The world of social media continues to grow and evolve in 2024. Our blog explores five of the current social trends shaping culture and our online interactions. We explore the impactful trends defining our increasingly interconnected world.

#1 – Social SEO

Social media platforms will need to focus on SEO in 2024. Hashtags used to be the primary method for reaching audiences who weren’t already following you on social media.

Due to TikTok’s own search function, it’s essential to incorporate keywords into your videos to gain more viewers. This includes adding subtitles, accurately describing what’s happening in the video in the caption, adding hashtags and location.

Additionally, Instagram now allows you to search beyond hashtags with its search bar. People can now search for more than just hashtags, but also phrases, locations and words. When appropriate, include locations, keywords related to your product or audience, and subtitles in reels and posts. To help the search engines categorize your content more effectively, you need to use more relevant and targeted hashtags.

#2 – Longer-Form Content

As storytelling becomes more popular and leads to stronger emotional connections with audiences, this type of video content will continue to grow on TikTok and Instagram. With the new creator fund, TikTok only pays out creators whose videos are longer than a minute long, so in general, longer videos are more likely to be favored by the algorithm.

The longer the blog, the better the search engine ranking. Detailed, well searched blogs and articles drive organic traffic to websites.

Here are some long-form content examples that Yellow Duck Marketing has worked on and produced within the last year:

Waverly Reels:

 

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A post shared by WaverlyCLT (@waverlyclt)

 

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A post shared by WaverlyCLT (@waverlyclt)

Tommy’s Pub Reel:

 

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A post shared by Eastway Crossing (@eastwaycrossing)

#3 – TikTok Text/Photo Posts

The popularity of TikTok Photo posts has grown over the past year. With this feature, you can upload up to 35 photos as a slideshow or carousel. The photo feature on TikTok can get 1.9x more likes and 2.9x more comments on your post. It may be easy to get started with TikTok photo posts if you’re on Instagram, since you can reuse your Instagram photos.

#4 – Rise of Micro-influencers

If you’re planning to have an influencer campaign this year, don’t overlook micro-influencers. In addition to being cost-effective, they often have higher engagement rates, niche audiences and are more flexible when it comes to collaboration.

We worked with family influencer House of Hensen to promote Family Day event for our client Promenade on Providence last summer. The reel received 18,939 views, reached 14,981 people and received 322 likes, 25 comments, 386 shares, 116 saves and more than 48 hours of watch time.

House of Hensen Reel:

 

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A post shared by Jessica – Family and Kids Activities in Charlotte, NC (@houseofhensen)

#5 – Authentic Content > Hard Selling

Building trust with your audience is one of the reasons to be on social media as a business. Your social media voice shouldn’t be too salesy because you want to humanize your company/product through social media.

Authentic content should be geared towards building long-term relationships as opposed to hard selling to get leads, sales and transactions. Providing excellent customer service through social media, delivering value and understanding customer needs can all contribute to this. Content that is authentic is more inviting, which leads to a more positive response.

Social media marketing can be an effective tool to help you build a strong online presence. With the right strategies combined with effectively using trends, you can start boosting your brand awareness through social media. Contact us today and let us help you create a tailor-made social media strategy that connects with your target audience.