What are the latest SMO trends and how do you adapt to them?

1 User-generated content

One of the most powerful ways to leverage SMO is to encourage and showcase user-generated content (UGC). UGC is any content that is created and shared by your customers, fans, or followers, such as reviews, testimonials, photos, videos, or stories. UGC can help you build trust and credibility, increase engagement and interaction, and create a sense of community and advocacy. To leverage UGC, you need to motivate and incentivize your audience to create and share content related to your brand, product, or service. You can do this by launching contests, campaigns, challenges, or hashtags, or by featuring and rewarding the best UGC on your platforms.

2 Video marketing

Another dominant trend in SMO is video marketing. Video is one of the most engaging and effective forms of content, as it can capture attention, convey emotions, and deliver information in a concise and compelling way. Video can help you showcase your brand personality, demonstrate your value proposition, educate your audience, and inspire action. To leverage video marketing, you need to create and distribute high-quality, relevant, and captivating videos that align with your goals, audience, and platforms. You can use different types of videos, such as live streams, stories, reels, webinars, tutorials, or testimonials, depending on your purpose and message.

3 Social listening

Another essential aspect of SMO is social listening. Social listening is the process of monitoring and analyzing what people are saying about your brand, industry, competitors, or topics on social media. Social listening can help you gain insights into your audience's needs, preferences, opinions, and feedback, as well as identify trends, opportunities, threats, and gaps in the market. To leverage social listening, you need to use tools and platforms that can track and measure relevant keywords, hashtags, mentions, or conversations across various networks. You also need to act on the data and insights you collect, by responding to comments, questions, or complaints, creating and improving your content, products, or services, or adjusting your strategy and tactics.

4 Influencer marketing

Another influential trend in SMO is influencer marketing. Influencer marketing is the practice of partnering with individuals who have a large and loyal following on social media, and who can endorse, promote, or recommend your brand, product, or service to their audience. Influencer marketing can help you increase your reach, exposure, and credibility, as well as generate more traffic, leads, and conversions. To leverage influencer marketing, you need to identify and collaborate with influencers who are relevant, authentic, and trustworthy, and who share your values, vision, and target market. You also need to define your goals, expectations, and metrics, and create and execute a mutually beneficial campaign that delivers value to both parties.

5 Social commerce

Another emerging trend in SMO is social commerce. Social commerce is the integration of e-commerce and social media, which allows users to discover, browse, and purchase products or services directly on social platforms, without leaving the app or website. Social commerce can help you reduce friction, increase convenience, and enhance customer experience, as well as boost your sales, revenue, and retention. To leverage social commerce, you need to optimize your social media profiles, pages, or shops for e-commerce, by adding product catalogs, descriptions, prices, ratings, reviews, or links. You also need to create and share engaging and persuasive content that showcases your products or services, and encourages users to buy or take action.

6 Data-driven decisions

Another crucial trend in SMO is data-driven decisions. Data-driven decisions are decisions that are based on facts, evidence, and analysis, rather than intuition, assumptions, or opinions. Data-driven decisions can help you improve your performance, efficiency, and effectiveness, as well as optimize your ROI and outcomes. To make data-driven decisions, you need to collect and analyze relevant data and metrics from your social media platforms and tools, such as impressions, reach, engagement, conversions, or sentiment. You also need to use the data and insights you gather to evaluate your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, and to optimize your strategy, content, campaigns, or actions.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?