Now would be the ideal time for brands to check out and test TikTok, according to Al Zaccaria, co-founder of Linktree, an Instagram bio link personalization platform. Zaccaria’s rationale is that many brands are still thinking about checking out this increasingly popular platform.

As of November 2019, TikTok had already exceeded 1.5 billion downloads, as per Sensor-Tower. The app analytics provider added that TikTok was ranked third in downloads and even beat Facebook and Instagram, which finished fourth and fifth to end the year.

While social media algorithms and trends are always changing, one thing still holds true: content is king. This means that brands must constantly revisit and update their content strategies to remain relevant in the online conversation. Even the smallest adjustments can keep consumers interested, bring in new followers and take advantage of the platforms’ ever changing algorithms.

Below are five ways to make sure your brand’s content is king.

The uphill climb that is obtaining genuine engagement on social media can quickly become tiresome for even the most seasoned marketing professionals. As social media platforms continuously make reaching customers organically more and more difficult, marketers must think on their feet a bit in order to stay ahead of the curve.

Gone are the days when each and every post put up by a business page was shown to all of the page’s followers. Gone are the days when businesses had no trouble gaining traction on social media, thanks to all of the tools available to improve the interactions between businesses and consumers.

While no one can say with certainty what lies ahead for marketers in 2021, a glimpse at historical data may help answer some questions. An analysis of more than 22 million posts from over 56,000 business sites identified some revealing industry benchmarks on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

The study was conducted over the course of more than a year and a half by SocialInsider between January 2019 and October 2020. Because the study began way before the pandemic and ran through nearly nine months of it, SocialInsider broke down some of its findings.

The pandemic has made some notable structural changes in the global economy, with many businesses looking towards e-commerce as the best way to move forward. With everyone staying in their homes, this market was primed for exponential growth, precisely what happened this year.

As consumer spending accounts for about 70% of the economy, businesses and marketers are constantly looking for opportunities to sell highly popular products. One of the quickest and most effective ways to do this is via pay-per-click advertising.

Today’s reliance on social media platforms to search and shop by all generations continues to shine a light on every social media marketing phase. Somewhat forgotten, however, is the collective impact that’s resulted and which requires a team effort to achieve success.

Why is this important? Unifying the process eliminates some of the chaos caused by having to follow up with others in the chain, tracking “to-dos” and checking approvals. There will be less second=guessing and less tracking. Add to that the decreased likelihood of such things as misinformation, mistimed promotions, broken links, and off-brand Tweets or posts.

In his October 9, 2016 blog about the Baltimore Ravens fourth-quarter loss to the Washington Redskins, former NFL player Dan Birdwell threw in this quote: “You have to play this game just like somebody just hit your mother with a two by four.”

Game or what’s since evolved into gamification perked up again during the pandemic with so many people quarantined at home. Since 1984, companies were urged to use gamification to improve employee engagement and get workers to more clearly define their goals. It was viewed as a novel way to keep score and get more frequent feedback from employees.

There’s a general rule of thumb that people can “learn just about anything” on YouTube – and the entertainment value is high, too. From educational content to silly videos, to elaborate stunts and fun commentary, there’s plenty to experience on the user-generated video sharing site. Recently, though, new and unique topics have been trending on YouTube, underscoring how the platform is both art imitating life and life imitating art. 

Viewers have popularized videos about how to make PPE masks, quarantine lifestyle tips, and fun ways to make it through online education. Meanwhile, reposted content from political leaders related to COVID-19 response are also jumping into the most-viewed videos lineup in a given time frame. In recent remarks to the media, YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki said her team was monitoring the shift in content and viewership: