Social media marketing can be tricky. If your clients handle this format well, they can score followers and gain new customers. But one or two missteps in the social space can leave brands reeling. The latest State of Social Report from Buffer shows your clients may be missing opportunities in the social medial space, especially if they haven’t tried Stories.

The Power of Stories

Experts point out that ads in the form of Stories on Facebook and other platforms can educate audiences with short tutorials. Your clients can also use them to generate feedback from their audience. If they want quick answers on planned product changes, a well-​designed Story on social media can help. Most Stories contain both photos and video. If you’re delivering digital marketing services, you can pitch your expertise in creating effective Stories.

Who Uses Stories

Of the 1,800 marketing pros who responded to Buffer’s survey, 38% have used the Stories ad format. And, 35% say their Stories ads are somewhat effective, while 22.6% say they are very effective. This ad format, available on Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat, gives your clients an opportunity to snag attention in the social space. So far, nearly 20% of brands have invested in Stories ads on Instagram, 4.6% have put Stories on Facebook and 12.2% use both channels to show off their Stories. Next year, 61% of brands that use Stories ad will spend more on the format next year.

Messaging Apps

Your clients could stand apart from the competition by investing in other social formats that aren’t widely used. In the past year, about 29% of businesses say they’ve spent money on messaging apps in order to reach potential clients. In 2019, that number will increase to nearly 50 percent. The two most popular apps are Messenger (37.1%) and WhatsApp (21.8%).  

Video

Posting video to social networks is now a well-​established marketing tactic. Over 35% of businesses post video content to social platforms at least once a month. And nearly 25% do so weekly. Here are the platforms where businesses are sharing videos:

• Facebook 81.2%
• YouTube 62.9%
• Instagram 57.8%
• Twitter 45.6%
• LinkedIn 32.6%
• Snapchat 4.1%

Remind your clients that several metrics are key to understanding video content marketing success. For example, Buffer research shows that videos posted to LinkedIn “are shared 20+ more times than any other content.” Counting views is not a true measure of ROI. Remind your clients that checking out the number of shares is vital.

The marketers in the Buffer survey would like to create more video content. But, 66.5% say lack of time is a huge problem.

It can be difficult to excel in social media marketing. Help your clients by running a category analysis Digital Audit on them. The report, available at AdMall from SalesFuel, will show how well their social media efforts align with what the competition is doing.