With the decline of organic reach on Facebook and Instagram, brands need to rethink their approach. In the world of changing algorithms, marketers are consistently kept on their toes for getting in front of their audience.
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Instead of chasing people around, how can you pull people in? Facebook is putting more stock in creating micro-communities. Groups are at the center of this strategy and present a rich opportunity for brands to connect with users and build loyalty.
Recent data from the Sprout Social Index highlights that 40% of marketers view private communities as a top social trend to prioritize in 2023.
Group posts are what the Facebook algorithm is looking for.
According to Facebook themselves, the platform prioritizes content from Groups that users frequently engage with. So, if you’re consistently publishing to your Group and your audience is reacting to it or they’re posting content themselves, you’re feeding the algorithm exactly what it wants.
The concept of short posts that disappear after being viewed started with SnapChat. Millennials helped grow SnapChat because of the ability to tell a quick story on their smartphone. Instagram and Facebook took notice and created a ‘stories’ feature. YouTube unveiled its own version called Reels. TikTok jumped into the foray in 2019, allowing users to create videos on the spot and behind the scenes for a less polished and more authentic look.
There are several benefits to using social media stories including:
A simple way to engage users is to add Polls to your Stories. For instance, the National Basketball Association used Polls to ask their followers who they thought would win the upcoming matchups. Additionally, it was a useful tool to build anticipation around the event itself.
For brands that have a local presence, there are a few ways to “localize”.
Consumers often use Stories to search for local businesses. For instance, on Instagram Stories, some location searches have a story icon that allows users to view recent stories that have used the location sticker.
Hashtags are popular on Twitter and Instagram and have a similar effect of driving user traffic to a business for more information. Add in hashtags for cities, towns, communities, or events to get found when someone searches that hashtag.
On Instagram, when uploading an image to share, you can select a location. These show up when someone uses the “explore” feature.
In conclusion, social media isn’t going away and businesses need to learn what works for their business. Doing nothing on social media now may only hurt a business in the future as its competitors continue gathering up followers.
If your business needs help with social media, contact us for a comprehensive social media strategy plan.
