In the last decade, the social networks have become one of the main channels of communication and dissemination of content. Digital Marketing professionals have to be alert to new developments so that companies do not lose traffic or customers.
Social Media Trends and Social Networks 2020
Less text and more audiovisual content
In 2018 the arrival of the video was already an event, accustomed to more traditional networks such as Twitter, the arrival of the video showed that it is the trend and will continue to be in the next few years. According to Entrepreneur, 200 million Instagram users use the stories every month.
Another network that does not stop believing is YouTube, which continues to be the reference platform for the consumption of audiovisual content. Chance? I do not think so. Experts estimate that 80% of what we consume online will soon be video content.
Video, video and more video, yes, as you read will continue to grow the use of video, this type of content has become preferred by users and brands will have to enter in the thread if you want to highlight, yes, with video differentiates and that capture the user’s attention. “And in the trends of this year reinforces his idea:” The consumption of video content continues to increase.
In 2020 companies will have to adapt to the media where users consume that content and formats such as: stories, is a type of content that the audience consumes voraciously, their hunger to “gossip” the most innovative in the Personal profiles and brands have made it a star content.”
Social Networks have already realized this change in the consumption of content and raise their approaches to this new visual mentality as a way to attract the audience. A clear example are the efforts of Facebook and Instagram to add more and more audiovisual material to their platform, to the point of notifying us when a live will take place.
But, why now and not before? It is clear that video has always been an attractive format for users, but if we consider the quality of the media only a few years ago the production level of a video was much more expensive, nowadays anyone with a normal smartphone and an Instagram account can upload quality
Is live streaming Better
As we mentioned in the previous section, video content is king if we talk about social networks, but in 2020 the live content will gain a strong popularity among marketing departments and will serve as a tool to strengthen the relationship between the brand and its followers.
Clearly it has some chiaroscuros for the technical difficulties and the possible errors that can be committed during a streaming broadcast, it makes many businesses think twice before producing it, but the naturalness and authenticity of the content generates closeness and confidence towards the brand.
For example, some business profiles begin to promote their products or services, in this way they can offer a more intimate view of the company or even interact with customers through questions or comments, whether through Facebook, Live, Instagram or other platform.
Instagram, The Queen Of Social Networks
When asked the director of the Master in Community Management: Enterprise 4.0 and Social Networks, for the trends in Social Networks in 2020 he has it quite clear: “Instagram is the social network of fashion for your digital marketing”.
As highlights in his presentation: “For this 2020, the trends in Social Media will follow the line that we discussed last year, the visual contents, these will continue to be the most requested and” consumed “(with a shorter duration, fast content) by our followers: videos, live broadcasts, stories, etc. “
But we have to highlight that “Today we have Instagram, which is having a spectacular growth in the number of users (it has doubled the number of users in around the world in the last two years, according to the study of The Social Media Family).
And we only need to look at the people that surround us to discover what network they frequently use and what content they publish in it, to see the importance that is being given to this social network and the live contents or stories, and the new functionalities that can be applied in this network in Marketing benefit.
These new features that have come out during 2018 as for example, the new algorithm for the user to appear first that content that he likes and with which he interacts, share a content of the feed that he likes in an stories of another account, Instagram Shopping for adding product labels and information, among many others, benefit the social media strategies of those Communities Managers that promote a brand, company or producer in this social network.
IGTV, The “Social Television”
In a similar line, the marketing experts agrees that “Instagram grows as foam is no secret, but we have to consider the level that could reach in 2020.”
No one wants to forget “the recent launch of Instagram TV (IGTV), the social network has opted for a new video platform exclusively for mobile. Unlike YouTube, IGTV uses vertical video, and that’s why it’s perfect for advertisers whose target is a super user of mobile devices. “
It is also concluded that “Some experts venture that IGTV will become the new YouTube in less than five years. And the truth is that with this platform, users no longer only consume video, but also create it. “
The Social Commerce Have Come To Stay
Experts tells us that “the last semester of 2018 usually gives us a clue as to what, probably, will be a trend and will tread strongly during 2020” and points out the Social Commerce and tells us what the 4 protagonists are in their opinion. 2020:
- Instagram: “Without a doubt, his reign will be imposed as the year progresses. And we’ll see how long it takes to unseat his older competitor: Facebook. I do not think much. Every time I get more questions about how Instagram Shopping is installed. We really wanted to buy on these channels! “
- Facebook: “In parallel to Instagram, the store on Facebook is adding followers. Online stores know that it is a great ally for the sale of their products. And, the push of your competitor will make it add users. “
- Pinterest: “Allow me to venture with this social network. I do not have data to affirm that 2020 will give a rebound. But thinking of Social Commerce, we cannot forget it. If your target and your theme fit the profile of Pinterest users and, in addition, you have an eCommerce, consider it in your strategy. “
- LinkedIn: ” Social Selling and Employer Branding are two sales models that companies take more into account. It seems that the digital transformation is opening gap in them and are already aware of their relevance to sales, in a B2B business model. “
We also emphasize that the “functioning of eCommerce has taken a turnaround since social networks began to become a sales channel. Not only indirectly thanks to the influencers, but explicitly, thanks to features such as that offered by Instagram, which allows you to link products directly in the photographs.
Other networks such as Facebook or Pinterest also have eCommerce features: purchase buttons, links and call to action, which will favor social purchases in 2020.
These platforms also favor the visibility of small brands, which use influencers to make themselves known. One more way to facilitate access to a social community full of potential buyers. “
The Consolidation Of The Chatbots
In 2018, we counted on how the Chatbots began to be integrated into the main Social Networks and that soon they would become the best friend of the Marketing, Sales and Community Management departments.
In 2020 this trend is consolidated and preferred. As observed, the previous year: “Before, artificial intelligence was something practically science fiction. Nowadays it is a viable solution, easy to implement and affordable.
To resolve the doubts of a potential client through a chat automatically, and in parallel to follow the conversation through your preferred social network and also (as sellers) see your profile on LinkedIn to learn more and better guide you on the solution that I need to consider it a great competitive advantage. “
Numerous companies such as Google, Amazon and Facebook have quickly adopted a robot or chatbot that works through AI in its line of customer service and this trend will continue in the coming years unstoppable. According to a study by Hootsuite the growth of chat has exceeded the goals and predicts in 2020, more than 85% of customer service interactions will be driven by AI robots, no doubt the chatbots will continue to give much to talk about.
Customization In Detail Thanks To Big Data
We unknowingly generate a large amount of data while surfing the Internet or social networks that companies use to customize each offer in detail. The content we consume, the pages we visit, the accounts we follow, or the emails we open are useful information that marketing departments take advantage of when carrying out their campaigns.
As predicted last year, ” We are entering a hyper-connected world in which people no longer need to make the same effort or the same wait to achieve a certain task. We are going towards a digital horizon in which every time we approach, everything is much easier for us.
Social networks also evolve, and they do it hand in hand with these intelligent developments. Today there are already a multitude of companies that are able to connect customer conversations through the web with social networks, and all personalized and automated. “
This constant generation of data allows a social listening (or constant monitoring) to know the mentions related to the brand by the users and in this way to manage in a more effective way the customer service and the management of the reputation, without a doubt this trend will be one of the most developed during the next year.
The 96% of marketers believe that personalization improves customer relations. However, this has also highlighted the concern of many users for their privacy, so much so that it has even been a key issue in the political debate in 2018, and almost certainly that in 2020 it will also bring headaches to more of a company if they do not monitor and take good care of their clients’ data management.
Influencers Never Die
As we advance in 2018 the influencers never go out of style, in the last two years the influencers have been introduced into our daily lives almost spontaneously. This denotes that: ” Some time you perform actions with influencers is giving good results for brands and the trend for 2020 is to continue to grow this marketing strategy does vary in some respects. The amount is no longer the most important.
Now the brands are looking for truly measurable results, so the number of followers is no longer the most relevant, now the quality of the followers and the ROI are sought. The brands will look for more specialized and effective influencers “.
Another trend that we cannot miss is that of micro-Influencers, a niche that is growing, consisting of profiles with less than 10,000 people but that have a lot of weight as an expert within their niche.
It’s hard to come by knowledgeable people on this topic, however, you sound like you know what you’re talking about!