Half of the world’s population uses social media.
Welcome to 2020, a new decade full of innovative ways to utilize social media to improve and grow your business. Rizco analyzed social channels in 2019 to forecast 2020 digital marketing.
The three trends listed below allow you insight into the ever-changing world of social media. Align your business/organization with these trends, and you will notice a shift in your social presence.
1. Visual Matters
Humans are 65% more likely to remember visual content (Adespresso, 2019). Creative and interactive videos lead the way with the most reach and engagement on social channels. We will continue to keep an eye on TikTok (a social app developed in China with over 800 million active users) but are confident that Instagram’s “Reels” – a competing asset – will eventually outgrow the video app.
Main Takeaway: Video, Video, Video – use them, love them.
2. Customer Experience
The customer journey is now one of the most important aspects of social media. A flawless transition from your social advertising campaign to an active landing page will make or break your marketing strategy. Utilize brand awareness and advocacy to develop a short term goal (# of clicks or leads) and assess the performance to create a smart retargeting campaign.
Main Takeaway: Blend emotional and informational content to create a seamless experience.
3. Trust & Brand Loyalty
Over 75% of employees trust the organization they work for (Hootsuite, 2019). Consumers are looking for purpose-driven companies that are not afraid to take a stance on social issues. The idea of sharing your opinion might be frightening, but you can always remain neutral on a subject so long as you address the issue.
Main Takeaway: Make employee advocacy a part of your 2020 Strategic Plan.
Updates for Social Channels in 2020
- Instagram is scheduled to hide the “like” feature. Why? Instagram is motivated to decrease negative competition between users and accounts, which has previously led to mental health issues. This means that influencer marketing and organic reach will likely decrease, and social apps will encourage increased posting to boost engagement.
- Facebook advertising created “Special Ad Category” and imposes new rules for housing, employment, and credit opportunities. Why? Facebook applied these new rules based on a Civil Rights settlement from March 2019 to help prevent discrimination in social advertising. This means that in order to run an ad in these categories, your demographic targeting is restricted and will not include age, gender, zip code, multicultural affinity or any other target relating to protected characteristics.
- Pinterest advertising joins the “giants” and gains traction among Facebook, Instagram & YouTube. Why? Millennials are using Pinterest to shop for products and remain loyal to the app. Invest in long term goals and consider an increase in ad spending on Pinterest to capture customers at the beginning of their consumer journey.
- LinkedIn develops “Teammates,” a feature that allows co-workers to connect and work together. Why? LinkedIn wanted to create an easy way to follow and share information with coworkers including work anniversaries, projects and post comments. In order to promote team/employee advocacy be sure to connect to employees, celebrate their accomplishments and encourage them to promote the company successes.
