4 Social Media Marketing Trends Impacting Firms in 2018

By: Becky Livingston

Just when you think you’ve got a solid social media marketing strategy for your firm, things shift. That’s one of the exciting things about social media, but also one of its biggest challenges.

Here are four trends that will impact firm’s social media efforts in 2018.

Instagram for Recruiting

If your firm hasn’t created a recruiting Instagram account, now’s the time. Storytelling via this platform is a great way to highlight you firm’s culture, corporate governance efforts, and personality. According to dubub, [https://techcrunch.com/2017/05/09/snapchat-survives/] “Instagram Stories generated an average of 35 percent more views for brands than Snapchat Stories.”

LinkedIn + Video = Win

Your firm’s LinkedIn strategy could get kicked-up a notch by incorporating video posts this year. Blow by your competition by sharing QuickBooks clips and accounting how-to’s to increase your firm’s traction. Then, sponsor those posts to help increase your brand’s footprint into new markets or existing target markets. Tip: Ask staff to share the post on their LinkedIn profiles too.

Facebook Budgets Will Increase

In case you haven’t heard, brand promotions on Facebook will be suppressed, yet again. That means your firm’s organic posts will reach even fewer of your daily five percent allotment. This pay-to-play platform is encouraging brands to increase their organic post’s timing; to use targeting tools to reach specific audiences; and to pin important posts to the top of the page, e.g., tax reform stories.

If you haven’t engaged in influencer marketing, you’ve been missing out. Micro- to mid-sized influencer use is on the rise. Leveraging people with audiences you want to target helps to increase your brands awareness in the marketplace, while demonstrating your desire to reach people on a more organic level. A great way to find influencers is with Hashtagify.me. Simply look up a topic using a hashtag. Then review the influencers shown. Research their profile, audience, reach, and social media credibility before engaging with them. Ask them to review something you’ve been working on and/or to provide feedback. If they like it, ask them to share it on their social profiles.

How to create an Instagram story.

1. From within the account, click on the arrow in the top, left corner.
2. Tap the circle button at the bottom of the screen to take a photo or hold it down for video.
3. To add a drawing on the image, use the buttons in the top, right corner.
4. To add a filter, swipe left or right to choose from available options.
5. Tap the check-mark at the bottom to add your story.