Social Media Strategy

Personalized marketing, as we know from our experiences as brand-lovers and as marketers, is the make or break of any e-commerce marketing strategy in a competitive environment

Personalized marketing is all about offering improved user experience (UX) by serving relevant content, or targeting key messages in the funnel, based on your customer’s e-commerce activities and behaviour. Personalized marketing unlocks tactics for retailers to form personal relationships with their customers during their online experience (CX), to nurture leads and drive more sales from digital marketing. During a global 2022 survey of consumers who purchased something online in the past six months, 62% stated that a brand would lose their loyalty if it delivered a non-personalized experience. This is no secret to marketers who have watched a growing trend of personalization customer expectations and e-commerce investment to match. In fact, the chart below shows current customer experience personalization and…

Our financial services social strategy recommendations and best-practice case studies put you in the driving seat to accelerate your financial services' ROI from digital marketing in 2024

Over the past few years, financial service organizations have embraced social selling programs and employee advocacy. Those integrating the data they have generated by their financial services social media strategies into a single source of customer truth are flourishing. Financial organizations are effectively engaging with digital customers, differentiating with real-time communication via social channels. There has been a clear shift from pre-review to post-review with the industry treating social media posts as interactive communication rather than static advertising. Companies are recognizing that social media provides a wealth of value, enabling differentiation through human communication. They are driving value by integrating this with their CRM systems, tracking ROI, and ensuring compliance. To drive such value, organizations expect solutions to help them track ROI, integrate with CRM solutions,…

Our recommendations of the best global online marketing consumer adoption and marketing benchmark statistics

Online marketers love statistics about digital marketing. We do too since they enable us to use a more data-driven approach to inform our future investments. They allow us to review the growth in customer adoption of the latest digital platforms and technologies, make the business case for investment in marketing and allow us to benchmark our growth and performance against competitors. From reviewing thousands of stats sources over the years, I've found that there are a very small number of quality online marketing statistics sites and sources which are updated at least annually and have a representative sample size from different countries. Here we share our experience of ten of the best, most reliable free and paid sources we use to update our benchmarks. Everyone has their favourites, but I thought it would be…

Paid vs organic social media strategy: Your planning essentials

Both organic and paid social media landscapes are constantly evolving. New networks rise to prominence (e.g. TikTok), new technology increases user participation and real-time content (e.g. Periscope) and existing networks enhance their platform and product (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram launching ‘buy’ buttons). In 2022, organic reach is also continuing to shrink as the leading networks ramp up their paid social media channels to monetize platform investment. Now more than ever, marketers need to research and optimize the right organic and paid media options to achieve their goals. [si_guide_block id="49146" title="Digital media options cheatsheet" description="Our Digital media cheatsheet is aimed at helping Smart Insights members to keep track of the free and paid media options so that they're not missing out on any of the latest developments."] If the first era of social was engagement, the new era is acquisition and conversion. Social commerce…

Hold the gimmicks. Social media marketing in 2022 is all about your customer. Our top 5 trends will set you up for YOY success

As marketers, we're always scanning the digital landscape for new opportunities to benefit from our customers' changing behaviors online. Social media marketing trends today, like the trends we see in many popular digital channels, are undergoing rapid transformation due to increased usage and user expectations. This article looks at the top 5 social media marketing trends recommended by experts in the field. You will find trend analysis, examples, tools, and training recommendations to help you implement new innovations in your social media strategy.

What are the top social media marketing trends for 2022?

We asked 5 digital marketing experts and the verdict is in - all our 5 social media marketing trends revolve around one very important theme: Your customer Distract them Find out more about them Support their values Collaborate…

We predicted social media would continue to grow in 2021, and it did. Back in January, we collated your top 6 social media marketing (SMM) trends to reach and convert more customers, but how's it going so far?

Social media has proven itself to be a valuable channel for marketers to reach and convert customers. Renowned for an agile approach, social media marketing requires channel managers to keep up to date with the latest SMM trends in technical and social developments to make sure they are exploiting all the opportunities available. It's no surprise that this year has seen unprecedented change in social media usage, alongside a whole host of other customer behavioral factors. Planning for 2021, we already knew from Datareportal's July 2020 Digital snapshot that nearly half of respondents have spent more time on social media due to COVID-19, evidenced by a 10% YOY increase in…

Chinese social media is way ahead of the rest of the world when it comes to integrating customer experience in the funnel

The constant supply of new innovations in Chinese social media has not stopped in 2021. Many Chinese social media apps now double as payment solutions, so consumers can seamlessly move between their social media streams and make purchases without leaving the app. Fast technology and a strong customer focus have shaped the social landscape in China. It’s only a matter of time before the Western social media ecosystem starts to adopt more commerce integrations. In this article, we explore five of the latest innovations to social media in China that have taken marketers and consumers alike by storm.

1. WeChat gesture recognition

Originally set up to mark Chinese Valentine’s Day, WeChat released a popular new feature in the summer of 2020 called gesture recognition. This is a hand gesture that uses two…

Discover our top 5 creators on Instagram Reels, and why we've chosen them. Stay up to date with the latest social media trend to inform your digital marketing strategy

One month ago, Instagram unveiled its latest platform update, Instagram Reels; an informal, content-centric, short video format for brands, influencers and fans to create and share alike. "Reels invites you to create fun videos to share with your friends or anyone on Instagram. Record and edit 15-second multi-clip videos with audio, effects, and new creative tools. You can share reels with your followers on Feed, and, if you have a public account, make them available to the wider Instagram community through a new space in Explore." If you're looking for inspiration, here are our favourite 5 Instagram creators, and why...

Netflix

We're kicking off with @Netflix, who in the first quarter of 2020 delivered …

There are many factors that can affect your strategy and new research is always churning up findings that you can make use of

We’ve written a lot on why you need a social media strategy and have given plenty of insights into how to create one, so you should be well versed on the benefits of a good social plan. However, there are many factors that can affect your strategy and new research is always churning up findings that you can make use of – as well as methods that you should stop using in order to see the best results. Just as with any marketing strategy, your plan for social media should be fluid, taking into account any new research, technology or platforms that come about. Sticking with a strategy that was put in place months ago and doesn’t reflect updated best practice can mean you don’t see the results or ROI…

LinkedIn has been quietly building a strong presence and reputation within the professional community making it a great social media opportunity

When we think of social media, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram are probably the first platforms that come to mind. After all, these are the major platforms leading the way and generating headlines (although not always for the right reasons). [si_blog_banner_cta] However, LinkedIn has been quietly building a strong presence and reputation within the professional community. Over the last 15 years, LinkedIn has grown rapidly to create a network of over 560 million professionals worldwide, with 23 million in the UK. LinkedIn’s stated mission is to "connect the world’s professionals to make them more productive and successful". This clear and relentless focus on the professional sector has enabled them to develop a powerful B2B proposition. Whilst personal social networks are about spending time, professional networks are geared around investing time: …