Social media constantly changes at such a rapid pace nowadays, so it’s only natural to expect that social trends rarely stay the same each year. They change, grow and evolve, according to what the user prefers.
If you are a marketer, it’s a good idea to regularly keep your finger on the pulse and stay up to date on the latest social media trends, as this will fuel your digital strategy and help to differentiate your brand from the crowd.
Here’s a breakdown of what new social trends to look out for in 2020.
Short Video Content
A feature that isn’t new, but continues to grow in popularity is short video content that typically disappears after 24 hours. With so much content being available online these days, it’s becoming increasingly harder to capture people’s attention as their attention spans have become shorter and this means that the way audiences like to consume content has also changed. This relatively new behaviour allows for content like Stories to exist, catering to people who like short, engaging, and addictive content. Social platforms like Instagram and Snapchat Stories make use of this content and are great predictors of what we can expect to catch on in the near future.
Instagram Disables Likes
In the latest turn of events, Instagram made the decision to remove the ability to see likes on all posts. The platform recently held a beta test to see how the idea could work practically and are looking to soon make the change globally. Instagram’s thinking behind their actions is that likes are perceived to determine a person’s social value and that seeking such validation is considered detrimental to people’s mental health.
Customer Service
People love using social media as a channel for customer service because it’s mostly quick and effective and tends to be the most direct way to reach a brand. This being the case, brands need to handle complaints from clients or customers in a timely and courteous manner as many people are able to see if a brand has been behaving unprofessionally and if so, this could damage the brand’s reputation. And although tempting, it’s not the best idea to delete unfavourable comments, questions or complaints. That could backfire on your brand’s reputation! Rather, see it as an opportunity to engage with your customer and who knows, their complaint could turn into a compliment.
Niche Audiences
Social media platforms have been implementing advanced targeting and customisation options to make things easier for digital marketers, allowing you to show the right ads to the right people at the right times. Social media also gathers information to understand the type of products and services your audience likes and shows them adverts for similar products and services from different brands. The more ads your audience clicks on, the more social media will learn and begin to understand your audience’s online behaviour and preferences.
Video Content
Video content has proven to be one of the most engaging forms of content of all time and is expected to dominate the social media space over all other types of content in the future. Both long-form videos, like content found on YouTube and short-form videos, usually found on TikTok are the most shared type of content on social media to date.
Brands would do well to make use of video content on social platforms such as Youtube, Instagram Stories, and TikTok to name a few, for social media content and adverts. Adding videos to your social media posts doesn’t need to be complicated, a moving image with words counts as video too. Just remember though, that your audience is not likely to have the volume on when watching videos, so consider adding a script at the video so that they can follow.
These trends are likely to influence the social media landscape in 2020 and beyond. So the good news is that none of them requires your business to start a new social presence from scratch. Social media is a dynamic and fluid space, so stay up to date with the latest developments surrounding these themes and be sure to use them in your future social media strategies.
