Top 5 strategic trends for social media marketing in 2024
blog • Mar 19, 2024 10:19:00 AM • Written by: Ramon Salinas
From leveraging AI to dominating social commerce, here are five trends shaping social media marketing success in 2024.
The digital marketing ecosystem is full of trends that flicker and fizzle faster than your Instagram stories. Mention Vine to a Gen Z and see what happens.
As usual, my job is to summarize what's happening for your benefit and make it actionable for your business. Here is a roundup of the top social media opportunities where businesses can see momentum this year, only 2 months in, you can still make it big.
1. Artificial intelligence as a collaborator
AI got its place in 2023 but few outside tech did more than play with early-days tools. 2024 looks like the year of properly putting AI to work.
Big companies with big budgets will work on predictive behavioral analysis, sentiment analysis and influencer discovery as ways to leverage AI to develop a social media strategy. But remember you have the advantage at the local level with personalized service and attention.
Use the same tools big businesses use. Just like them, we can have time and cost savings employing generative AI to suggest compelling captions, generate custom visuals, repurpose top-performing posts, ideate new collateral based on trending topics or competitor activity.
But only use AI as a starting point. Audiences can still sniff out the difference between genuine, human communication and bot-drafted prose. Always rewrite to give it the local flavor you have from your customer knowledge.
2. Social commerce to dominate retail
With features like in-app purchases, shopping tags and integrated payment options, social media platforms are taking over as primary shopping destinations. It makes sense because social shopping encapsulates the entire consumer decision journey within a closed circuit. Social commerce eliminates stages of browsing and the number of clicks to checkout, ultimately reducing friction points.
Translation: Put your products and services on social media platforms for sale, not just for promotion. Look for merchant or shop options to list your offerings.
Meta platforms drive the highest ROI, per HubSpot’s Marketing Trends report. However, choose the right platform based on your target customer. TikTok is big with Gen Z and millennials but more and more Gen X and boomers are going to it as well.
3. Keep it reel
Short-form videos and brief content are the primary focus, not just because they grab attention but because they maintain the user’s interaction with their device. In 2024, the goal is to blend your offer seamlessly into your audience’s digital life in an informal and human way.
Authenticity, connection and human engagement are emerging as primary audience requirements for interactions in 2024. Who better to provide a product recommendation than a local friend or neighbor? Hey, that's you.
4. Social search optimization
TikTok and Instagram are dethroning Google as the preferred search engine for Gen Z (according to a new survey from Her Campus Media, a Gen Z media and college marketing company). So, if you want to reach new eyes in the 18-34 demographic, you need to optimize your discoverability on social platforms.
Less used to be more, but in 2024, pay attention to including high-traffic keywords and descriptive metadata in your social posts to improve your visibility. Plan your posts around when your audience is most likely to engage.
Ask them questions: stickers and polls allow your audience to interact effortlessly with your posts to boost engagement. But the easiest ask of all is a simple swipe. Use carousel posts to show off your compelling new AI- or user-generated content to raise engagement stats.
Reposts are worth their weight in gold. The more pages that link to your content, the higher your business will be ranked within search results. Appeal to your audience’s humanity with humor or a gentle tug at the heartstrings (nostalgia is in, again). And always use persuasive calls to action that inspire your audience to share.
5. Loud and proud corporate values
In the age of AI and VR, where misinformation and privacy concerns exist, authenticity is the word of the day. Audiences expect their preferred businesses to be public about values and demonstrate adherence to those values consistently.
Get laser-focused on your business' core concerns and make sure they permeate your internal culture and your social media strategy.
Key Takeaways
Technology evolves but does not replace the human desire for authentic connection. Simplify your social media approach for success in 2024:
- Prioritize meaningful, personal interactions
- Tap into your audience’s intelligence and influence
As I have mentioned before in this newsletter, at the local level we have at our disposal many of the same tools as big business. Let's use them and beat them at their own game.
The people following social media trends are everywhere, as in around us and local to us, they might even be at home. Ask them what are they viewing and following, take ideas and use for your local business.
Reply or comment below to talk about how you can make the above 5 point actionable. One idea could make your business really grow.
