social media in 2018
Rachel Moffett

#ContentWritingChat Recap: Strategies for Growth & Engagement on Social Media in 2018 with Lisa Marcyes

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It’s safe to say many brands have a goal to grow their social media presence this year.

However, that’s often easier said than done when it comes to the tricky algorithms platforms like Facebook and Instagram have in place!

Luckily, we’re here to serve up some helpful tips so you can see more growth and engagement in 2018! And it’s all thanks to this week’s #ContentWritingChat.

#ContentWritingChat Recap: Strategies for Growth & Engagement on Social Media in 2018 with Lisa Marcyes

Our guest host this week was Lisa Marcyes. Lisa is the head of Social Media Marketing at Marketo and she shared some of her best advice with us! If you want to find out what she and our other chat participants had to say, keep reading for the recap!

Q1: How do you anticipate social media to be different in 2018? Are there any trends to watch out for?

It’s no secret that social media is always changing! Because of that, it can be hard to keep up if we aren’t staying updated on all the latest trends. To ensure you’re a social media sensation this year, here are a few things you’ll want to keep an eye on:

Lisa said live streaming will become even more important in 2018. It’s a great way to engage with your audience and build relationships with them.

She also said chatbots are going to increase in popularity this year. Many brands are already using them, especially on Facebook.

Lexie know that’s video marketing has been hot for quite some time now and it’s not going anywhere. She thinks we’re going to see even more high-quality video and better live streams this year.

Rebecca also thinks we’ll see an increase in high-quality, authentic video from online creators. She’d also like to see more captioned videos, which adds accessibility for those who are hearing impaired or watching without sound.

Besides an increase in live video, we may be seeing more virtual and augmented reality through social media in 2018.

Since people are already watching TV online, there’s a good chance they’ll start tuning into Cheddar’s platform.

Bill would like to see businesses get more serious about creating audience-centric content. After all, it’s important to use social media as a tool for building relationships.

Brands are starting to see the value of injecting personality into their content, so it’s something we may see more of in the year ahead.

Ray thinks more business owners are going to see the value in Stories from platforms like Instagram and Snapchat. They’re helpful in building relationships with your audience.

Q2: If you want to see audience growth on social media, what are the best tactics to use?

While quality is certainly more important than quantity when it comes to followers, there’s nothing wrong with wanting to grow your audience! However, algorithms have certainly made that more difficult. To boost your following, keep these tips in mind:

One of Lisa’s tips is to include images with your social media content. She said visual content is 40 times more likely to be shared than any other kind of content, which is pretty impressive.

Julia knows that building a community is essential for growth on social media.

Lexie’s advice is to talk WITH your audience, not at them. Show that you’re listening and that you value what they have to say.

Three growth strategies you can easily start implementing today? Consistently post valuable content, engage with your audience, and review metrics to see what’s working and what’s not.

Engaging with your audience is essential to boosting your following. You can follow people in your industry to share their posts and start conversations.

No matter what, Jason knows it all goes back to creating quality content that provides value to your audience. Without that, no one will want to follow you.

Gene’s advice is to be real, consistent, helpful, and polite. He also said to be a networking and connector, which is what social media is for after all!

Andrea’s recipe for success is to be consistent with posting, focus on networking, and using great visuals.

Make sure you’re creating engaging content your audience would actually be interested in. Once you have that, vary your posting times. See what works best for you so you can share content at the times your audience is most likely to engage.

And of course, it all goes back to knowing your audience. Sarah said you need to know where they are and what kind of content they’d like to see. That allows you to cater your content to them so you can see the best results online.

Carole suggests learning what works best for each platform and for your audience. Then, you’re able to deliver exactly what they want.

Q3: Are there any creative ways we can promote our content and stand out in a busy feed?

With so many people using social media, it’s easy for your content to get lost in the sea. And no one wants that, right? To make sure your posts stand out, put these tips to use:

One way to stand out in a busy social media feed is to collaborate with influencers. Lisa said you can conduct an interview and publish it on your blog. Then, you can create quotes from the interview to share online. Everyone loves a great quotable!

She also suggests researching and developing a consistent posting frequency so you can share content with your audience is most active.

Jason knows it’s all about a captivating visual. You can easily grab attention with something eye-catching that gets them to stop scrolling.

You can also use GIFs to attract attention on social media.

Scott knows that creative branding and consistency is a must.

Becca’s advice is to make sure your content is unique. Don’t just do what everyone else is doing, otherwise you’ll blend in with the crowd.

Cheval feels live streaming is a great way to stand out. It’s something that not everyone is doing, so you stand a chance of reaching the right audience and providing value.

Jade’s advice with video content is to be yourself. That’s going to resonate with your audience the most.

Don’t be afraid to experiment. What’s important is that you determine what works best for you and your audience. That’s going to be different from what works for other brands out there.

Q4: How can we hack the algorithms this year to ensure our content gets the most mileage?

Want to know how you can make those frustrating algorithms work for you? These tips will help the right people see the content you share online:

Lisa suggests asking questions and conducting polls to encourage a response from your audience. Many of the algorithms favor engagement and they want to see that you’re active and so is your audience. These are simple ways that will get people to take action.

She also said it’s important to share content that’s relevant to your audience. By doing this, they’ll be more likely to click-through to your website.

Lexie knows those algorithms can change frequently! Her advice is to focus on producing high-quality content that your audience will connect with.

Don’t forget to keep an eye on your analytics. This will be an indicator of what’s working with your social media efforts and what’s not. You can make tweaks to your strategy accordingly.

Create content your audience won’t be able to resist interacting with and you’re likely to see great results online.

Julia suggests repurposing your content so you can get the most out of one piece of published work.

You can also try trend jacking or news jacking or a platform like Twitter. It’s a great way to join an ongoing conversation, but make sure you educate yourself on the topic before tweeting about it.

Focus on producing great content and you’re sure to win.

Rebecca’s advice is to put more effort into your content and building a relationship with your audience.

Q5: What will you be adding to or eliminating from your social media strategy this year?

When it comes to social media, is there something that just isn’t working for you anymore? Are there platforms or strategies you’d like to implement in 2018? Here’s what a few of our chat participants had to say:

Lisa said she’s going to add more user-generated content to her strategy in the year ahead.

Quit sitting back and waiting for conversations happen. You can put yourself out there and start them or look for others who are already engaging so you can join in.

Scheduling content is a major help since you don’t have to be on social media 24/7 to see results.

Cristy said video and polls did really well last year, so she’s looking forward to implementing them more in 2018.

Aisha said her goal is to produce more content with the aim of starting conversations. She also wants to use more user-generated content.

Monique will be focused more on making connections and maybe even doing live video.

Video and influencer engagement are two strategies that are sure to pay off.

Repurposing is a great way to get maximum mileage from your content.

Ray’s plan is to focus on the team’s core content outlets, which include a blog, podcast, and Instagram. It’s much better to focus on what’s truly working for you and eliminating the things that aren’t.

Speaking of eliminating things, Julia completely cut Snapchat out of her social media strategy for this year.

Pinterest and Instagram are out for Warwick, but he’ll be focusing on LinkedIn and YouTube.

Q6: Where do brands typically go wrong on social media? How can we avoid making those mistakes?

Brands sometimes make mistakes on social media. To ensure we don’t end up in the same position, we should let those mishaps serve as a cautionary tale of what not to do! Here are a few examples to avoid:

Ignoring feedback from your audience is one big mistake. Lisa encourages everyone to listen to their audience, which social media allows us to do easily. She also said you shouldn’t write off any complaints you receive. Use those as a learning opportunity to make changes.

Don’t be that brand that doesn’t engage at all on social media. Spend time responding to messages and starting conversations.

Engage in conversations with your audience instead of talking AT them.

Don’t jump on every new trend without a strategy.

Sarah’s advice is to figure out what your audience really wants and where they’re spending their time online. Once you do that, make sure you’re paying attention to them and reviewing metrics to see what resonates best.

Just tweeting is not a strategy! Zala knows a strategy is a must for social media success. Post consistently and monitor mentions and conversations people are having around your brand.

Not listening to your audience is probably one of the biggest mistakes you can make.

No one likes a boring brand! Make sure you’re injecting personality into your content to attract your target market.

Cheval knows that too much self-promotion can be a turn off. It’s fine to share the content your brand produces, but mix that up with curated pieces from other sources.

Don’t be afraid to share content from other brands. You shouldn’t think of it as a competitive thing, but rather an opportunity to provide value to your audience.

It’s safe to say Gaby wrapped it all up with this fantastic answer!

Q7: Are there any must-have tools you rely on to efficiently manage your social media presence?

With all the tools out there to schedule content and connect with your audience, how do you know which one is right for you? Well, you have to try them out! Here are a few suggestions from this week’s chat:

Hootsuite and Simply Measured are just a couple of Lisa’s go-to tools.

Here at Express Writers, we love MeetEdgar because of their library feature that repurposes content.

TweetDeck and Hootsuite are two great tools to check out.

Monique has only used Buffer so far, but she’s open to checking out more. It’s the best way to find the tool that truly works for you.

Iain is also spreading the Buffer love! It’s a fan-favorite since it’s so easy to use, but also affordable.

Buffer, Social Jukebox, and Manage Flitter are Gene’s must-haves.

Lexie is a big fan of Sprout Social.

Sarah said to use analytics as well. It’s the best way to see what content resonates with your audience and how things are performing.

You can find analytics on the platforms themselves (like Twitter and Facebook) or through your social media scheduler.

Q8: Where can we learn more about social media in 2018? Are there any resources we should bookmark?

To ensure we’re all social media sensations in the year ahead, it’s important to stay updated on all the latest trends, changes, and news! These are great resources to save for learning more about social media:

It’s no surprise that Lisa is a fan of Markto’s blog because they always share great content! She also enjoys reading Social Media Today, Marketing Land, Hootsuite, Social Media Examiner, and others.

Social Media Examiner, Mari Smith, and Brian Fanzo are some of Julia’s favorites.

Buffer’s blog always has great posts, as does HubSpot’s.

Jeff Bullas is another great resource for social media tips and tricks.

And of course, you can always learn about social media by being active on social media. Sarah suggests joining Twitter chats as just one way to increase your knowledge.

Our own #ContentWritingChat is a great Twitter chat for learning about social media and other topics. You can also join #SproutChat and #HootChat. Besides those, Andrea reads Social Media Today, Lilach Bullock, and a few others.

For more Twitter chat fun, you can check out #bufferchat, and #RaganChat as well.

And remember, never stop learning! There’s so much information available at our fingertips thanks to the internet. Take advantage of that by consuming blog posts, listening to podcasts, and more.

Want to join us for the next #ContentWritingChat? It happens every Tuesday at 10 AM Central! Follow @ExpWriters and @writingchat so you don’t miss the fun!

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