10 social media marketing trends that can be expected in 2020 & beyond

2020 is round the corner and staying abreast to the trends is the need of the hour. From the rise of social commerce to new type of content, this blog will tell you what social trends to expect and prepare for.

Building social media communities:

There are brands with millions of followers but post engagement is negligible. The reason is audience does not find the content relevant and engaging. Therefore, brands will need to create content that gets the audience talking, encourage conversations and cultivate that feeling of community.

Tips to develop communities:

• Encourage team members to create their social presence so that they can promote brand’s content and increase overall brand trust. This tactic leads to an authentic voice for your brand.
• Twitter chats help create a strong sense of community through content and bringing thought leaders from all areas together in a real-time conversation. It gives your brand the perfect opportunity to engage directly with current and potential customers.

Location specific social media pages:

Local content will be given more priority. Since users would like to engage with local pages instead of brand pages, the brands will focus on creating local content on local pages to engage local market. More branch specific approach will be given priority.

Content shall be based on user activity:

Personalized content based on user’s activity shall be created to encourage more conversions. Target audience’s social media behavior shall be given top most importance to create content.

Ephemeral content would take center stage:

Ephemeral content, which means the content that, disappears after certain time like Instagram/ Facebook/ Snapchat/WhatsApp stories would be center of content marketing model. Most of the engagement shall come from ephemeral content. Brand guidelines shall not be strictly followed and brands will have to take bold steps in creating content. Immediate reaction and engagement shall lead to strict SLAs for customer response.

Reasons of popularity:

• FB/WhatsApp/Instagram Stories looks more authentic than regular Instagram posts that allow for heavy editing and altering.
• The content is only available for 24hrs; therefore, it looks current and does not become outdated.
• Consumers want live updates and real-time content and stories are normally the most up-to-date content a business can offer a consumer.
• Through Instagram Stories, you can share other people’s Instagram posts. This function allows people to connect easily with other accounts and businesses.

 

Social Media Search will lead to easy product/service discovery:

Brands will optimize the product and service details on social media that would allow users to discover the brand or know about the brand easily. Facebook has already rolled Search Ads and potential of other social media network, to roll similar functionality is evident.

Gap between product discovery and purchase will be shortened:

Social media platforms will focus on integrating with e-commerce, so that brands can easily sync product details on social media platforms. Even purchases on social media platforms would be seamless, to decrease redirection on website.

Video will continue to grow and be the most engaging content:

LinkedIn and Twitter will focus more on video content. Faster internet will increase watch time of users, encouraging brands to create more compelling videos. Live videos will get more attractive and will be done with less hiccups.

Live Streaming and Video Statistics:

• Live streaming is expected to make up 82% of the total internet traffic before the end of 2020. (GoGlobe)
• 80% of shoppers prefer watching live videos than reading blogs from a brand. (Livestream)
• Instagram videos can yield roughly 21.2% more customer interactions compared to images. (Quintly)

Audio will become the new experimental tool:

Users with lower internet speed and commuters will be attracted towards podcast and audio posts. Long form content will be given importance, as audio will increase the attention span.

Increased VR and AR adoption:

Social media platforms will create more user-friendly tools and interface for AR and VR content. Facebook 360, canvas and AR effects will be used by new age marketers.

Rise of Pinterest, TikTok and other alternative social media platform:

While Facebook and Twitter’s active users are dropping, users are looking for other better options.

• TikTok with a younger target audience (41% of TikTok users are aged between 16 and 24) could become a great platform to encourage engagement with users who are stepping away from more traditional social media platforms.
• Pinterest is becoming more and more popular in e-commerce space and has an audience that is engaged with the idea of buying products that they see on the platform. In fact, 75% of Pinterest users say they are “very interested” in new products compared to just 55% of people on other social media platforms.

Conclusion

Social Media is a very dynamic and ever-changing place. So, trends don’t stay for a year, they can change at a faster pace. Still, there are some of the trends that will dominate the social media landscape in 2020 and beyond. Leveraging these trends to brand’s advantage will keep you on the top of the game.