Social Media News You Need To Know About

This week we'll discuss social media trends to help jumpstart your brand's content strategy, three trends shaping social commerce, and why brands are in it for the long haul when partnering with influencers.

For more news and trends, be sure to check out my blog. You can find more of my recent writing here and here.

6 Social Media Trends to Jumpstart Content Strategy

In an article by Buffer, there are many ways for brands to tap into social media trends that can lead to engaging content that resonates with one's audience. Some of my favorites include: 

• Invest in Influencer Collaborations - More to come in another article, but I'll always use an opportunity to promote influencer marketing. With 77% of marketers planning to dedicate a budget strictly to influencer marketing this year, influencers continue to be a powerful medium to reach new audiences at scale and create highly-engaging content.

• Share User-Generated-Content (UGC) - Recent data showcases that 72% of consumers see reviews and testimonials from actual customers as more credible than a brand talking about its products. In my career, the brands I’ve worked on regularly implemented this tactic by leveraging UGC via Stories and specific campaign work. 

• Create Meme-able Moments - We've talked about cultural moments in the past and how important it is for brands to know when to activate and when to pass. Many brands recently decided to meme-ify the physical violence inflicted on Chris Rock at the Oscars. While definitely a moment everyone was aware of, many pointed out that making fun of violence can negatively impact consumers' views of a brand. 

3 Trends Shaping Social Commerce

The growing trend of social media commerce is nothing new, but let's hear directly from Facebook why this trend is here to stay. Some of the highlights include: 

• 41% of consumers reported shopping daily or weekly via a mobile device, compared to 12% in 2017. 

• Looking at social commerce specifically, nearly 50% of social media users in the US reported buying something via a social media platform in the last 12 months.

While social commerce for the cannabis industry may not happen until federal legalization, cannabis brands are finding ways to tap into this, like selling merchandise through another account that has zero cannabis content (e.g. DogWalkers’ merchandise social account).

Brands Looking For Long-term Influencer Partnerships

In a recent AdWeek article, brands discuss how they're marketing efforts focus on partnering with influencers in the long term. At a high level, this is for two main reasons: 

• To create a long-term plan to establish genuine brand affinity by having an influencer create content around a brand multiple times throughout the year. This showcases how a product truly fits into one's lifestyle. 

• To save costs. If influencers know they're going to have consistent work, their overall rates tend to go down. Brands get to save on costs, and influencers have peace of mind knowing that incoming funds will be consistent. 
  
  I hope you found these news articles to be informative and useful. Until next time!