What's on the Social Horizon for 2020?

I thought I'll surprise my subscribers with something special this year. No, it wasn't a last minute Xmas promo, where you get a 99% discount and buy my services for double than usual :) And I wanted a bit more than just a nice Xmas message to check out before I thank them all for being part of the B!Social adventures all year.

It's some topics that I thought they might find interesting, and that are close to my heart. And topics that got most of my followers votes on Social Media that they wanted to hear about.

I've been getting some great feedback. So I decided to publish it. Hope you will enjoy it and find it useful! 

2020 TRENDS - What's coming in Social Media next year???

Here are some of my thought and predictions...

• More personalisation and sensory experiences for brands - more influencing and customer focus - more realness and playfulness

In a world of more and more opportunities and accessibility to create business pages on Social Media for free, the competition is also getting bigger and bigger day by day. More choices, more information and content to scroll through, more paid ads, more information overwhelm, and also more pressure for businesses.

It's harder to stand out and cut through the noise. We have lots of options to choose from. Consumers are also very smart. We don't fall for fake content, that doesn't resonate, and we don't fall that easily for ads and sales focused manipulation anymore. We know the drill. When we are told this is our last chance to buy something for $99 instead of $1099 and we also get two bonuses for free, and then we realise we were just put through a sales funnel, we run as far as we can. We can actually be put off by ads and promos very quickly if they are not well targeted and genuine. 

We like trust. We like to check with our friends and rely on the recommendations of our network before we make a choice.

So businesses will look for different ways to influence and encourage buying decisions of the customers. Think about it as word of mouth. And they will have to be honest. This is where micro influencers will play bigger roles than ever. And so will UGC (User Generated Content).

How can you find your micro influencers, your brand ambassadors that will not feel over "salesy" for your audience but who they will genuinely like and trust?

I predict we will witness much more personalisation coming in story telling, too. Sharing of specific stories, journeys. Much more of leveraging the Teams and the people within the organisation. Reflecting the business culture. The values, the fun factor and realness behind each business. Just think TikTok - the rise of this new video platform with lots of entertaining and funny content. This is already crossing over to the other platforms.

Brands will really want to look for ways how to connect with their customers in a more genuine and original way. And discover the opportunities in those untapped areas on the social platforms.

We tend to navigate more and more towards private grouping, messaging, safe places that are relatively free of ads. Free of sponsored posts. Still. Messenger group chats, WhatsApp messages, Private Groups, Stories. Can you relate?

Watch out for more ads popping up in the messaging platforms, Stories, and yes it's coming to groups, too. Lots of potential there for advertising. Until we find new places to migrate to. Maybe back to offline? Just saying :)

And... Good visual experiences, meaningful or fun stories will grab our attention instantly, too. To stand out, it won't be enough anymore to post a simple picture or a video. The more real and almost "over real" a post can become, the more it will stand out.

Think personalised avatars, cartoon figures that mimic our real selves, branded filters, more accessible and easier to use Augmented reality apps, personalised branded music along our logos - all enhancing the visual and sensory experiences. So we feel it's realer than real.

• Shopping made easier than ever

Time is precious, and so is the attention of our customers. Why to direct them off social media to a website if we can get them to make a decision quick, enter their credit card details and get them buy without leaving the platform. Shopping through the news feed, through events, through messaging, through a few clicks. Easy access for customers. More opportunities to sell for businesses, and more will be adopting this.

The way to think of conversions and customer journeys needs a new approach!

• Time on and off Social

Social Media can be an amazing tool and opportunity. But it can also be a huge time waster. An anxiety driver. A total distraction that takes us away from focus and connecting with the people who actually matter to us the most. And often ourselves. It often makes us more tired, stressed, judgemental, comparing, it simply brings down our energy levels.

I feel there is a trend and a desperate need to rediscover this space, slowly moving away from social media, and use it more consciously. People are starting to be more aware of its effects and addictive nature. Some can find ways to disconnect from it and take a break from it easier, some find it very hard, and some are not even aware of its effects. Social media is relatively new in our lives. It takes time till we understand it and adapt to it. It's happening right now.

I've been thinking about this topic quite a lot lately. For me, quitting social media is not a reality. I am aware and I enjoy the possibilities it brings to my life. However, I feel it is much more part of my everydays than I need it to be. I'm currently on a journey with this topic and I imagine many of you might be, too.

As a marketer, my tip for you is - respect the time and attention of your customers. Value them by posting content that really resonates with them, inspires, educates, motivates them, brings them value, or entertains them. Don't waste your and their time and create content that doesn't serve a purpose in some way.

And as a private person, my tip for you is - make time for yourself when you can disconnect. When you can be free of distractions. If it's for half an hour, an hour, a day, a weekend, a whole week, or more, find what works for you on a regular basis. Disconnect, so you can reconnect.

Especially at this time of the year. 

Pohutukawa, the all time favourite Kiwi Christmas tree at Kaiteriteri Beach, NZ

Personally, I am looking forward to my total offline 10 days at the end of the year. This is definitely one of the highlights of my year. And it's going to be my 5th year doing it. If you are curious how it works for me and how I am experimenting with it, I might tell more about it in a later stage. 

What are your thoughts? What trends can you see coming? Can you relate to any of the topics above? I would love to know and hear how you see it. Please feel free to comment below and share your take or experience on it.

But for now, I would like to thank you for your attention, for reading this far, for your presence throughout the year.

I love my work, I love my clients, I love that we are part of something together, and I would like to pay a special tribute to these fantastic local businesses and organisations who we had the pleasure to work with in the past few months.

Hope you will find some stories interesting, inspiring, some might make you smile, some might make you reflect, some might take you out of your comfort zone, and you might even recognise some old-new-familiar faces in the brand new Spotlight series with who you will connect or reconnect. 

I wish you all a wonderful, Merry Christmas, hope you enjoy your holidays, and spend time with people who's company you enjoy.

It's time to B!Social for real! Soooo exciting!!! 

?About Bea Pole-Bokor

A professional diplomat by training, Bea has been successfully branding and promoting a country at top level on the international scene before going digital and establishing B!Social. 

Today, as a digital diplomat, she helps businesses raise their profile, share their stories & promote their brand through Social Media. She believes in the power of social, and the power of people doing great things together.

Voted Finalist for the Social Media Marketing Awards for Australia & New Zealand as Best Social Media Educator and Emerging Social Media Marketer of 2019.

Follow her hashtag and the #bsocialnow channel here on LinkedIn.