Top 6 Social Media Marketing Trends in 2020
Staying connected during stay-at-home orders means more people than ever are logging into social media. They are looking for your brand to communicate, inspire, and educate them. Shifting through all the social media marketing trends and all the social data you compile can seem overwhelming, but with the right team, technology, and strategy in place, you can start winning at social media marketing.
Social media marketing has become a truly valuable marketing resource for both B2C and B2B merchants. If you aren’t considering some form of SMM, you need to rethink your approach to connecting with your customers and potential customers. Consider these numbers:
- 3.2 billion users around the globe use social media
- 90.4% of Millennials, 77.5% of Generation X, and 48.2% of Baby Boomers are using some form of social media
Tuesday, June 30th is World Social Media Days' 10th anniversary, so we are sharing the top six social media marketing trends to stay on top of this year.
Top Social Media Marketing Trends for 2020
With so many ways to utilize social media to reach prospects, which methods are most effective? It depends on your industry and what type of engagement you are wanting, but generally, these are the top six social media marketing trends to consider for the rest of 2020 and into the future.
Social Videos
Short and long-form videos continue to rise steadily, being some of the most shared content in the world. More users in a wide range of demographics continue to watch social videos. While YouTube is extremely popular, more platforms are now offering video options for their users. Consider your demographics and look into the video options available on other popular platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, or Snapchat. Popularity will continue well into the future.
Ephemeral Content (Temporary Content)
Think Instagram Stories & Facebook Live. With 400 million users watching Instagram Stories daily, this is a hugely growing segment. Temporary content offers a great way to go back and forth with your audience and truly engage with them. People feel the urge to click because the content will shortly be removed. Consider adding things like polls or live Q&A to truly get your audience “into” your brand.
Instagram is #1, but is it your best bet?
Instagram continues to show some of the largest growth of audiences. One of the strongest demographics for Instagram use comes from 45 to 54-year-olds. However, don’t just hop onto a platform bandwagon for the sake of its own audience growth numbers. Think about where your brand will shine best (maybe it’s Linkedin, Twitter, YouTube….) and then focus on visual-heavy content for that particular platform, branching out from there.
Looking for a partner to help you navigate your social media marketing?
Continue reading for additional details on the top social media marketing trends for 2020...
Social Media Ads
Encouraging direct business from social media is becoming increasingly easier and buyers are continuing to love the idea of social shopping. Facebook and Instagram ads need to be included in your marketing strategy- and even LinkedIn’s ad platform provides a great way for B2B to gain visibility to buyers- it’s not just for B2C anymore.
Product Discovery
Your audience will be researching brands and products via social media at experiential growth rates. Having user-generated content will help grow that customer-centric commitment many brands are taking and offer a better lens for those looking to research your brand or product on social media. People like to buy from people, so make sure your buyers' reviews on products are front and center on social media.
Geotagging
More customers are sharing their location in their searches. Make sure you geotag posts. This is an easy and valuable marketing tactic you can implement throughout the rest of the year. Geotagging images on Instagram or other platforms will target a specific audience area and make your content appear more personalized.
We can appreciate that this is a trying time for all of us. Pivoting to the changes that 2020 has brought us could mean that you need to take a second look into your social media marketing. It has never been more vital to your business to understand how to leverage these platforms.
Contact Echidna to discuss your social media marketing questions and to help you navigate through the options available to your brand.
Additional Resources:
Understanding the Marketing Pillar of Your Business
How to Use Facebook Page Insights
Data sources used in this post:
https://www.emarketer.com/chart/226029/us-social-media-users-by-generation-2019-of-population
