The last decade saw social media get taken over by marketers like it’s what it was born to do (FYI, social media is pretty much the only medium that was NOT made for the purpose of distributing advertisements). What social media trends are going to impact 2020? It will continue to be a marketer’s dream as it continues to be a crucial part of every day life. 

Social media is a constantly changing game. Savvy business owners and digital marketers keep their ears to the ground to stay up on what’s trending, what’s lagging, and what’s so-last-year. But keeping your ear to the ground on what’s trending with social media takes a lot of time; time that you could be spending on your business serving your clients and customers. Which is why we put together this list of 5 Social Media Trends of 2020 for you! 

Video Kills the Radio Star 

Videos are the future of social media! Whether it is in short bites like through Instagram stories and Tik Tok, or longer content like Facebook Lives and YouTube, video is here to stay. Some studies have shown that by 2022, up to 82% of all content online will be video content. How crazy is that?  It’s time to start getting yourself comfortable with being on video so that you can stay relevant.   

The Rise of the Geomappers 

Geomapping technology is getting better every year which means it is really a fantastic way to attract customers in a specific area.  You can do this in a low key way on Instagram by using location specific hashtags as well as always tagging a location within your photo. If you choose to Boost a post within Facebook you can also select a geographic region which tags social media users within that area.  

There are ways to  target geographic areas with online advertising as well, but those are just two simple ways you can start to push it more on your own within your social media usage. This strategy is particularly effective for business owners who are seeking to build their brand both online and in-person within a particular geographic location.  This allows for them to target a specific area and gain traction to building successful in person meetings events, workshops and so on! This can be leveraged, for example, if you are travelling and are planning events at certain destinations, or to really zero in on your local community. 

Better Laws and Policing 

While this isn’t necessarily new, there have been many issues arising alongside the development of social media, such as credit card fraud, and phishing schemes. More policies will be put into place to protect the public from data hacking and security breaches.  Be prepared for more restrictions and regulations across all platforms to better protect us and our privacy.  Remember when Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp were all out last November? If personal information had been breached at that point, chaos would have ensued and this is what they are trying to prevent 

Niched Marketing 

Instead of brands struggling to be everything to everyone we are going to see them pare down and really focus on reaching the right people where they are.  It will become more of a focus on the quality of engagement versus the quantity.  Once you best understand your niche, you are better able to show up as your authentic self within that audience.  You know exactly who you are talking to and can therefore be even more open and honest with them.  We are predicting that brands will start to focus more specifically on the channels where their ideal audience hangs out instead of spreading themselves thin anywhere and everywhere.  Do you want some tips for how to help create that successful social media strategy? Check out this post from the fall for some additional tips and tricks! 

Influencers have the Final Word 

Influencers aren’t going anywhere, as they continue to rise in popularity as brands see them as an authentic and relatable method to reach their ideal audiences. Look for brands to stop using just one extremely high paid celebrity influencer and start using a network of smaller influencers.  There will be a rise in local influencers who will be representing various products and directing people to services.  The reason for this is that people are tired of being sold to by people who clearly have more money than they need. They want to know that the average cool Mom, or working gal uses this product, can afford it and it does what they say it will. 

What you put out there matters. Making sure you deliver quality content that your audience values will help you build trust and relationships. And when people like you, they are more apt to share your content, which in turn helps to expand your reach. This leads us to a bonus tip:  

The Value of User Generate Content 

User generated content is when your audience creates content for you. Not like they write your posts, but that they create their own posts and mention you, or they share your content with their audience. Having an engaged and attentive audience who does this can be huge. Always encourage clients and customers to tag you in photos, to take photos, and to use your branded hashtags.  More and more companies are making this an integral part of their social media strategy and it should be adopted across the board.  This type of content is free, extremely authentic, and it doesn’t require any thought on your part—just a repost! (Also, feel free to share our blog post, just tag us with #defineanddesignco!)   

There are many different trends that are being forecasted for 2020 and beyond but these are the ones we felt needed to stand out from the noise.  If you work to stay on top of some of the up and coming trends you can create your social media strategy around them and stay relevant.   

Perhaps some of these items aren’t earth shattering, but it is important to spend some time reflecting on where you should be focusing your energy this year when it comes to your social media.  Are you needing some help with your new strategy?  Book a social media storming session with us and we can get you set up for success and help you implement strategies to take you through 2020 and beyond.