What are expected to be the most influential social media trends in 2020? Which innovations and changes will define businesses’ SMM strategies this year? Let’s take a look at some market data – and see how to prepare your business for the upcoming industry modifications.

Brands’ competition on social media gets more and more intense. Users deal with an unlimited amount of content on a daily basis, which is why it’s so crucial to discover new ways to capture their attention more efficiently. Let’s see which SMM innovations you should expect this year – and how to prepare for them like a pro!

Content-related social media trends of 2020

#1 A rise of video content

As seen from Statista data, in 2018, 51% of internet users in the United States watched video content on their smartphones at least once a day.

Videos are rightfully considered to be one of the most engaging types of content. This is why there’s no wonder why digital marketers tend to choose them over usual ‘boring’ posts populating everyone’s Instagram and Facebook feed.

How to start using videos for your SMM purposes?

If you haven’t previously experimented with video content, first of all, find out which of your social media posts gained the highest audience engagement. Then, think how you can transform these texts into simple videos.

Shooting and posting these videos, you’ll get the opportunity to reach a larger social media audience, and attract attention of the users who overlooked your previous textual posts.

#2 A growing interest in ephemeral content

‘Ephemeral content’ is a fancy term for any type of content that disappears in a specific period of time – most typically, in 24 hours.  Social media stories are a great example: they are available for a limited period of time only, and disappear irretrievably when their life span is over.

Take a look at the dynamics of the number of daily active Instagram Stories users. In about 2 years, it increased 5 times and reached the point of 500 million people by January, 2019. It’s quite an illustrative graph proving that social media users are ready and willing to consume this type of content.

How to start using Stories in your SMM strategy?

Start with Instagram stories: they are very easy to create from a technical point of view – and very fun from the users’ perspective. Coming together with wide customization options, they let you add stickers, texts, links, location tags, brand mentions and even polls to your entries to make them more interesting to the viewers. 

Actually, this brings us to the next point!

#3 An increasing demand for interactive content

Speaking about interactive content, digital marketers usually mean such things as quizzes, polls, embedded calculators, augmented reality ads, and 360-degrees videos.

‘Playing’ with these pieces of content, internet users start feeling more emotional about their interaction with the brand, and more loyal to its offerings. 

Besides, people can also derive extra value from these instruments. For example, a properly executed online calculator will help them make an informed purchasing decision. At the same time, entertaining quizzes will help users relax, have a good time, and invite their friends to take part in the activity, too. Did you know that an average BuzzSumo quiz is shared about 1,900 times?

How to start creating interactive content for your social media?

Instagram and Facebook polls are a great place to start! Both of them are free and easy to create and customize, and highly promising in terms of users’ engagement.

Asking for your followers’ opinion on different topics and proving that their feedback matters, you get an exciting opportunity to create a favorable brand image and gain a loyal audience.

#4 An upsurge in user-generated content relevance

User-generated content continues to stay an invaluable piece of any social media marketing strategy.

For millennials who constitute a significant part of online shoppers all over the globe, user-generated content is 35% more memorable than other media, and 50% more trusted. And, as the audience of internet buyers is getting younger, the numbers are expected to rise dramatically in the foreseeable future.

How to start including user-generated content in your digital marketing mix?

In exchange for a coupon code or another benefit, ask your clients to share their shopping experience with you on social media and mention your brand or include your branded hashtags. You can also ask for their permission to repost their entries on your corporate page, and publish the testimonials they left on your website and/or sent you via messenger.

Social media trends-2020 related to interaction with users

It’s not only your content that matters in your social media presence; your strategies of reaching potential clients and communicating with your audience are paramount, too.

Here’s what you’ll need to keep in mind!

#5 Customers expect influencers to be more open to them than brands

That’s right. 74% of online users trust social media when trying to make a purchasing decision. And of course, they don’t only check out the official company account as they know it’s going to show a somewhat ‘polished’ image. 

In addition to that, they also look for the brand/company mentions on social media, and learn from someone else’s first-hand shopping experience with it.

How to work with influencer marketing for the benefit of your brand?

Look for smaller-scale, niche influencers whose accounts are closely connected to your company offers and therefore, are appropriate for investing in. Paid promotion in these accounts will possibly cost you less than usual paid ads and definitely less than promotion in A-list celebrities’ accounts. 

At the same time, due to your ads’ relevance to the influencers’ audience, these promotions are very likely to result in a higher engagement for a lower spending.

#6 Customers are increasingly looking for social commerce opportunities

Simply speaking, social commerce means that a person is able to make a purchase without leaving the social network they are currently browsing. In other words, there’s a tendency of treating social media like fully functioning retail platforms for the users’ convenience and for more impulse purchases stimulation.

As you can see from Statista data, in North America alone, the amount of retailers adopting social commerce has almost doubled in 1 year only!

How to start using social commerce in your business?

Probably, the easiest way to implement social commerce techniques in your social media management strategy is to create your first Instagram Shopping post. It won’t cost you anything, and at the same time, will give the post viewers a chance to immediately buy the products featured in it.

#7 Users expect brands to provide customer service through social media

When contacting a company with some questions, 82% of users count on getting an ‘immediate’ response. 

On lots of occasions, they take their queries directly on social media. Choosing to speak to a company representative in a real-time mode, customers want their issues to be solved in a prompt, polite, and professional manner.

How to provide customer service through social media correctly?

At least once or twice a day, check your social media inbox and comments, and pay attention to the Reviews sections within the social networks you’re running. This is how you’ll learn who’s trying to get in touch with you directly, and deliver a proper answer in a timely manner.

Moreover, try monitoring your social media mentions to see if a customer wants to spread the word about you without addressing you immediately. You’ll be able to either use their positive experience as an extra piece of user-generated content in your feed, or change their mind (and your public image) if they’re disappointed with you.

These are the most essential social media trends of 2020 to take in mind! Social networks are evolving rapidly, giving us more and more opportunities to position, promote, and monetize our businesses. And the best part? They allow an easy implementation of extra management solutions to let you run your social media promotions on autopilot!