And now the social media trends for 2020
1. TikTok as a challenger
2. Creative content at the top of the agenda
3. Focus companies also on stories
4. Private is the new default
5. Social media platforms as publishers
6. Social media in gaming
7. Major influencers in trouble
8. AR goes mainstream in social media
9. Localization of content and campaigns
Which social media trends came to fruition, which didn't?
Shift to e-commerce
The trend was already set in 2018, and has certainly continued in 2019. Social media is increasingly becoming an e-commerce channel for brands. Although not a pure last-click channel, the networks (in 2019 with LinkedIn, Instagram and Pinterest at the forefront) continue to launch new features that link content (influencer & brand) to the user's purchasing behavior.
For example, Pinterest announced a scaling up of shopping features in September , and it also proved to be a major influence on purchase intent for homewares . So it’s safe to say that this trend has continued.
Photo of a post on Instagram.
Stories are the new benchmark
Unfortunately, we have to be a bit more cautious about the emergence of this trend. On the user side, the trend has become a reality. Stories are bigger than ever and the social networks are fully focused on them. Even YouTube introduced a stories function. However, as is often the case, companies are lagging behind. Without a doubt, more and more is being invested in stories, but at the same time it recently became apparent that the largest spend is still via the Facebook timeline . Time for marketers to scale up considerably.
Fear stunts growth
Yes. Absolutely yes. Facebook in particular took a big hit in 2019. Not so much because of GDPR, but more because of various scandals. This has definitely caused a delay in adoption and growth within brands. It seems to be recovering reasonably well now, but there has definitely been a lot of doubt sown in the past year. Will 2020 be the year of recovery, or will another giant besides Facebook be under the microscope next year?
The revival of groups
What was already starting to appear in 2018 is increasingly becoming reality. Social media as a channel will become more closed and private. Small groups will form the basis for social media in the coming years.
For Facebook Messenger this has already become a reality. There are already various commercial options available for that. And, it took a while, but WhatsApp also recently announced that it will now really (in 2020) come with WhatsApp ads .
Voice makes its entrance
A trend that has not really taken off this year in my opinion is the role of voice in social media. Although podcasts are on the rise and you will experience that voice recordings are increasingly being used within WhatsApp, it has not gone as fast as I expected. So the use is definitely increasing, but not at the speed that is happening in the US, for example. The expectation is that in 2020 the share of voice in search will already be 50 percent . Impressive!
Blockchain in social advertising
Last year I also described the possible role australia telegram data 3 million of blockchain in making the (social) advertising world more transparent. That it will play a role in the future is certainly plausible, but in 2019 this was not yet the case. I also expect few developments in this area in 2020, but who knows, we may be overtaken by reality.
Social media trends: voice search website optimization.
And now the social media trends for 2020
Enough about the past. We are looking forward again! I want to start with a number of developments that in my opinion we should no longer mention separately as a trend. Simply because they already play a central role. I am talking about developments such as chatbots on social media, the use of video as a content form, the mobile first philosophy and the use of vertical content formats. I think these developments have already been discussed sufficiently.
