Now that it’s the new year (and a new decade!), it’s time to see what trends 2020 will bring. Social media usage has been growing and is only set to continue to increase, so it’s essential for companies to know how to take advantage of it. People aren’t just using social media for communicating with their friends. They’re using it to do research on products they want to buy and read reviews that others have left about products and services.
What social media trends should you keep an eye on in 2020?
Ephemeral Content
As its name suggests, ephemeral content is content that doesn’t last. Instagram Stories is a good example of this. People can make posts that only last for a short period of time before they disappear, rather than staying as a permanent part of the social media channel. More and more marketers are making Instagram Stories and other ephemeral content a part of their social media marketing strategies.
Instagram Ads
It’s very common for companies to use social media influencers to market their products, Influencers have a wide audience and can reach more people than a business might be able to on its own. However, Instagram is considering removing the post likes feature, which could affect how businesses use influencers.
If Instagram goes through with removing likes, influencers can still help your business reach a much bigger audience. It will just be more difficult to measure how successful a post was. Many companies may turn to Instagram Ads in order to have ad campaigns that are more easily measured.
Video Content
Video content has already been on the rise over the past few years. In 2020, this trend will only increase. More people across all age groups are watching videos online than interacting with any other type of social media content. Studies are predicting that by the year 2022, over 80% of all online content will be videos.
YouTube is the second most popular social media channel, following only Facebook in the number of users it has. It’s also the second most popular search engine, after Google. Any videos you create should be posted on YouTube, but then can be shared across all of your social media platforms. These videos can also be showcased directly on your website in order to better engage with your customers.
Niche Influencer Marketing
Despite Instagram planning on removing the like button from its platform, the affect influencers have on online marketing isn’t going anywhere. Instagram may be wanting companies to switch to using Instagram Ads, but across all social media platforms, marketing through influencers tends to be less expensive than paying for ads. More and more companies are turning to influencers as a part of their marketing strategy.
A newer trend has been for companies to engage with several smaller-scale influencers in order to reach specific niche markets instead of engaging with one celebrity. This strategy has tended to produce good results and even better engagement for businesses. Niche influencers often charge less than celebrities as well.
Social Customer Service
In recent years, social media has also begun to be used for customer service. Customers began to reach out to companies on their social media channels. This may be because they were frustrated with trying to resolve issues via the traditional methods of phone and e-mail. It’s also possible they wanted to draw public support to an issue they were having in order to encourage companies to act.
Now, social media has been established as a way not only for companies to reach their customers but also for customers to reach out to companies. It’s not just one-off complaints anymore, either. Customers now routinely turn to social media to ask questions about a service or product they have purchased or are planning on purchasing.