Social Media Marketing Trends | May 2022

The world of social media marketing is constantly evolving, updating, and making major changes.

Let's break down a few recent updates piece by piece together. Let's break down a few recent updates piece by piece together.

Spending Trends for May 2022

Great news - consumer spending is finally back up! Consumer spending is increasing more quickly and at a larger volume (2.1% increase). Household income is beginning to increase again. We don’t have to continue asking ourselves, “do people have money to spend with me?” - they do. Now you need to focus on ensuring you are showing up before the big box chain stores and remain top of mind.
Adults 18+ spend more time on social media than any other daily activity.
We know they are on social media - so we need to be on social media too. We know they are on social media - so we need to be on social media too.

Facebook Social Media Marketing Updates

With major changes coming to Facebook (Meta), it’s crucial to your brand’s overall success that you are following an effective social media marketing plan.

Major Reach Decline
If you’ve been following your page’s trends, you’ve likely noticed a large decrease in organic reach.

”Is organic reach dead???”
No, but it is dropping at an alarming rate every day.
So, how do I improve my organic reach? So, how do I improve my organic reach?

Let’s discuss how the algorithm works:
You make a post to your Facebook Business Page.
Immediately - Facebook begins analyzing your content to ensure that A) it is high quality content (aka no copywritten images, low resolution images, low quality graphics) and B) is relevant to your audience. Facebook then shows your post to a select few followers to test the waters for engagement.
Say Sally and Billy “like” your post.
Then Facebook will show your post to people similar to Sally and Billy.
If those people like your post - it will continue to expand your reach and show your content to more people.
If NO ONE is engaging with your post - Facebook will deem it as irrelevant content and diminish your reach.
This is why engaging with YOUR content as your personal profile is crucial to your overall success. This is why engaging with YOUR content as your personal profile is crucial to your overall success.

So, how do I create content that is shown higher in the newsfeed? So, how do I create content that is shown higher in the newsfeed?

Here are four steps you can take today to ensure your brand is showing up appropriately and effectively:
1. Ensure your Business Page is optimized so your customers can easily find and purchase from you
2. Create one story daily + one post daily
3. Check your insights regularly and make adjustments as needed. Your insights show you when your audience is online and the type of content they prefer to consume. Use that information to your advantage.
4. Increase your engagements. Create content that promotes an action on the post. Like, Comment, and Share your page’s content. Ask your friends and close family to also engage with your content.

New Page Experience Coming Soon

Last fall Facebook began testing out a new Business Page Experience. Some pages converted over during the beta testing phase and you can quickly tell if a business page is on the new page experience or the old. You are likely still on the old page experience - but soon Facebook will be moving all business pages to the new pages experience.

So, what can we expect with the new page experience?
Likes are going away. This is not good. You will keep your “followers” - but if someone has “liked” your page and not also “followed” it - they will no longer see your content in their newsfeed. Your total “likes” / “followers” count is likely to drop significantly once your page is switched over, so now is the time to begin combatting this potential catastrophe for your brand.
Encourage your current page “likes” to follow your page as well. A simple post with directions on how to follow vs like will do the trick - but you may need to be educating your followers regularly in case they miss the initial announcement.

The new page experience isn’t all bad though - Facebook has claimed that the new page experience is designed with small business owners in mind and provides easier to understand data tracking and analytics.

Instagram Social Media Marketing Updates

The top two platforms that the majority of adults aged 18+ are spending their time on are Facebook and Instagram.
We know - Instagram can be confusing to learn. We know - Instagram can be confusing to learn.

Here are a few tips on how to ensure your brand is set up for success when it comes to marketing on Instagram:
1. Ensure your bio is fully optimized (Name, Bio, CTA)
2. Double check that your account type is set up as a Creator or Business Profile
3. Strategically post to your stories and feed daily
4. Consider adding in hashtags or tagging your location
5. Never post to Instagram and hit the “auto post to Facebook” option - this will drastically reduce your organic reach to near zero on Facebook

Why do I need to post to my Instagram account?
Posting content to your feed regularly helps you attract new clients.

Why do I need to post to my Instagram Stories if I’m posting to my Instagram feed?
Stories engage your current followers and help you remain top of mind. Your stories do not show up to non-followers, so this is a special place for you to communicate and engage with your customers.

Can I post the same content to my feed and story?
Yes - however you will want to ensure that your content is engaging enough for someone to watch. Consider adding a gif or graphic to spice it up a little. Movement always attracts more attention in a story vs static graphics.

Major Takeaways

The Facebook New Page Experience is coming soon - begin preparing now to ensure you don’t lose your followers and audience.

Quality level of the content you are posting to your social media channels directly affects your organic reach.

Increase your frequency and ensure consistency and quality with your social media postings.

Reallllyyyyy don’t want to do all of this and would rather hire the experts to do it for you?

We are here to assist! We are here to assist!

For more information or to sign up for digital marketing services, contact us today.