30-second summary:
- Even if you have a small marketing budget, you can still compete with bigger competitors.
- To navigate social media well, you must hone your social listening and online investigation skills to find out what topics are relevant to your core audience.
- Success requires embracing trends early with a creative and positive mindset.
- Arjun Rai details four strategies for learning to navigate the changing social media landscape.
It’s no secret that social media marketing trends change rapidly[1]. You might see a hashtag trending on TikTok before you go to bed, but when you wake up, everyone’s talking about a new hashtag or meme on Twitter. Is it any wonder that small business marketers need a way to confidently navigate social media?
For certain, it can be hard for small companies and startups to put more than a few hundred dollars into a social media marketing strategy. Plus, many entrepreneurs lack the experience and expertise needed to spot hot trends and capitalize on those topics in real-time, unlike big competitors that have unlimited marketing budgets and personnel.
The good news is that developing a successful digital marketing strategy is possible[2], and it doesn’t have to take grunt work or cost you more than a cup of coffee a day. It simply requires innovation. (In other words, even if you have a small marketing budget, you can still compete with the biggest competitors — #yougotthis.)
Unlocking the secrets of digital marketing
If you spend any time on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or other social media platforms, you’ve likely seen how trends bubble up out of nowhere. The possibilities may seem overwhelming, but you can’t afford to wait and see what sticks. You have to jump in and offer relevant content that outshines