Social media. It's an integral part of our everyday lives. From a snapshot at the local pub to a hilarious viral TikTok, no person or business is immune to the benefits it has on our lives and in the market.
One of the best things that social media has given us is that connecting with our target audience is now easier than ever before. Now businesses can pretty easily locate the bulk of their audiences and build relationships organically in a way that just wasn't possible over the internet before.
The important thing to remember though, is that standing out on social media can be difficult. You'll need to make sure you have a great strategy, better content and even better services and products.
One of the secrets to a great social media strategy is staying on top of the trends. What's happening on social?
Today, we've put together a guide just for you to help keep your head in the game in 2020.
Let's get started.
Micro-Content is Going to Continue to Grow
Micro-content, (or as some might call it, "ephemeral content") is content that is valuable for a short period of time, (usually 24 hour periods) and then vanishes. You would recognize micro-content as things like Instagram and Snapchat stories.
With attention spans seemingly growing shorter and people wanting their information in quick, bite size pieces, stories are an excellent way to communicate something quickly in a fun way.
Below you can check out the evidence of this by a chart that shows a fairly substantial rise in Instagram stories daily active users:
For the marketers who have been paying close attention to this ever growing trend, we'll be making the most of it and enjoying the latest updates that bring us more tools that we can leverage to make Stories more fun.
Expect The Niche Social Platforms To Keep Growing
That means TikTok for young audiences and LinkedIn for business professionals.
But no, seriously. Niche social platforms are growing and growing with no signs of stopping anytime soon. Though Instagram and Facebook still hold the ranks for most popular platforms, they don't have a hold because they don't necessarily have one "niche" or audience they specifically shoot to please.
TikTok, however, has been gaining popularity among young people since its offocial debut in 2016.
So what can you expect in 2020? If anything, definitely expect niche platforms to keep growing in popularity!
If you're curious, check out the chart below for the most popular social media platforms by active accounts:
Photo Credit of Statista
Social eCommerce Will Keep Growing, Too!
Social media has long been a great way for brands and businesses to sell their services and products to a captivated audience. And with new and better advertising options becoming available, fluent eCommerce sales are becoming more and more popular across platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and even Twitter.
I believe the next biggest change we're going to see is the ability to purchase without leaving the app. Imagine being able to buy a product off of Instagram without clicking over to another site. Just flawless.
Video Will Rule the Galaxy
It's slowly been taking over the platforms little by little, but in 2020, video is going to rule the social media galaxy.
Video is arguably one of the most engaging and exciting forms of content when it comes to social media. And this is largely to blame for its ever-increasing popularity across platforms.
A study performed by Cisco concluded that by 2022, video content will be making up a staggering 82% of all online content. Crazy, right? This means that if your strategy does NOT include videos, you better get on it. And fast.
Whether it's long-form, short-form or micro, video is an integral part of a well-managed and successful social media strategy so make it a marketing resolution in 2020!
Influencer Marketing Won't Slow Down
It's definitely not a new trend, but it's also not one that's going anywhere anytime soon. Nope. In fact, influencer marketing is only set to continue soaring as the months go by.
For instance, instead of collaborating with just one influencer, business now collaborate with several in a niche to get the best results.
Not only are influencers generally cheaper than advertising, they actually bring better results because they have the trust of the audience.
Forget the idea that marketing is all about generating leads and in 2020, find out what an influencer can do for you.
Personalisation Will Rule Supreme
While its not a new trend in terms of businesses trying to tailor experiences to their customers, its a fairly new trend as far as social media goes.
The key element in personalisation here is in a brand's ability to tailor ads to specific audiences, and the algorithm using this to show the right ads to the right people. Over time, the algorithm will learn what you like and what you don't like.
Test it out for yourself! Click on an ad within your instagram feed. Within hours, (even minutes!) your feed will start showing you ads that are similar in nature.
The Use of Local Targeting Will Only Increase
One of the big ways that businesses take advantage of local traffic is geo-tagging posts. This is especially useful because a lot of the bigger social media platforms, (think Facebook, Instagram) have options for searching pictures, posts and events nearby.
If you boost posts, it can be even MORE useful. And this is because on platforms like Facebook, the posts will be automatically shared to active users in that area.
In 2020, take advantage of the geo-tagging option. You'll be pleasantly surprised at the results!
The Increasing Development of Social Communities by Brands
Social media communities, (or groups) are often created by brands to provide a space for networking virtually.
This allows customers to exchange information, create lasting friendships, get answers and more, PLUS it gives YOU a platform for sharing information about upcoming events, products, services and more.
This isn't a new trend, but it's definitely one that is growing and becoming increasingly more popular with the passing years.
People love insight, involvement and creativity. What's not to like?
User-Generated Content Will (Stay) Popular
If you're not already leveraging user-generated content and saving yourself lots of money and time, you need to jump in ASAP. This isn't a trend unique to 2019/2020 and beyond. Rather, it's a tool that marketers across the globe are taking advantage of and the popularity is only growing.
Some of the tricks you can use to encourage users to create content for you are things like giveaways, features, contests, and more.
Think it's not worth your time? Think again. Brands like Airbnb rely COMPLETELY on user-generated content, so it's definitely something you should look into in 2020.
A Continual Increase in Social Media as a Customer Service Tool
Social media is unique in its way to be personal without violating anyone's "personal space" because it can be public, but in a personal way. Marketing professionals are using social media more and more as they learn how to create the perfect flywheel strategy in their customer interaction.
The transition to more social media interaction has happened over the course of the last decade as brands have begun to notice trends in customers asking questions, leaving reviews and asking for help online.
And of course, on so public a platform if you don't respond in a way you can be proud of, rest assured the majority of the population on social media is going to see it. So BE KIND and delight your customers by treating them like family.
The Ultimate Conclusion
We hope that you'll be able to use some of these tricks to further your brand reach on social, as well as build customer relationships you can be proud of online.
Of course, there's going to be trends coming and going as the year marches on, but don't worry. We'll keep you updated and on top of the competition!
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