We’ve entered a new decade that happens to be one of the most transformative times in our lives, and that comes with great responsibility.  It is time to unlearn and learn all over again.  As we are in a middle of a COVID-19 pandemic and standing up to social injustice, what better way is there than to utilize 2020 social media trends to help us make a difference.

It’s that time of the year where we go over the trends you’ll be seeing and utilizing it in your content marketing strategies this coming year.  Many of the things you’ll find on my last blog post correlate with a lot of the stuff I’ll be going over here.  2020 TRENDS! A few of the overall trends of the year that aren’t going anywhere are community, connection, and experience, and all the next trends of 2020 will most likely follow the same theme.

Video, video, video content!

Users love video content and gain education and entertainment from it.  Honestly, it’s also easier to digest and engaging. Videos have a way of capturing an audience while gaining their trust.  It makes them feel like they are getting an expert’s opinion!

Live-streaming

After video content comes live-streaming.  You’ve seen it already – people are grasping more to live-streaming these days.  Just like video content, it’s entertaining and engaging.  However, there is also something special about adding the human aspect into the mix.  Livestreaming allows viewers to be involved in real time, which helps build the relationship. Live steaming humanizes us (especially during this cray cray time) and allows us to be relatable.

Influencer marketing while being AUTHENTIC AF

This is nothing new – it’s been around for a while. There’s a reason why influencer marketing has stuck around.  It has grown stronger as time has gone by.  When this first made its debut, companies wanted to work with the influencers that had the largest number of followers.  However, that has changed.  The need for authenticity has grown, which has led companies to begin working with micro influencers with a niche and small following.  This had led to more engagement and is more cost-effective.

User-generated content grows

Another not so no new trend but defiantly a goodie.  It continues to grow and is becoming stronger.  Some companies rely on UGC, and others leverage it as content for part of their marketing strategy. UGC has been shown to be a great way to boost engagement, gain trust, and it’s free. Customers LOVE when a company uses their photo with a product because it allows them to be seen and heard.

Social Community Rise

We are in a time where people are seeking connection and community, so this is no surprise here. Private communities allow for brands to build meaningful connections with their target audience.  Social media communities are social groups that are more often than not, private, and where like-minded people join in one spot with their shared interests. Facebook Groups are the perfect representation of what a social community is.  Brands are able to offer value in these private channels with the community, including offer first looks, giveaways, and insight.

Stories continue to flourish

Not a shocker here.  Stories continue to grow and are one of the biggest trends of 2020. This is another one that makes you feel like it’s real-time. Instagram has done a great way of making stories more interactive with gifs, questions, quizzes, polls, donations, and countdowns. This has made it fun for audiences and allows them to contribute their voice to your brand and feel important.

Rethinking social platforms that deserve your attention

You don’t have to be on every single social platform. Many people make the mistake of thinking that they need to be seen on every platform.  If this was your strategy, you are wearing yourself down and wasting your energy.  This only leads to low quality information and content.  This is perfect time to take a step back and reevaluate which platforms deserve your attention based on your target audience and content.