The time has gone where the number of followers an influencer had was the main reason to approach them. While having many followers is an advantage, it isn’t always an accurate portrayal of their expertise. Some followers may not be as active as others; some could have been “bought”. The best way to rank an influencer is by the number of views, likes, and comments their content receives. This shows that it’s being shared and appreciated by viewers, which is exactly where you want your product or service to be featured.
Leaving Content Where it Lays Online: Graphics and videos don’t always come cheap, and when you shell out the money to create something aesthetically pleasing and relevant to your brand you don’t want to just let it go. Many businesses aren’t sure what to do with this content once it’s out there. They leave it on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to gather dust in the hopes it will be seen again.
Of course this content can stay on your social media, but this isn’t the only place it should appear. This content is your content, and while you don’t want to repeat yourself or create duplicate posts, you can recycle infographics, high definition images and videos on your website, blog, and other marketing campaigns.
Staying in a Single Niche: This is an age where nearly anything is achievable through online marketing. There’s no clear cut box to stay inside of. More and more marketers are branching out and looking for creative ways to stand above competitors in their industries. While there are some very serious rules to follow in social media marketing, there’s also plenty of wiggle room for creativity.
Knowing your target audience is important but not the only audience you can market to. More and more retirees and teenagers are getting online these days; it isn’t just the late 20’s to early 40’s you need to focus on for online marketing. Social media brings all types of people from all backgrounds. You can reach out to lawyers, teachers, retirees living in senior communities, professional sports players, celebrities, high school students and more. Whether you’re selling school supplies, sneakers, vacation packages, or makeup, there are more potential consumers online than you may have previously thought.
These are just a few of the mistakes you could make going into 2019, but don’t worry, it’s never too late to recalibrate your campaign, and 2019 is already shaping up to be a promising year for online and social media marketing. With social media taking up so much daily time for internet users, it’s impossible for consumers not to notice a few of the ads that pop up on their feed, especially if they’re being provided by a favorite YouTuber or Instagram celebrity. If you haven’t yet dipped your nib in the social media ink, now is as good a time as any, breaking in when the profit margins are at their highest.