Social Media Trends for 2020

The last decade has seen social media solidify into thriving, multifaceted communities where more than 3.2 billion people worldwide are active daily. More than 90 percent of millennials regularly use at least one of these platforms. And business across the globe is now conducted through social media. You can shop, research and apply for a job, check the news and do just about everything through social media.

We have wrapped up one decade, there’s no doubt that social media will play a growing role in our lives for the foreseeable future. So, how should businesses, brands, and even the average user anticipate the future for social media?

Here are the top tips to get you through the next phase of social media marketing.

Build your community: Social media is making a shift to quality over quantity when it comes to social media posts. It isn't just about grabbing attention and growing an audience. It is about building an engaged online community. With that being said, you have to establish a healthy balance between building your audience and strengthening your social community. A saturated media field has caused social media users to crave creative content. Regular postings are still valid but take time to think about what will make your brand stand out. Here is the kicker – do one well, and both happen.

As social media marketing managers, we have to know inside and out whom we want in our groups and communities, and what they want to hear from us. This is often why social media content falls flat - it lacks purpose and reason, and connection to its target audience. It is basically just promotion; traditional ad and marketing collateral in a new format. Your mission and your message are not going to relate to every person.

Know who your target audience is – and speak to them, most. They will bring in others who share similar interests.

Participate with your communities (let’s stop calling them platforms) every day and see what works best. Answer comments and questions, be present and do not over automate. Be present and learn about your community and what interests them most. Identify what moves them, drives them, and inspires them. Originality and authenticity are what people are looking for. Are you up to the challenge?

Taking personalized content to a deeper level, many organizations will be investing in Influencers and Social Listening Strategies. Influencers could be something for the big brands but, with the launch of so many social listening tools, it has become easy for all business levels to access more detailed insights. Don’t sell yourself short on this tool.

Just say no to perfectionism: Your content is never going to be perfect, and your social media 'To Do' list will never be 100% complete. In some cases, we have to be ok with 'done and imperfect', because it can be better than not done at all. 

Now, do NOT misunderstand me! I am not encouraging lazy mistakes or promoting dreadful content. I am also not suggesting you let automation take over. But you should not be spending hours designing and tweaking one single Instagram post, or whiling away the days editing a smartphone video that's going to be 30 seconds long. Other good words for perfectionism is nitpicking, hairsplitting, and critical. These descriptive words don’t belong in your social media plan.

Attention to detail is great, but perfectionism can be a killer. Automation takes away the personal aspect of interacting with people and makes a community feel cold. Get your post up. Edit it later if you find a drastic mistake. 

Video: Story content is king. 2019 saw a rise in video content in profound ways. I can remember sitting in my office last spring and a coworker asking my daughter what TikToc was? Last January, were you using the hottest social media outlet of today? Did you know it is now developing a feed of curated content, similar to Snapchat's discover stream? Keep your research tools sharp…

On its own, video marketing is impacting business and marketing with positive ROI in every area. Additionally, Hubspot says that by adding a video to marketing emails can boost click-through rates by 200-300%. And embedding videos in landing pages can increase conversion rates by 80%.

Adding video to you’re your social posts boost engagement. Did you know brand association increases by 139% and 92% of people will share videos?

Video content influences product and services, especially with millennials. Statistics show growth each year for video marketing. This is what consumers are asking for in their behavior and as marketers, we must deliver.

• 81% of businesses use video in their marketing strategy, a 63% increase since last year.
• 82% of consumer internet traffic will come from videos by 2022.
• Users spend 88% more time on websites that contain videos.
• Emails have a 7% higher open rate when the subject line includes the word 'video' in it.

Big changes are also being seen and felt in the design aspect of our social media pages. For the full rundown on how to best implement these updates, see my full breakdown. The key takeaways are:

• Personalization
• Interactive Content and Interactive Experiences
• Typography
• Natural and Organic Imagery
• Gradient 3.0
• Soften Things Up
• 3D
• Branded Illustrations

Test, see what is working, then repeat when successful. When things are working… keep using. When they aren’t seeing the same amount of community traffic as your high performers, focus on updating those pieces.

Social media is the place to nurture trust. You can do it.

Ruth Bozeman specializes in Marketing, Social Media, Branding, Events, Team Building, Health, Fitness, and Coaching.