A guide to nailing social media trends
Every social media strategy in 2023 needs a pillar dedicated to social media trends.
While every business’ approach will vary, an awareness of trends and ability to adapt quickly to platform changes is so important in todays’ landscape.
Some key tips to nailing social media trends within your content strategy are:
💙 Make sure you’re staying on top of what’s trending every week. (If you subscribe to our Social Media Trends Report, this will magically land in your inbox weekly - no scrolling required!
💙 Identify when trends are relevant to your business. Some trends will work for your brand and your objectives, and some wont! There’s no need to try to jump on every trend that emerges - be selective and utilise trends that work best with your authentic tone of voice
💙 Act on trends quickly. There’s no time for a 4 week approval process here - if you’re not acting on a trend within 48 hours, you’re too late
💙 Create and edit your content within platform where you can. Stats are suggesting that native content created within app outperforms content designed and edited elsewhere
💙 Remember that trending content doesn’t need to be perfect. While it can be challenging for brands to move away from slick, professionally designed content that has been through months of revisions and approvals, we know that the audience today is craving authenticity. Not every piece of content you share needs to be perfect - it just needs to create positive sentiment with your audience
If you are keen to update your 2023 social strategy to include authentic, fast moving, native or trending content, subscribe to our Weekly Social Media Trend Report.
When you sign up you’ll receive:
💙 A report of trending content, magically landing in your inbox each week
💙 Actionable content prompts to tap into trends
The cost? $10 per week. No scrolling required, no minimum sign up, cancel anytime.
Sounds pretty good right?
Click here to learn more and subscribe!
Social Media News, September 2022
Here is the latest Social Media News this month.
A Hootsuite and We Are Social study has found that in the last quarter of 2022, a major slowdown of social media growth has occurred —an expected finding in the post-pandemic world. Social media user growth is continuing to level off, leaving us with an incremental increase (1.0% to be exact) that signals we’re moving back to a period of slow and steady growth.
Tiktok continues to grow, grow, grow! Over half a million new users joined the platform every single day last quarter, with the number of people using TikTok for news doubling since last year. The report also found that people spend more time on TikTok each day than any other social app, meaning brands have a great opportunity to engage audiences in a fun, entertaining, and educational way. Key takeaway: Make sure Tiktok is a part of your social media marketing because its power is WILD.
Reels are here to stay. Consider this your reminder to continue sharing Reels on Instagram because they aren't going away anytime soon! The ad audience for Facebook Reels has increased by a massive 279% in the past 3 months, which means you can now reach 473.5 million users. You can also reach a staggering 754.8 million users with Instagram Reels ads. So what can we takeaway from this? This is proof that short, entertaining, less polished videos are an unbeatable way to reach your audience on social.
Whilst Facebook might be the grandad of social media networks, it drives a whopping 75.27% of all website traffic generated by social. Why? Because links are currency on the platform. The takeaway? Where possible, drive traffic to a website via links in posts.
We hope you enjoyed the latest social media news.
Want to chat to our team about managing your social media platforms? Reach out today.
Instagram News, July 2022
Another month, another Instagram update! Here is the latest Instagram news.
Instagram Pin Feature
Instagram has a new feature allowing you to pin posts to the top of the feed. We see this being useful for highlighting the following:
- Competitions: Keeping competitions at the top of your feed
- New Launch/Product: Having a new product launch at the top of the feed
- Top performing posts: If a reel went viral you could pin it to the top of the feed
This feature will be beneficial to many brands and we are eager to test it out on our client campaigns.
In other Instagram news, engagement rates are trending down on traditional feed posts
Based on a Later study of 81M Instagram posts, the average engagement rate for feed posts in 2019 was 5.16%. By the end of 2021, this number decreased to 2.88%.
The downward trend is consistent for all traditional feed posts (images, carousels, and videos).
Traditional video feed posts saw the greatest decline year-over-year on average, while carousel posts consistently performed the best in terms of engagement
Why have traditional Instagram Feed Posts seen a decline in performance?
In a nutshell: The introduction of Instagram Reels in August 2020.
It’s no secret that Reels are a priority for the app, and as such, other post types have taken a back seat.
In order to boost engagement on the app, it’s important to include Reels and also carousel posts in your social media posting schedule.
Do you need assistance in staying across the latest Instagram news and managing your social media channels? Get in touch with our team today.
Want to stay up to date? Visit us on Instagram.
Want to chat to our team about Instagram Reels content creation? Reach out to our specialist team via email, [email protected]
Melbourne Social Co Celebrates Our 10th Birthday!
This year, Melbourne Social Co is celebrating 10 years in business.
I’m so incredibly proud of our business journey, from humble beginnings to now being recognised as one of Australia’s leading content-driven creative agencies.
I started Melbourne Social Co from my spare bedroom, as most start-ups begin, with one client and a lot of determination. As a person in my mid-20s at the time and of course, pre-kids - I loved working 60 hour weeks and throwing myself into the entrepreneurial game.
My client list quickly grew, and then so did my team, with my first hire being Rebekah Pickett, who has stuck with me (thanks Bek!) and now leads the team of 15+ creatives both here in Melbourne and around Australia. We’ve had 3.5 offices, a few different logos, many office plants (that sadly have not survived the journey) and an incredible predominately-female team of creatives over the journey. We have worked across almost every state in Australia (as well as a few ventures into NZ and Singapore) and have produced incredible work for household names like Fitbit, PETstock, BiC and more.
We’ve worked with SO many different businesses over the journey, from start-ups to global powerhouses, with both ends of the spectrum being equally rewarding.
While I understand that for many business owners, 2020 and now 2021 have been incredibly difficult, I am so proud to say that our team has gone from strength to strength over the past year in particular. Not only have our team adapted to working predominately remotely, but they have upskilled, hustled and continued to deliver incredible results over the pandemic period for our clients. In addition, we have on-boarded some of our biggest campaigns to date this year and are so excited to be working with some really great brands, such as Koko Black, Sass Clothing and Jenny Craig.
I’m so proud of our female-lead business, where we have been, where we are now, and where we are headed. Here’s to an exciting next 10 years!
Shelley
Tik Tok for Business 101
Over the last few months, the social media platform Tik Tok has taken the world by storm. Once seen as the “bizarre app kids spend too much time on”, now has many of us addicted to endless scrolling! (Hands up if this has happened to you.)
But should your business have a presence on Tik Tok? The short answer, yes.
Here at Melbourne Social Co., we pride ourselves on always having a creative approach to the digital marketing space and staying across the latest trends. This means trying new features on platforms, exploring new apps and always keeping content fresh and interesting to enhance a business’s presence on social media. If there is potential to promote and drive traffic to our clients via a new platform - we're right across it.
So - how can you get started on Tik Tok? The best way to get noticed on new social media apps is to make an account and start giving it a go! Simple right? Okay, perhaps its' a little more strategic than that, but with any new social media platform, practice - and the investment of time, are key.
Below are 3 easy ways you can get started.
1. Set up your account
This is as simple as following the prompts on the app! Ensure that your username and profile image are clear and the same as your business. We see the temptation of calling yourself CoolChick101 but trust us; please don’t… it always seems like a good idea at the time. Oh, and make sure you link your website or other social media handles in your bio!
2. Create your first video
This might be a simple video explaining your brand and what you're about, whilst showing your product range or service. Try adding music or effects to ensure that content is captivating and interesting to watch.
3. Interact with other creators
Follow other business accounts that are in a similar field to you and interact with them! We would also recommend following some bigger brands, to keep up with trends and tracks that are doing well.
So, what are you waiting for?
Download the app (or just open it, we all know you already have it 🤪).
We promise it’s not that scary, you’ve got this.
Would you like to chat to our team about Tik Tok for business, or about your social media strategy? Get in touch today.
Starting a new business? Check out our Social Media Starter pack.
What’s the deal with Instagram Reels?
In typical Instagram fashion, mid-2020 Instagram launched a TikTok reboot on their platform. Almost a carbon-copy of the short-length video platform, Instagram Reels takes the best performing features from TikTok and reinvents them the Instagram way.
So, six months on, with a few strategic nip and tucks we’re able to take a better look at Instagram Reels, what it means for agencies, brands and personal profiles – and work out how to make the most of it!
Best posting practice
We all know that Facebook and Instagram can be cagey about algorithms and updates, which often leads to endless guessing games about best posting practice. Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri has been rumour busting every Friday on his Instagram stories (if you’re not following him – this is your sign to!). Most recently Mosseri discussed what users need to do to avoid red flags and restrictions on Reels.
- Avoid TikTok (or other platforms) watermarks. Mosseri stated outright that videos that are “visibly recycled from other apps (i.e, contains logos or watermarks)” won’t be recommended as often as other videos.
- Avoid low resolution or blurry videos. We recommend minimising the number of apps you use to create your Reels to avoid low-res videos. Using the Reel’s camera and editing tools is your best bet! They want you to be creating original content on their platform after all.
- Minimise the amount of text you’re using, and make sure it doesn’t cover majority of your video.
So you like making your videos on TikTok and you want to continue to use the platform to edit and publish…
No stress! There is any easy way to save your TikTok’s without a watermark on iOS!
- When viewing your TikTok, press the menu (three dots underneath the comment section on bottom right)
- Select Live Photo from the export menu
- Go to your Camera Roll to find the Live Photo. Select the share menu in the bottom left hand corner.
- Scroll through the options until you find Save As Video and select.
- Find your new video in your Camera Roll. Select Edit in the top right hand corner.
- Select the crop tool from the bottom tool menu.
- Select the tool that looks like three overlapping squares from the top tool bar.
- Select 9:16 from the bottom toolbar and crop the small TikTok watermark out of your video. Select done.
And you’re good to go! Just make sure that the video is still if a clear quality before you upload.
Stuck on content ideas for Instagram Reels?
We’re here to help! Here are a few different content ideas that work across most industries:
- Behind the scenes content: No matter what type of business you run, there’s a 99% chance your audience will LOVE behind the scenes content. An easy way to capture this is to put your camera on time-lapse as you pack up orders, style a product photo or work through orders.
A popular trend on TikTok and Reels is daily vlogs. If you feel confident enough to film yourself throughout your day and add a voice over, then we’d recommend trialling this too! - Before and after: Everyone loves a B&A! Think of different ways you could capture the change or effect you have as you work or on your clients / customers.
- Instructional: Whatever you do, there will always be someone who looks up to you and wants to learn from you! Can you break down simple daily tasks in easily digestible ways for your Reels?
Reels is heavily trend and music driven, both of which change week to week! So we recommend making sure you spend some quality time on Reels to keep track of current trends.
Remember that Instagram rewards users who utilise all of it’s features like Reels, IGTV or Live – so if you haven’t already taken a dip into the Reel’s pond, it could be worth the investment!
Stay tuned to Adam Mosseri’s Instagram stories and the Instagram Creators page for updates to features and trends.
Want to work with our team to create amazing content for your business? Get in touch today.
Melbourne Social Co Celebrates Nine Years In Business
Did you know that this month Melbourne Social Co celebrates our ninth year in business?
With a traditional fashion editorial background, our Director Shelley Friesen began forging a career in social media over ten years ago – establishing Melbourne Social Co in 2011. While pursuing IT wasn’t a stylish choice for a child of the 80’s, Shelley’s intuition to pursue social media was bang on (much like Olivia Newton John’s leotard in Let’s Get Physical!) “I got into digital marketing through identifying a need for businesses to embrace it. From my experience working in the editorial department of a fashion magazine and as a Marketing Manager for an Australian fashion and accessories label, I could see that social media was a tool businesses could adopt and utilise to connect with their consumers. Despite people’s hesitance at the time to take a leap of faith on such an emerging field, I decided to start my own digital marketing agency!”
Now a team of fifteen, most of whom can’t remember a world without selfies and Snapchat, Melbourne Social Co has been instrumental in building the digital presence of some of Australia’s biggest brands.
While 2020 has certainly presented its’ challenges for both our business and our wonderful clients, the power of digital and social media is greater than ever and we’re excited to be able to continue to assist small business owners in navigating this difficult time. (Read our top tips on using social media in times of crisis here.)
Want to get to know our team a little better? Click here.
Need assistance in navigating social media during the COVID-19 crisis? Our team of experts at Melbourne Social Co are here to help you. We can provide a range of services to assist your needs including virtual consulting sessions, copywriting, ad hoc graphic design, digital marketing campaign management and more.
We have a full team with all hands-on deck available to support you.
Our agency is also offering 50% off our online training resources during this time, should you be looking to upskill in social media management, strategy or content creation during your time at home. You can access our online courses here: courses.thesocialco.com.au and use the coupon code: upskillathome to redeem your discount.
Latest News - Support Small Business
Hey guys, Shelley here.
Like many small businesses, we’re already seeing the effect that the current climate is having on the economy and in-turn, our business. And while we’re not sure what the short term future might bring, what we do know is that for small business, now is not the time to fall silent. With more and more Australians spending time on their phones consuming news and social media content, now is the time to capture this audience with thoughtful, engaging content - not only to let your consumer know how you’re handling this crisis, but to stay front of mind and to encourage them to shop local and support your business.
While we understand that many businesses need to look at where they can scale back costs at the moment, marketing, and in particular social media content creation and distribution, needs to be viewed as business-critical. Your social media communication is now more important than ever - it is the most effective tool you have to promote your business in these highly reactive, times of uncertainty.
With that in mind, our agency is offering a range of different packages and resources to support your business through this crisis. I’ve created a coupon code upskillathome to offer you 70% off our online training resources, should you be looking to upskill in social media management, strategy or content creation during your time at home. You can access our online courses here: courses.thesocialco.com.au
We’re also offering reactive content packages to help you craft the right messaging for your consumer, and are able to quickly turn around graphics, copy, video and imagery to get the message out to your audience in a professional and timely manner. If you’d like some more info, please reach out to me - [email protected] and let’s pencil in a chat.
I’m personally supporting as many small businesses as I can at the moment, and I urge you to as well. We’re all in this together!
How to get the most out of Instagram
Tackling the Instagram algorithm, stories and IGTV
There's not a lot of solid evidence out there as to how Instagram’s algorithm actually works. But we do know a few ways to help improve your impact on Instagram!
1. Utilise all of Instagram’s platforms. Post to IGTV, use interactive stickers on your stories and post video and photo content in galleries
2. Change your password! The amount of people / third party apps that are logged into your account can have an impact on which algorithm stream you’re put into
3. Give a little to get a little. Behind the scenes content performs great on Instagram. Whether it’s a peek into your production line or industry tricks, this content is clickable, likeable, shareable and saveable!
Nowadays, Instagram is so much more than just a newsfeed. We have the introduction of IGTV, the explore page, and of course stories which means you have so many avenues to display your content and the opportunity to expand your audience.
And it is no secret that Instagram stories now need to play a significant part in your social media content strategy.
Here are some of the major benefits to utilising Instagram stories:
- Increases visibility
When you post a story, it appears at the top of everyone’s screens. People are more likely to check stories before they start scrolling. This means stories are your best bet in being seen.
- Different type of content
Stories are a great way to capture real-time content. Behind the scenes, event coverage and everything else in between. This makes your brand seem real and relatable, which people love to see. They are more likely to engage when they think you’re approachable, instead of only seeing the retouched, flawless content that we post on our feed.
- You can get creative
With the array of colours, GIFs and stickers, you can really express your brand in an abundance of different ways. You can also interact with your audience through the use of the Polls, Questions, Location, and Quiz stickers. These tools are also an easy way to get engagement, which is also a win in digital marketing! When you use these stickers, people are not only more likely to interact with your story, but also your story is more likely to be seen. Stories are now visible on the Explore page, and when you use Instagram’s features, they will reward you by sharing your content with more and more people – how good is that?
Start posting more stories to your business accounts and see if you see any changes to your stats, you could be surprised!
IGTV – what is it, and why should businesses be using it?
IGTV is the latest Instagram trend that has taken the social media platform by storm. Although IGTV has been around since June 2018, it is only now gaining some momentum - this could be because Instagram finally allowed previews on your feed. When this happened back in 2019, views skyrocketed, and IGTV became an integral part of every social media campaign.
IGTV was originally introduced as an app where you could watch long-form, vertical videos from Instagram creators – basically a new competitor of YouTube! Before IGTV, you were only able to post videos that were 60 seconds long to Instagram. This was great for teaser content and short explainer videos, but now, you are able to post videos that are between 1 minute and an hour long! This opens up opportunities for really engaging content for your business, which means more traffic and a greater chance of expanding your audience.
Still wondering why you should use IGTV? There are some major benefits, here are just a few!
- When you use IGTV on stories, you can get access to the “Swipe Up” feature
This feature was only available to verified accounts and accounts with over 10,000 followers. Now, when you share your IGTV to your story, you’re not only opening yourself up to more views, you’re also giving yourself the ability to send your audience to your desired link.
- Able to post longer videos
As discussed, IGTV videos can be from one minute, to an hour. This means the possibilities are endless when it comes to posting videos on this platform. No more editing out great visuals and information to get your videos down to 1 minute! Create your first IGTV, and post EVERYTHING you want – not just what you can fit in to 60 seconds!
- Get ahead of the algorithm!
As we mentioned above, the best way to get in Instagram’s good graces, and make sure your getting the most out of the app, is to use all of its services. Be sure to post stories, use location tags, hashtags and start creating content for IGTV.
IGTV is very quickly becoming a must-use feature on the app, and it’s important you jump on board now!
What to learn the in's and out's of social media management from the comfort of your couch? Visit courses.thesocialco.com.au to enrol in our famous social media masterclass!
A Guide to User Generated Content
What is User-Generated Content?
User-Generated Content (UGC) is any content—text, videos, images, reviews, etc.—created by people, rather than brands, featuring or discussing branded content. In its most organic form, UGC isn’t paid for by a brand, it is a genuine and honest recommendation being shared by followers and fans.This not only exposes your product to their audience; it provides a source of content to post on your page, website or other marketing channels. Being mentioned or having content shared by a brand is often fun and exciting for consumers or a source of income and products for influencers. It is a symbiotic relationship, a win-win for both parties when done correctly.
Why is it important?
When it comes to social media marketing, UGC is becoming increasingly valuable to brands. It promotes authenticity and trust, as consumers are more likely to perceive user-generated content as authentic and trustworthy, over brand-created content. Seeing another consumer enjoy the product or service eliminates risk in the minds of consumers – it’s a visual positive review. Increasing trust and authenticity greatly influences consumers’ purchase intentions; the more trust a consumer has the more likely they are to purchase the product. As UGC increases awareness, it reinforces the products’ different applications, stylings, adaptions, and uses in “real world” situations and increases the viability of consumers of making that final purchase.
How to Use It Successfully?
Now that we know why it is so important – how can your business be successful in using user-generated content? Let us tell you.
Bring Purpose and Value to Your Customers
All content you post must have a purpose, especially user-generated content - whether that’s being inspirational, showcasing how to use a product, sharing in-real-life reviews, or helping your followers decide on their product choices. UGC isn’t a sales pitch, you need to think of it as a stand-alone piece of content that can really be of benefit to your audience.
For example, if you were a make-up brand you could use your USG posts as an opportunity to educate your customers on what products were used in the look to showcase what your products look like in action.
Create a Sense of Community
What do all your followers have in common? They follow you! User-generated content is a great way to create a sense of community amongst your followers by stimulating discussions and connecting with your current and future customers. This is best illustrated by camera brands,who set challenges for their followers to take a photo with a set brief. The camera brand then shares entries, showcasing what their products can do and stimulating discussion and creativity amongst their followers. By sharing tricks and tips from on a post to get that photo - what camera did they use, which lenses, which settings – can stimulate discussion and provides value to your followers. This is a great way to engage with your followers and create brand loyalty as a bonus.
Create an Incentive
It is important to encourage and remind your followers to create and tag you in content that features your products. The incentive you pick depends on the type of followers you have, for example: if you’re a company that sells art supplies, then sharing followers’ art is incentive enough. Whereas, other followers may need more of a push. For example, to get followers to showcase your product in their posts you may want to offer a gift or promotional code.Whichever method you choose, it’s important to acknowledge the original source, and thank the creator to make sure they feel appreciated.
Need help?
Do you want some help creating an amazing user generated content campaign for your brand? Get in touch with our team today!
Want to learn how to become a digital marketing pro? Check out our social media masterclass.
Written By Ebony Jones
