Social media has revolutionised the way businesses market themselves and their products. Keep up with the latest trends, and you’ll be at an advantage — but how do you even keep up?

“If you want to stay ahead of the competition, be where the competition isn’t.” — Rick Jarman

Product management and marketing is a dynamic field, especially because of its intersection with ever-changing social media trends. It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the sheer number of social networks and messaging apps, let alone the trends associated with each one.

Let’s talk about the major social media trends that have had a major impact on product marketing and management and a quick tip to stay ahead of the competition.

Trend 1: Emerging Social Media Platforms

New social media platforms are commonplace these days. While Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram remain popular, other platforms such as Snapchat, TikTok, Pinterest, and many others are attracting more and more users. This means that if you want to stay ahead of the competition, you need to be on the lookout for new social media platforms and consider whether they could work for your product.

Trend 2: Increased Use Of Visual Content

It cannot be denied that visuals can be much more engaging than written content. This is why visuals continue to become increasingly popular among marketers. People love seeing images, videos, infographics, and other visual content, as it can evoke strong emotions and compel them to take action.

Furthermore, videos are often used to promote products. More and more people are creating videos from their mobile devices and sharing them with their followers. If you’re looking for ways to reach a wider audience, consider creating interesting videos with use cases for your product is quintessential in promoting them on various platforms.

Trend 3: Rise of Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing has become a major tool for businesses to market their products. With their large number of followers, influencers have the power to attract new customers and increase brand awareness.

When you’re looking to promote your product on social media, consider working with influencers related to your product niche. You could ask them to promote your product via sponsored posts or create videos that are relevant to your product.

Trend 4: Real-Time & Personalised Engagement

The days of relying solely on email or blog post campaigns are over. Social media has revolutionised how businesses interact with their customers. You can now chat with users and engage with them in real time.

As more consumers turn to social media to share their opinions, product managers must provide personalised and targeted engagement. Doing this opens up the opportunity to directly contact and converse with prominent target market members, adding a personal touch to product marketing and improving customer loyalty.

To make the most of this trend, consider investing in customer service chatbots or live chat tools. This will enable you to quickly answer customer queries and effectively engage them.

Trend 5: Social Listening

Social listening is the process of monitoring and assessing consumer conversations on social media to gain valuable insights into public opinion and sentiment. Focusing on actively engaging with customers in the comments section, understanding their conversations and responding accordingly is key to building a loyal customer base and promoting products accordingly.

Ultimately, product managers must be aware of and take advantage of the changes in social media trends to be successful. Taking risks and adapting to changing market conditions is integral to product success in the digital age. By understanding and capitalising on the powerful potential of social media, product managers will be able to reach and influence new audiences, all while driving product performance.

By staying up to date and taking advantage of these trends, you’ll be able to stay ahead of the competition and achieve great results.