This year was a big one for social media, with everything from President Trump’s Twitter feed’s continuous sway to Miller Lite’s “Unfollow” campaign to the growing significance of social media in the political, economic, and global spheres. Now that the holidays are over, I’d like to draw attention to five major trends in social media that are beginning to emerge and are worth exploring.
Security, Security, Security
Taking a cue from an old saying in the real estate industry, I can assure you that privacy is here to stay and will make a strong comeback in 2020. Instagram is a forerunner of the future of social media, which has been the target of criticism for violating users’ privacy and has been the subject of Congressional investigations. There will soon be a setting that obscures your followers’ likes on the site. As further evidence, we can look at platforms such as VSCO (which is not technically a social platform but rather a creative community) that have removed all commenting and liking features in an effort to foster creativity free of social pressure. Fortunately, these changes mean that social media will prioritise producing high-quality material for actively engaged audiences.
Increased emphasis on protecting children
The only possible silver lining to the recent spate of horrific events affecting American children is the resulting focus on the critical need to safeguard them in public places like schools, shopping centres, and, of course, the vast digital realms where they spend so much time. Yes, YouTube was once again in the limelight and made some adjustments, but with more Millennials (who are solid digital natives themselves) marching towards motherhood and their hyper-awareness of all marketing, you can be sure that concerns about kid safety will remain front and centre. Kids spend more time on YouTube than any other streaming channel, and its problems have not been totally remedied or forgotten. Parents of small children will have higher standards for the products they choose to buy.
Regulating and targeting work together
There are several influencing elements. Targeting remains a significant challenge for marketers. However, research suggests that social media networks are only 30% effective in predicting customer behaviour. Targeting and regulation may be brought together for productive collaboration if the 2020 US elections, a revived and increased focus on false news on social media, and hypertargeting with bias all play a role. Marketers have been lulled to sleep by the ease and precision of micro demographic targeting on digital platforms. In 2020, the most successful businesses will not restrict themselves to merely perfecting audience targeting, but will instead see social media targeting as a part of the entire, and will see new rules not as a limitation, but as an opportunity.
Embracing the brand experience on social media
D2C businesses, unlike more traditional consumer brands, have been quick to adopt the idea of “brand experience” in recent years. You can now anticipate social media to fully appreciate the value of interconnected channels, with social customer experience at its centre. The emphasis will change from merely communicating with customers to really engaging with them through social media. In 2019, we’ll see digitally dominant firms start to focus on the full customer journey and consider ways to translate their online success into the real world.
Nano-level swayers
This has begun to show up in 2019, but it will really take off in 2020. A recent survey indicated that 22 percent of millennials (those between the ages of 18 and 34) make purchases based on influencer recommendations. Now the much-discussed long tail is being filled in by nano influencers, who have the smallest following of all tiers of influencers, with an estimated 1,000 to 10,000 followers on social media. There was a natural progression towards this outcome. Since markets are becoming increasingly fragmented on a daily basis, nano influencers are stepping in to meet the needs of marketers. Their audiences are highly engaged, and companies are beginning to see the value of this kind of interaction.