As the online marketing environment is constantly changing with new trends are constantly arising. 

As a brand manager, it can be hard to understand which ones will actually impact your business and which ones are less likely to make a difference in your social media presence. 

A prestigious communication company called the Edelman recently shortlisted some of the most influential trends to watch out for, looking at the broader shifts and paradigm-changes that have affected the communication industry. 

In this post, to help you identify the right areas of communication innovation,  we’re sharing some of the trends which were recently listed by the Edelman communication company to help you identify which ones to focus on the most. 

With no further ado, let’s dive into the subject.

#1 The Rise of the Audio Influencer

One of the most relevant events in social media is the growth of platforms that focus on audio content. Continuing a tradition that has started with podcasts, platforms like Clubhouse have been pioneering a new way of consuming media, without looking at a screen. 

This trend has built upon people’s ability to listen to audio content while conducting different tasks and operations. Moreover, the ability to hear a human voice in real-time has humanized communication in a way that social media posts and images couldn’t do quite in the same way. 

#2 Gen Z’s distrust of Unauthenthic Content

New generations of customers are approaching social media with a sense of distrust which companies need to fight against. 

In communication strategy we tend to split communication typologies into three: owned media paid media and earned media. 

Among the three earned media – or the one that a brand earns thanks to the association with third party opinions and content – is considered the most influential as a brand has no means of controlling what other people say about it. 

On the other hand, company-branded content and paid advertising seem to provide much less influence over consumer behavior. 

As a result, brands may need to revise how they allot their communication budget, focusing on PR and earned media content if they want to engage with Gen Z’s expectations.

#3 The Rise of the Micro-Influencer

Influencers in recent years have played a pivotal role in the world of internet communication, however, their increasingly open attitude towards sponsored content has impacted their ability to impact their follower’s opinions. 

This has been particularly the case for those influencers that have created large followings, and have attracted a high degree of media attention. These individuals have, in time, diluted their own authority and persuasiveness, due to the increasingly high level of commercial communications and brand-sponsored content. 

Those influencers who instead were able to maintain authority and persuasiveness are those who did not target large audiences, displaying restraint towards the opportunity to quickly monetize their following. These latter influencers, called “micro-influencers” with a following of 5 to 100 K followers ended up acquiring much more relevance as they showed commitment to creating a more authentic community.

#4 Measuring Influencer ROI

Speaking of influencer marketing and social media management, an increasingly relevant trend is connected to measuring social media performance with business metrics. 

It is true that social media native metrics (likes and shares) have very little to do with business metrics (as in revenue and profits) and the lack of connection between these two systems has put companies in a difficult position. This is why social media metrics are often referred to as “vanity metrics”.

If on the one hand, the role of social media is increasingly important, requiring higher and higher budgets to build and maintain engaging profile pages, on the other hand having thousands of likes or shares has very little to do with measuring a return on the communication investment.

This very important trend is connected to developing social media management strategies that allow companies to track the return on investment of their communication campaigns by changing their approach to social media communication. 

In this sense, traditional “engagement” campaigns could leave room for more funnel-centered “nurture” campaigns, where social media interactions play as “top-of-the-funnel” interaction but are well connected to landing pages and sales pages.

#5 Privacy is a Priority

Last but not least, privacy is an absolute priority. 

Managing data according to regulations is but the start of protecting your users’ data. 

Any company wanting to establish an authoritative presence on social media needs to commit to a high level of transparency, starting from its operations to the management of user data. 

This is the only way in which brands can fight against a certain sense of distrust that has made social media presences less convincing and less influential on user behavior. 

Great, now that we’ve covered all 5 trends, let’s move towards drawing a few conclusive remarks.

Conclusions

There you have it! In this post, we’ve reviewed some of the most relevant social media trends your fashion brand should know about, in order to ride the wave of communication innovation. 
If you’d like to read more on the topic, here’s a book we recommend, to help you get the most out of your social media presence: Social Media Success for Every Brand: The Five StoryBrand Pillars That Turn Posts Into Profits

Moreover, do not hesitate to explore our blog, where we’re having a wealth of material available for you on social media management and digital marketing.

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