6 Key Social Media Trends to Watch in 2020

It’s always fun to predict the future of social media. This field is changing almost daily, with the development of new tools and apps, and many ways to connect, monitor and increase your online marketing performance.

So, based on our experiences in 2019 (and beyond) and where things will go when the next decade begins, here are our trend predictions for social media marketing in 2020.

Read Also: Video Marketing Statistics for 2020

1. Influencer Marketing Will Continue to Grow

Research shows that 59% of marketers plan to increase their influencer budget by 2020.

We know that consumers are growing more cautious about advertising in their feeds, and more than ever, they are looking for reviews from people they trust when making purchasing decisions. These individuals may be friends and family, but the circle of trust has now grown to the people who follow them on social media, ranging from celebrities to prominent artists and experts in specific fields.

Social media has always been great for SMBs and startups because it allows them to compete with the big brands on the same platform in the low budget. Many SMBs do not have budgets to pursue “named” influencers, so we see an excellent opportunity for micro-influencer growth in the new year.

Read Also: 4 Steps for Creating Solid Social Media Strategy

2. Shopping on Social Media

This is a trend that started this year and we predict it will continue to grow. Increasingly, you do not have to leave a specific site or platform to make a purchase or a product that you have found.

Now, with just a few clicks, you can go from there to share your credit card information and buy it from looking at the one you want while scrolling through Instagram. Giving this type of ease and speed to consumers can reduce your sales funnel by almost half.

We believe we are going to see more brands switching in this direction, which is currently being used mainly by large and well-established companies, and we think 2020 will give smaller brands, and even startups, access to such tools.

3. Stories Will Become Marketers Darlings

For a while, the stories were exclusive to Snapchat, but then the Instagram and Facebook stories emerged, and now even YouTube has its own stories format.

Videos are often created on the spot, stories can give viewers more real insight. There is a huge range of possibilities in the design of stories. Since the content of the stories can quickly disappear, it's the perfect time for marketers to use the Fear of missing out (FOMO) and offer flash sales and deals that only loyal users will learn.

This allows new users to take advantage of "Insider" specials, which is a way to avoid selling advertising, saving money on brands. Stories can provide ways to instantly increase engagement - add polls to your stories or ask questions that can be answered with a simple click.

4. Augmented Reality (AR) Will Become Mainstream 

AR technology is gradually evolving with the increasing use of eCommerce, Product innovation, special offers and more.

For example, IKEA now gives consumers the opportunity to see how its products look in buyers' own homes through its AR app.

There are possibilities for this type of technology - real estate companies, for example, can take prospective homeowners on virtual tours of their homes, such as changing paint colors, removing walls or moving elsewhere, etc. Help people try their products wherever they have a phone.

There is a heap of ways that AR can be used, and although its use is limited so far, due to technical limitations and / or cost, barriers to entry are diminishing. Expect this to be a major change in 2020.

5. Chatbots

When chatbots first came to technology, customers responded only to pre-written answers to questions they thought were common to brands, prompting the bot to use keywords.

As 2019 comes to a close, algorithms improve the performance of chatbots by "understanding" what users write to them. Brands no longer have to save bots with canned answers, as chatbots can, in a way, browse the web to find the answers consumers are looking for.

Chatbots are able to talk to multiple people at the same time, providing something that our current customer service teams cannot. Chatbot intelligence will only continue to grow by 2020, which will see more consumers take them, and more brands that follow that trend.

6. Improved Customer Service

This is actually the second part of chatbots. Every day, we know that when a consumer contacts a brand, the time they allow for a response is diminished. We know that not every company has a direct 24/7 customer service team. The use of chatbot technology, along with your live staff, enables this type of round the clock coverage.

Of course, bots can't answer every single question, and they won't even allow you to customize talking to a real person - but they can save a lot of time on customer service staff by handing over common questions, changes in addresses and passwords to the chatbots. 

Chatbots have not caught up in a big way so far, but they will be very important in 2020, with potential cost savings and improvements leading to a major change.

These are the key areas for significant improvement over the next year - of course, many new components will pop up, and many more new tools and changes will take place. But in terms of operational marketing ability, we expect to see more relevant changes. We hope these tips help you prepare your strategic approach.