Social media is today synonymous with digital marketing. It’s a rapidly evolving medium -and what was gold last year may not work this year. So let’s see the most impactful trends of 2020 on social media marketing.
1. Short-lived Content
We’re talking Instagram and Snapchat, WhatsApp statuses and Facebook Stories; where content is available for a very short time before it’s gone forever. It’s a great way to boost brand loyalty and make followers feel special and privileged; and that the brand is engaging with them personally. A majority of digital users are concerned about the genuineness of content today. Therefore, such content is the most successful in attracting audiences. Short lived mini-campaigns look to be the future of digital marketing.
2. Micro Influencers Will Gain more Popularity
While celebrities have been used since the beginning of advertising to promote products, today, people are more likely to believe micro-influencers; people who have built a community or audience over time by providing valuable content to their followers, and who are accessible for others. People find it easier to believe and relate to ‘smaller’ influencers who appear more human. Specific targeting can be easily achieved via micro-influencers. Like, a popular travel blogger can be used to promote hotels, trekking gear, backpacks, and the like.
3. LinkedIn Ads will Gain Prominence
In the field of employment and career development, nobody can beat LinkedIn – yet. Their constant innovation helps seal the deal, and they have left others way behind in the race. With the emergence of marketing tools hashtags and employee advocacy tools, it has become even more lucrative for businesses to market themselves. Though advertising on LinkedIn is slightly more expensive than other platforms, the audience is highly targeted and hence high value; the chance for conversion is much higher here.
4. Emergence of Alternative Platforms
While Facebook, Twitter and Instagram have been at the forefront of platforms being used by B2C companies, social media users are now experiencing fatigue, and brands are experiencing poorer results than before. They have to work even harder to reach their target audiences and engage meaningfully with them. This has given an opportunity for neo platforms like TikTok to gain in popularity, especially among the younger generations. While it may not be ideal for B2B, it is quite a hit with B2C companies already. Pinterest is another social media network that fits well into the Ecommerce environment and businesses are able to promote their products easily.
5. Shoppable posts
These are posts where users can shop for items from within the photo – things like footwear, clothes, makeup: even cars or home appliances. In Instagram you can tag products in your posts, enabling customers to purchase what they see in the photo. This is an uber-cool idea as it saves the customer the time of logging into a site, searching for the item they want and checking out their cart.
We expect many more changes to emerge as the year goes by; as a serious marketer, you need to be aware of the ripples and keep pace with them so that you don’t get left behind your competition.
