Written by Kayla Troike, Account Executive on Constellation Brands Account Team.
It’s undeniable that social media is a must-have tactic in your strategic communication tool belt. With more businesses utilizing social for their marketing, sales, and customer service needs, it’s crucial for PR professionals to have the ability to spot trends to optimize their time and resources. Social media experts armed with the ability to expand their client’s social reach will have the leverage they need to be at the top of every hiring manager’s list.
To help you stay ahead of the game, here are three content trends to get familiar with in 2017:
Search Engine Optimization
The title is daunting but the concept is simple: unique, original content stands out against similar content online. Search engines are becoming increasingly sophisticated, and are engineered to display the most relevant and popular information first. Someone who is well-versed in strategic copy writing can apply this idea to their content to ensure it gets more link clicks and impressions. A great starting point is YouTube, which is the second largest search engine in the world. Given the popularity of video, it is worthwhile to invest time in writing unique titles, descriptions, and hashtags to put your channel on the map. Check out Google AdWords for more insight on which combinations of words are the most and least competitive.
Instagram Advertising
Instagram is in a great position this year given the latest trends in video content. Gone are the days of still-imagery and text-only content, making way for more stimulating posts. Social media has fully embraced live video, and with the latest installment of “Live Stories” on Instagram, it’s time to employ your advertising efforts by housing content accordingly. Thankfully, Instagram made this possible with the release of carousel ads, which work to not only grab attention but also to call users to action. Companies can upload attention-grabbing short videos to their story that include a “swipe up” option that takes users directly to their website to learn more. This is a great way to both produce highly visual content, and link it with easy-to find information that encourages action. This means a better return on your ad spend than video alone!
Snapchat’s Goal-Based Bidding
Snapchat now has the power to determine which users engage in content versus those who simply view it. To help businesses target their customers effectively, Snapchat created a way to blast advertisements according to the desired audience. Enter goal-based bidding: a service that allows businesses to tell Snapchat whether they prefer users who are most likely to visit a website, watch a video, or install an app. This is important for social media pros because it prompts them to create content that is more personable and specific. With a narrowed down audience, social media content creators can provide their followers with that one-on-one experience.
Kayla Troike is a senior public relations major and business administration minor. She works on the Constellation Brands Inc. account team and plans to continue pursuing consumer PR in her hometown of Portland, Oregon.