BALI: With the rise of new platforms such as Instagram Stories and the challenges facing Facebook, change is set to be the only constant for social media marketers this year.

“Now, more than ever, it’s really important to choose your audience right and do advertising a very, very smart way,” said Jan Rezab, co-founder of social media analytics company Socialbakers, at the recent Engage Bali event.

For brands with a visual story to tell, for example, Instagram and its popular Stories format are offering a solid alternative to Facebook, particularly when it comes to engagement rates. (For more, read WARC’s report: 2018 social media trends: Instagram, influencers and Facebook.)

“On Facebook, we see e-commerce, retail, services, fashion, and beauty,” he explained. “On Instagram this is very different – it’s visual content, so fashion, beauty, and auto are the top three categories on Instagram.”

He observed that the move of advertisers to invest in Instagram advertising is one of the most dramatic trends currently happening in social media.

Another is the role of influencers. When it comes to working with social media influencers, authenticity is key – and that means marketers need to give up some of the control, he advised.

“If you’re thinking, I can control my brand message with influencers? Forget it. My number one recommendation for influencers is give them one, two or three conditions and let it go.

“You’re giving the brand to them a little bit. They’re going to mix it and remix it. But if you want to be in that world, you’ve got to learn to let go of certain brand aspects,” Rezab explained.

“The best way to come to them is, ‘This is our product. What do you think you could say about it? How will you promote it to your audience?’ Because guess what? You might have all the insights in the world, but they can still promote your product better than you can promote your product, because they know their audience the best.”

Sourced from WARC