5 Ways to Stay Relevant on Social Media in 2017

1) Video is King

While scrolling through your news feed, you’ll likely notice that videos are being watched and shared at a high volume. If you haven’t already, it’s time to jump on the bandwagon. Video is the future of social media marketing and could be just what your business needs to drive engagement. You don’t have to spend thousands of dollars to get your message across. The greatest tool you could possibly have lives in your pocket – your cell phone. It’s not about the production value, but rather posting relevant content that your audience will be interested in.

2) 90/10

90% of social media professionals probably know about the 90/10 rule, but after taking a look at the feed, it appears that only 10% actually use it. The 90/10 rule means that only 10% of your posts should be promotional and the other 90% should be educational, industry-related content. By doing this, you’re not only getting your brand name out there in a non-invasive way, but displaying expertise in your field. Ditch the online sales pitch and switch to content that engages your audience and starts a conversation.

3) Short & Sweet

Attention spans on social media (and in real life) are getting shorter and shorter by the second. So what does that mean for businesses looking to captivate an audience used to 140 characters and 6-second videos? It’s time to adapt. Keep your captions short and sweet, and find more creative ways to relay the information. Rather than cramming three paragraphs into one caption, create a video or infographic that will translate better to social media’s visual landscape. As a rule of thumb, we recommend keeping the character count down to the length of a tweet for all social media platforms.

4) Pay to Play

Nowadays, almost every brand is promoting their product or service on social media. Sometimes you need that extra boost to send your post to the top of the news feed. There are many advantages to putting your money where your mouth is. For example, targeting the right audience. Social media advertising allows you to target by location, demographics (age, gender, income), interests, and more. Why is this important for your business? Because you can deliver your message directly to users that are already interested in your industry and more likely to pull the trigger on buying your product or service.

5) Get Creative

Now that you’ve done steps 1-4 to effectively reach your desired audience, it’s time to captivate their interest. This is done by standing out from the other content they scroll by on their feed. A simple question that every social media professional should ask themselves before making a post is, “Would I stop scrolling to look at this?” If the answer is no, think even more outside the box to give the post the flare it needs. Whether it’s clever wording, a more visually-pleasing image, or even an occasional “dad pun,” there’s always a way to infuse some excitement into your content.

Written by: Hannah Lacamp & Gunnar Wilbert