10 Social Media Trends to Watch in 2019

2018 saw the erosion of trust in social media brands like Facebook and Google for a variety of reasons.  Not the least of which were security breaches and suspect use of personal and tracking data. Google even committed to shutter Google+ last quarter.   But social media is still a major opportunity for organic business growth, and it’s not becoming any less important, regardless of the size of your business.   The social media user cares more about trust in your brand than ever before and it is becoming more of an engagement prerequisite.    Deep Patel of entrepreneur.com takes a look at the engagement issues and trends you should have focus on in 2019.  Check out his insights here.

Turn Your Instagram Account Into a Revenue Generator with Shoppable Posts

This year Instagram announced ‘shoppable post’, providing a way for you to monetize and sell directly from your Instagram post.  Michael C. Burke, brand manager at SelfMade, outlines what ‘shoppable’ is, how to qualify, what it will take to be successful with your product tagging and hashtags. This is a great introduction that will bring you up to speed on how to drive consumer sales directly using the Instagram shoppable feature.  Check it out here.   If this sounds like the right thing for you and you want to know more, check out a much more comprehensive tutorial by Benjamin Chacon of Later.com.

How to Create a Winning Business YouTube Channel

If you are a video fan or total novice, The App Institute has a comprehensive tutorial on how to build a winning YouTube channel that is geared toward small businesses.  They address the inherent challenges of video marketing while providing ‘practical tips and plenty of inspiration’, and sharing engaging examples of successful businesses of all sizes and types.   From building the business case to optimization and promotion, you will have the knowledge to know if, and how, YouTube marketing can help your business grow.  Find your 2019 YouTube guidebook here.