Why Use Social media?
Social media has always been around but currently it has been a popular trend to be online. More people are utilizing the digital space for networking, advertisement, promoting and personal use. It’s a norm now to expect someone to have a social media account before even having a conversation with them. People are more likely to look up each other through Instagram or Facebook before meeting with someone. It is becoming more common to connect online than in person. Utilizing social media platforms is cheap, efficient and you can reach a large audience globally or locally. With new social media tools we uncover more various ways to expand our content exposure. This encourages leaders and aspiring independent entrepreneurs to amplify their creativity and create more social media content. It motivates creatives to be bold and join in on online networking and showcase their amazing art and various projects. Ordinary people everyday are also influenced by these factors and are using social media for personal use.
The most successful business are all online connecting with their consumers and fans. Social media is continuously being implemented into business strategies and end goals. In order to keep up with the rest of the digital friendly world, we must stay connected online. The more technology advances, consumer behaviors will change as well. Workplace expectations will also drastically change. As a result, the best businesses are creating comprehensive strategies in this area to support their goals” (Dutta, 2010). However in contrast to the research from the Pew Center, Dutta explains how Corporate leaders are not as active online as regular users. It is taking them longer to join to new paradigm. The Top 50 executives are all using their online venues to spread their own messages. Leaders in the CEO level who lack the presence on social media are not strategically thinking about keeping up with the online business trend. Dutta stresses that, Today’s leaders must embrace social media for three reasons. First, they provide a low-cost platform on which to build your personal brand...Second, they allow you to engage rapidly and simultaneously with peers, employees, customers, and the broader public...Third, they give you an opportunity to learn from instant information and unvarnished feedback” (2010). Having an active participation on social media is a powerful tool to allow leaders to lead not just at work but they can influence people globally. The benefits from being online are still growing and it will help leaders maximize their goals and achievements.
Who's Using Social Media?
The pew research found that 68% now report that they are using Facebook and three quarters are using it on a daily. Youtube is used by three quarters of U.S adults. This sounds like the digital world is expanding and looking at the dynamics of our lifestyles, it seems like it won’t be slowing down anytime soon. The research also states that “the share of social media users who say these platforms would be hard to give up has increased by 12 percentage points compared with a survey conducted in early 2014” (Smith and Anderson, 2). With more users on all of the main social media platforms, it pushes the trend even further down our future which means that we must prepare our businesses to be digital friendly.
They also found that majority of Americans use Facebook and YouTube. In the research, Aaron Smith and Monica Anderson states,
“Facebook and YouTube dominate this landscape, as notable majorities of U.S. adults use each of these sites. At the same time, younger Americans (especially those ages 18 to 24) stand out for embracing a variety of platforms and using them frequently. Some 78% of 18- to 24-year-olds use Snapchat, and a sizable majority of these users (71%) visit the platform multiple times per day. Similarly, 71% of Americans in this age group now use Instagram and close to half (45%) are Twitter users.”
Although Instagram and Snapchat are both heavily used by the young population, Facebook still remains as the primary platform for most Americans. Facebook has been around much longer than Instagram and Snapchat and most adults use it for connecting with friends and family. In addition, Facebook has also been adapting to new trends; offering advertisement tools and analytics history for brands to evaluate their promotion reach. These features keep current ordinary users on Facebook while also introducing more brands to utilize its marketing tools and functions. The research also found that, “The most notable exception is Instagram: 35% of U.S. adults now say they use this platform, an increase of seven percentage points from the 28% who said they did in 2016.” This proves that more people are coming online and participating in the online social networking.
In this research we also learn that different social media platforms show varied growth. “A majority of Americans use Facebook and YouTube, but young adults are especially heavy users of Snapchat and Instagram” (Smith and Anderson, 3). With this knowledge, companies can use it to their advantage when targeting their online users. If majority are young adults on Instagram, they must use an approach that will real in attention from that audience. The demographics on each social platform can also allow business users to depict which social media platform they want to use to promote their services/products.
Being an entrepreneur is a risky career move and it is challenging in today’s market. People are quitting their 9-5 to start their own independent career paths using the digital landscape. According to an article, “Being an Entrepreneur in the Digital Age,” it states that “there are still hundreds of startup popping up everyday” and “the internet has provided a wide range of people the ability to bring their ideas to fruition” (Robinson, 2018). The internet is blowing up with new tools and making it more easier for businesses to utilize. The push towards digital marketing has made social media campaigns more common and popular. This means that we will be seeing more rising leaders and brand collaborations. In another article, “How People Use Social Media in 2018,” it states that “nearly all Americans use social media at least once per day” (Herhold, 2018). The average person spends about 5 years of his or her life scrolling on social media. As the number of social media users increase, it is important to understand social media habits and analytics. By incorporating these understandings into marketing factors, businesses can can use their research and reports to understand habits from the consumer perspective and how to appeal to them through social media. Herhold also found that 86% use social media daily. This percentage tells us that we must incorporate social media in order to stay competitive in today’s economy.
All social media platforms have grown in size and those who maintain their active status online will reach the top successes. People of all demographics, age group and religious backgrounds are using various social media platforms. By understanding your target audience, you can understand which platform is more compatible to your service(s). From the article, “The Trends and Challenges Shaping Influencer Marketing in 2018,” it states that, “ 30% of consumers are more likely to buy a product recommended by a non-celebrity blogger. Consumers can relate more to these influencers and value their opinions more than that of celebrity influencers” (Pixlee). This means that anyone can be an influencer online. With more presence online, creatives all around the world can express their niche and become a public figure online. This is a great way for these individuals to collaborate with brands and make commission from what they sell to their followers. The Facebook algorithm also changed to favor contents from ordinary users over posts from publishers with more followings. It prioritizes authentic content so that brands can continue to work with influences, cultivating authentic relationships with their consumers.
Definition by Pixlee:
Social media influencer (noun): A Social Media Influencer is a user on social media who has established credibility in a specific industry. A social media influencer has access to a large audience and can persuade others by virtue of their authenticity and reach.
How To Stand Out In Social Media’s Competitive Population?
Social media is offering great tools for content creators, globally to increase their engagements and allow room for more creativity. However, with more users online, it is getting harder to receive attention. Standing out from the crowd is becoming more challenging. According to Robinson, he writes in his article, “a huge issue that today’s innovators face is how to make their idea or business different from the competition. The internet has provided a wide range of people the ability to bring their ideas to fruition, but, like a needle in a haystack, it can be difficult for investors and users to identify the companies that have the most potential” (2018).
Some various ways to make your business stand out is by picking the right social networks, draw inspirations, get input from your audience, be authentic, focus on your visuals and collab with other like minded creatives, influencers, artists and business partners.
Visuals are essential. Your content must be relevant to your audience and eye catching. Without the right visuals, your posts will not have a high reach. Kerry Creasewood writes in her blog post, “Never post anything on social media without a visual. They will receive 94% more views.” By understanding your audience, your post will reach to a larger audience, receiving more views.
Emotional Appeals
The most popular posts are appealing to emotions and are getting the most views. Facebook contents are being shared widely because of its emotional appealing relevant.
Also remember to tell stories. Posts that has a well told story accompanied by some creative visuals will have a good appeal. They could be funny, inspirational or personal.
Social media influencers are growing on all platforms. They are independent entrepreneurs that are just like any ordinary users. These individuals are successful because they are active on their social media venues. Influencers tend to have a more authentic relationship with their audiences which means that brands are more likely to collaborate with a paid partnership. Having a social presence online can change the outcome of your brand and businesses together. To stay competitive in the economy, you must keep up with the trends. Digital media is revolutionizing a new concept of marketing. It has shown progress in ROI rates and end of year goals. Although there are great benefits to the rise of influencer marketing, there are also some flaws to this trend such as the increase of fake followers and likes. However, with some attention to research, you can avoid fake engagements. Social media is here to stay and marketers are all driving their creativity for business results and influencers, globally are creating content everyday!
References:
Anderson, M. & Smith, A., (2018). Social Media Use in 2018. Pew Research Center. 1-19.
Dutta, S. (2014, August 01). Managing Yourself: What's Your Personal Social Media Strategy?
Retrieved from:
Barbour, M. (2018, Jan 24). The Trends and Challenges Shaping Influencer Marketing in 2018.
Retrieved from
Robinson, B. (2018, November 01). Being an Entrepreneur in the Digital Age. Retrieved from
https://www.smallbizdaily.com/being-business-entrepreneur-digital-age/
Kristen Herhold. (2018, October 17). Retrieved from
Definition: What is a social media influencer? (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://www.pixlee.com/definitions/definition-social-media-influencer
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