social media trends

Social Media Trends In 2017 [Q&A At Apple Business Panel]

Last week I was at the Apple Business Panel (Knox Street Boardroom) with my friends Jackie Bese (AtomicDC) and Kathy Catoe (KTO Group).

We talked about the social media trends, tools, and strategies for 2017. Here are some questions and my answers from this panel. Hopefully, you will pick up a thing or two and apply it to your business this year.

Q: What are the top 3 social media trends in 2017.

Ali: Here are my top 3 social media trends this year

  1. Video, Video and more Video
  2. Social Ads esp. Facebook Ads. Because all social media channels are becoming pay to play.
  3. Facebook groups. You can find a micro community in any niche and there are no algorithms inside groups yet.

Jackie also talked about Influencer marketing and how it has been very effective with his agency clients.

Q: How do we apply these trends?

Ali: Instead of starting from the trends, start from your target audience.

Where is your target audience and what type of content are they consuming?

e.g. If you are in food or restaurant industry,  your audience is probably watching those “yummy videos” on Instagram, so go make some videos.

If you are a virtual assistant, then your audience (Online business owners) are probably networking inside Facebook groups. So join some Facebook groups and build engaging relationships.

Q: What kind of editing tools should we use to make videos?

Ali: If you have never done video before, start with your phone. For simple editing, use apps like iMovie or just use my method > Delete and shoot again 🙂

If you have been doing videos already, then here is a list of top video editing tools.

Q: But it’s not easy to just record yourself on the camera. What should we do?

Ali: There are lots of other options. e.g.

You can make short animated videos using apps like Legend or Spark Post.

You can make videos of other people talking about your business. (Customer testimonials)

You can do screencast videos using tools like ScreenFlow.

So there are a lot of options, if you are camera shy like myself.

BTW here are a couple of examples you can draw inspiration from. Note that in both videos, I am not on the camera 🙂

(I call these micro videos and these can be very effective for Instagram marketing)

Yes. Video is the new text. Here are some tools for camera shy peeps. 1. Spark post 2. Flippagram 3. Spark video

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Q: How to create a social media plan or strategy?

Ali: Keep it simple and just ask yourself these four questions.

1 – WHAT – What are my goals? (e.g. More leads, awareness, better customer service)

2 – WHO – Who is my target audience? (e.g. 20 – 35 year old, Live in Dallas, Go to SMU).

3 – WHERE – Where is my target audience on social media. Don’t just say they are on Facebook. Can you be more specific?

e.g. They are on SMU’s Facebook page. They are on my competitor’s Instagram page.

They are using hashtags like #SMULIFE on Twitter.

4 – HOW – How can you get your target audience’s attention. What type of content should you produce?

If your “Who” is active on Twitter and they follow one of your competitors, then that’s where you need to be.

Q: Do I need a strategy for my personal brand?

Ali: YES you are a brand and you do need a social strategy. Use the same four questions that I listed above and create a simple strategy for your personal brand.

Q: Any good tools for social media posting and scheduling?

Ali: There are so many tools out there.

a) If you are just starting out and budget is a concern, start with Hootsuite. They have a FREE plan and basic analytics.

b) Buffer is another great tool for posting and scheduling. They do have a FREE plan as well.

c) My personal favorite these days is PromoRepublic. I call this tool a combo of Canva and Buffer.

With PromoRepublic, you don’t even have to design visuals. They are already done for you. How cool is that?

You add your social media pages, select your industry and then start sharing awesome already designed content.

d) Jackie also talked about Sprout social, which is another awesome social media management tool.

Q: What’s the word on Facebook Ads?

Ali: IMO Facebook ads are the best use of your paid budget. But print and hang this on the wall

Don’t Use Facebook Ads Without A Proper Strategy – Ali

If you create Facebook ads and show it to a cold audience, they will be too expensive or just won’t work. This is the biggest mistake people make with Facebook Ads and they don’t get any results.

So think about creating a system with your Facebook Ads.

Now over to you 🙂

If you have any questions related to social media trends, tools or recourses, you can ask me in the comments below.

PS – This post may have some affiliate links 

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