World Executives Digest | Reinventing Personal Connection: Social Media Trends 2020 and Beyond | 2020 has certainly been a year like no other. Together, the world has faced challenge after challenge, facing pandemics and natural disasters, banding together to get to the other side. Lockdowns and quarantines have changed the way humans live their lives.
Every aspect of interacting with others has transformed. From working, to shopping, to enjoying entertainment, life has changed. Social media is adapting to accommodate these changes, and both consumers and companies benefit from learning these new trends.
Read on to understand these new social media trends and what they can mean for you or your company. It could potentially give you a head start on learning what life will be like post-pandemic.
Video Social Media Trends
Certain social networks have exploded since March 2020, and YouTube is benefiting the most. Video has outweighed all other types of social media, both short and long-form. YouTube has seen its users become more active because of this.
With most people consistently staying home, it seems they have more time for video than ever before. Live videos on different platforms have exploded in popularity. This is true for Youtube, Instagram, Facebook, and even Snapchat.
Social media platforms are changing how they operate to include more video services. Instagram is enacting a new feature to increase traffic for their IGTV. This includes allowing longer videos to have ads in the beginning.
Similar to posted videos taking off, Instagram stories and Facebook stories have continued to be one of the most used parts of social media platforms. With changes like interactive features and new business add-ons, stories seem to be going nowhere but up.
E-Commerce in Social Media
One of the newer trends in 2020 is the adoption of livestream shopping. This was first seen in China and completely blew up when lockdowns kept people from the mall. Millions of shoppers are able to log on and see a live view of what they might want to buy, and trends show this as only the beginning of new ways to shop.
In early 2020, most social media users saw ads on their timelines, but few were purchasing it from there. The pandemic has changed this. Trends show that many more users are clicking on ads and buying directly from social media platforms.
As any more people spend more time on these platforms, it makes sense that the platforms are using this as an opportunity to do more marketing and sell more goods. One way this has shown to be successful is through customer service.
Social media platforms such as Twitter and Instagram have chosen to interact with customers through messaging apps or direct messages to promote social media marketing. This is commonly used when interacting with younger customers and allows the companies to bring attention to their brand and show their customers that they are there to help.
Emphasis on the Individual
Messaging apps in general have shown a trend of popularity, especially as people are finding new ways to interact. WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger have taken over, and users have found new ways to use them. Companies that are on board with messaging customers through messaging apps successfully interact with and market to new individual customers.
Companies are choosing to focus on individuals instead of marketing to large groups of people. This is especially true when partnering with influencers. Brands have seen increased success in partnering with social media influencers who have less followers, but more on-brand and authentic content, as opposed to influencers with a lot of followers but are only looking for shallow likes.
One of the most successful ways companies are using social media for their e-commerce is by using their audience for free marketing. Creating certain hashtags for customers to use, reposting and retweeting customer content, and interacting with customer posts allows other customers to see the high-quality authentic content, and are more likely to buy with that reassurance.
Niche Social Media
Before 2020, it seemed as though big platforms such as Facebook and Instagram were the only platforms that were to survive through the long haul. This trend has seemingly ended, with smaller platforms taking over.
2020 social media trends have shown Tiktok blowing up, with younger people being the most active on the platform. Though it is a small and new app, more people are logging on and watching the short video content than what would have previously been thought of.
Though Twitch has been the home to many gamers pre-pandemic, it has grown tremendously since the lockdown of most sports. Twitch was previously used solely by dedicated daily gamers. Now, it hosts all different types of people who are missing live-action sports, and allows them to get their fill from video games. It is one of the most used platforms and one of the biggest trend changes in 2020.
Protect Your Privacy
As people lean towards social media in these strange times, they are also learning what is important to them. Protecting their information has become part of using social media, either in the form of privacy or backing up.
Users are more concerned with where their information is going, protecting the information they have, and receiving information that is authentic. One way this occurs is to find more ways to protect their devices, such as their computers or desktops, especially when that is the basis for how they work or spend money.
Social media users are relying less on likes and more on content. The desire is to find more authentic information than what is based on likes. Instagram has done different trials taking away likes and comments on their platform. This has allowed users to expect more value than what was originally based on a number.
Keep Your Focus
Discovering these new social media trends for 2020 and beyond can allow you to use social media in whatever way works best for you. The best way to focus is to discover your platforms as a consumer or company.
Be picky with your platforms. Don’t use it if it doesn’t benefit you. Learn what you specifically want to get out of social media, and find what platform will provide this for you. Because there are so many different platforms, it’s easy to get lost and to spread yourself too thin.
Once you know what you want to get out of it, dedicate yourself to that and hone it in. Find your brand and the people that most relate to it. Don’t waste your time on platforms that won’t benefit you. Stay informed with new trends and check out our other articles to learn more about the tech world.
