The world of social media is constantly evolving, even when we aren’t paying attention. In retrospect, things have never been the same since the inception of Facebook back in 2005, and never will be again. As a result, social media has revolutionized the way people speak, see, and engage with one another. It offers a window into the lives of friends, acquaintances and loved ones; from the successes of our family members to an outlet to vicariously live through the travel photos of an acquaintance you haven’t spoken to in 10 years.
Nevertheless, it’s a tool that makes the world go round, and one that will be vital for 2020 and beyond. In predicting the social media space for the next decade, Deborah Sweeny of Social Media Today writes, “expect the unexpected.” After a year of updates, shut-downs and algorithm changes, social media and its platforms are primed for another year of trends that brands should be on the lookout for. So to help prepare your social strategy for 2020 and beyond, we’ve compiled a short but eye-opening list of predictions for the new year!
IGTV will be the next TV
By 2020, IGTV will position itself to take on YouTube as the preferred video-sharing platform in the world. By 2021, it’s been projected that an estimated 1.9 billion video users will account for all web traffic. As a result, Instagram has taken note and has prepared the platform for the coming shift. Though IGTV has been off to a slow start, Instagram has taken steps this year to better integrate the feature into the platform. You can now watch IGTV videos from the explore page as well as your feed, which has brought IGTV viewership to an all-time high – and major brands have been taking notes.
Apart from how-to videos and behind the scenes broadcasts from influencers, IGTV will be an even bigger tool for operations and their content marketing. That said, be it small scale to large scale users, you won’t need expensive equipment or a Hollywood production team to get started. All that’s required is a strategy, a call to action, and consistency. As far as Instagram is concerned, with 1 billion users on their platform, their investment in IGTV is for the long haul.
TikTok
Mimicking what Vine did by producing bite-sized, humorous videos, TikTok has eclipsed it by scope and popularity ten-fold. As a result, it is predicted that 2020 will see increased brand interaction with consumers on the newest social platform in diverse and innovative ways. With more than 500 million active users worldwide in under a year, it’s safe to assume brands will likely be taking notice and utilize TikTok’s popularity to leverage its commercial reach.
Changes for Influencers and Partnerships
The popularity of authentic social media influencers with small to mid-size followings (under 10,000) will be a major trend to watch out for. Though mega-influencers with audiences well over 500k still have their merit; the great thing about micro-influencers is that although they have a smaller audience to cater to, they usually have much higher rates of engagement with their followers. Having constant, direct conversations is something that macro & mega influencers usually lack on their platform due to sheer audience size. And unlike celebrities, partnerships with influencers doesn’t have to be costly, giving smaller brands the opportunity to team up to deliver access to huge target audiences at a fraction of the price.
With technological advances growing at a rapid pace, we have come to a point at the dawn of a new decade where social media now informs a majority of the choices we make in our daily lives. Ubiquitous and vital, by 2020 social media will not only get smarter, it will provide greater avenues to be creative through video and images, all while trying to make your voice seen and heard in authentic ways.
– Myles Herod
@serotinamedia
#KEEPSOCIAL
