Featured Image Caption: Social Media Marketing Strategy
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If you’re trying to sell your product or service online, then being involved in digital marketing is inescapable. There are dozens upon dozens of methodologies and strategies for marketing online, and, like shifting sands in the desert, the landscape is always changing. What worked six months ago might not work as well today, or something better has come along – as such, engaging in digital marketing means that you must constantly be educating yourself in the latest techniques and strategies.
There is one thing that remains constant among favored e-commerce strategies, though – and that is an ability to track results. Data-driven campaigns allow for more informed and accurate decision-making, which, ultimately, can provide more stable and reliable results. There are rewards for the brave marketer who’s prepared to try several different strategies that aren’t so well known for their data feedback.
Influencer Marketing: The ‘’Wildwest of Marketing’’ Tactics
Social media marketing, in the form of running paid ads on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, can be costly. For the person just starting out, these ad costs can be too much, and so ‘’paid-shout-outs’’ via influencer marketing platform is often the fallback plan.
A brand will pay an influencer for a mention on their social media account and exposure to their following. The only problem is that this form of social media marketing strategy is not as data-driven as other methods, and sometimes the payee can be duped into ‘’shoutouts’’ by ‘’fake influencers’’ with little to no organic reach. Developing experience at being able to spot these fakes can be expensive, and that’s why it could be considered a daring marketing strategy to engage in.
Ephemeral Marketing: Is It Brave?
Ephemeral marketing is content that is only available for a brief period. It’s certainly not a new concept, but it’s exploded onto the scene more and more in recent years thanks to social media marketing strategy types such as Instagram stories, Snapchat, and YouTube live streams.
You might describe ‘’early adopters’’ to the new ephemeral marketing strategies as brave marketers because there wasn’t much data to make informed decisions. However, video marketing statistics have shown an ever-increasing trend and popularity for video content in recent years. Therefore, digital marketers investing more of their budgets into ephemeral content is, arguably, not so much of a gamble.
Ephemeral Marketing: Influencers & FOMO
The prices paid by advertisers for ephemeral content shoutouts depend on how good they are at network marketing with influencers. So the game of cat and mouse between influencer and advertiser hasn’t changed, it’s simply moved formats from classic wall posts to now Instagram stories and Snaps.
The popularity of ephemeral content is driven by the young social media users’ penchant for video content and their constant fear of missing out (FOMO). Many social media users simply can’t resist opening a new story or Snap by their favorite influencers or brands. They don’t want to miss out on the information that so many others will see. This FOMO, tied in with images and video, and then packaged with ephemeral content, produces social media wildfire at a level of exposure that digital marketers can’t find anywhere else.
Brave Marketers: A Treasure Hunt for Going Viral
The dream of anyone advertising online is to go ‘’viral’’. It’s the magic formula that is so difficult for many to create. Even those that have successfully managed to go viral once, or twice, still often don’t know how they did it.
It leaves many digital marketers to constantly experiment with different content strategies and styles, looking for that sunken treasure. When new social media business techniques or influencer marketing platforms come along, as with TikTok recently, it excites people to try even harder to go viral. A new landscape means fewer rules and regulations. In turn, this implies it’s easier to get mass exposure.
What Is the Future of Influencers & Ephemeral Marketing?
Ad costs are rising across all ad platforms, and organic reach is plummeting on conventional social media marketing strategies like Facebook wall posts. Therefore, it’s unlikely that influencer marketing will be dying out, despite all of its hang-ups.
In our opinion, ephemeral marketing is only just beginning its wave of mass exposure, and it’s likely to be the leading form of advertising and promotion for digital marketers in the next few years. It’s difficult to see beyond this at present, but what do you think is next? Do you think virtual reality will play a role in the not-too-distant-future of digital marketing?
By Thomas Quarry
who is a computer science graduate and currently lives in Seattle, Washington. He’s worked for several larger media agencies in Central London and been responsible for millions of dollars worth of online sales. His hobby, as well as his second job, is treasure hunting. Twice a year he goes on an expedition. He owns two underwater drones and has gone on multiple treasure hunting trips in the last few years.
Member since June, 2020
View all the articles of Thomas Quarry.
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