What will the social media landscape look like in 2020?
Like it or not, a new decade will soon be upon us. Although 2020 is still a few months away, digital marketers should be gearing up to take on the latest social media trends in order to keep up with a hyper-competitive landscape. Fortunately, we’ve put together a helpful list of developments that are taking place in the world of social media to help you strategise. These include:

1. People will use social networks to research products

Although most web users still head to search engines to research consumer products, social networks are quickly becoming the place to be for online window shopping. According to research from GlobalWebIndex, 28 per cent of internet users turn to social platforms as a research tool, and this number is only set to increase. In this way, brands may wish to start highlighting their products across a range of platforms.

2. Most smartphone users will be using messaging apps

According to predictions from social media giant Facebook, around 80 per cent of smartphone users will be using mobile messaging apps by 2020. This will have a big impact on businesses, as messaging apps are becoming a favoured customer service tool. Indeed, brands hoping to keep up should make sure that they have a robust system for dealing with customer queries and complaints that come through these apps.

3. Videos will continue to be a fundamental part of your social media strategy

Most marketing professionals are tired of hearing about the meteoric rise of video. However, it is a trend that should not be ignored. According to more data from GlobalWebIndex, around 56% of web users watch videos on platforms such as Twitter and Facebook every month. Although this is a huge statistic that demonstrates the value of posting video content across social media, there are a few tricks brands can use to stand out from the crowd. These include: - Posting brief content: Users’ attention spans are gradually decreasing, meaning bitesize content tends to be more effective. - Consider one-to-one videos: Brands are starting to become aware of the value of one-to-one communication in social media. Allowing customers to connect in this way could demonstrate that you are a cutting-edge company.
iPhone by GONZALO BAEZA licensed under Creative Commons 4.0