What does Social Media Trends 2020 really look like? : Native Payment Channels in India

Globally, social media has been showing a consistent growth over the last decade. It has always been a hot topic and many attempts have been made by both founders and users to make the most of this platform. Looking back, it's safe to say that 2018 has been a roller coaster ride for social media enthusiasts. While a host of exciting new features were introduced, social media has also had an impact on its users: a decline in organic reach, attacks on personal privacy, and fierce competition! Buckle up and let's take a look at social media trends for 2020!

Social media trends for 2020: 7 key points

We've put together a quick guide outlining the social media trends for 2020. This will help your brand stand out in the marketplace!

1. Rebuilding trust: transparency

In 2020, trust on social media has experienced its ups and downs to some extent. Recently, users and media observers have questioned privacy, ethics and accuracy. A recent study by a media giant revealed that 60% people no longer trust social media.

So what's the solution?Social media trends for 2020 show that smart brands are shifting their focus from expanding their follower base to building transparency.

The following are some suggestions to address this challenge:

- Creating communities on social media

- Sharing insightful and researched content

- Integrated and filtered Netflix marketing

- Organise competitions to focus on user-generated content

- Improved customer experience on different platforms

- Allocate optimal resources for online reputation management

The goal should be for your customers to trust you. Personifying your brand is the best way to keep you at the forefront of your customers' minds.

2. Effective video marketing

Studies have shown that video content surpasses all other forms of content. There are various types of videos such as tutorials, testimonials, events, blogs, presentations, etc.

Videos that show human images with a personal touch allow companies to put a face to their business. It gives prospects and customers an idea of who is leading and working. We have a detailed guide, Video Content Marketing: 2018 Top Trends, that will provide you with all-encompassing knowledge about video marketing tools and best practices.

Try and find out which video works best for your brand on social media platforms. Make sure the video is under 3 minutes long. This is the average viewing time of a user when scrolling through social media platforms! Create a list of which formats work for which platform. For example, Instagram doesn't support the GIF format. There are also restrictions on videos longer than a minute.

3. Use of paid advertising

The hard truth is that we are now in the era of paid social media platforms. Marketers have realised that to be the best, they must increase their social advertising budgets. One in four Facebook pages now use paid media to achieve their end goal. Back in 2012, on average, a brand could reach an audience of 161 TP3T without spending any money. Today, that number has dropped to 6%.

Before planning your advertising spend, here are some suggestions:

- Understanding and targeting the right audience

- Try different ad formats

- Reuse top-performing organic content

- Invest in quality content

- Split testing to analyse performance

4. Experimenting with micro-networking marketing

Over the past few years, social media internet celebrities have become a major trend. There are Instagram stars, Twitter netizens, and YouTube millionaires. These people have huge fan bases and one of their posts is immediately seen by hundreds of people. With the surge in the number of social media netizens, their prices have also gone up. As a result, businesses started looking for alternatives. This is where Netflix marketing comes in handy.

Who are the micro-networkers?

In contrast to the major netizens, micro netizens exist at every marketing level. Unlike major internet celebrities, they don't have a huge fan base. Typically, they have around 10,000 followers, but their fans are genuinely interested in what they have to say. The best part is that they are very committed to their cause. Since they are not highly visible to advertisers, they are trustworthy and down to earth. They have a lot of marketing potential.

When shortlisting micro webmasters for your brand, make sure you select accounts that are relevant to your business/brand. Check their activity logs, interactions and do a quick verification (by verifying documents, checking their collaborations, etc.). Watch out for fraud cases and fake accounts!

5. Real-time interaction

The future of social media marketing is real-time marketing.Social media trends for 2020 call for 24/7 customer support, chatbots and social media crisis monitoring. The world we live in now has no time to wait! Today's consumers want to be heard and get answers in real time. Needless to say, social media never rests. Consumers are using products, discussing them and buying new ones all the time. To keep up with this fast-paced world, we have automated tools that notify you when your brand is mentioned, help you schedule posts and generate auto-replies at any time. So even if you're sleeping, your social media doesn't rest.

Pro tip: Twitter is the best platform when it comes to real-time dialogue. Keep a close eye on your industry news and make sure you don't miss opportunities to engage your brand and consumers.

6. Making full use of the storytelling function

Today, most social media is enabled with the story feature. This is a feature that allows users to post photos and videos that remain on the profile for 24 hours. Not only are they fun and creative, but they are a great way to increase customer engagement, create brand awareness and drive traffic to your website! Considering the growth of social media usage on smartphones, this feature has a lot of potential value.

Stories are visual content designed to be created and consumed instantly via smartphones and creative perspectives! As they are ephemeral, there is more room for experimentation! Stories feel instant, real and personal.

To create effective stories:

- Conduct competitor analysis

- Know Your Audience

- Tell a "story" and keep it real.

- Use of effective CTAs (call to action)

- Get creative and provide value

7. Use of personalised information

Trends show that people are spending more time exchanging information and less time sharing news on social media platforms. This shift from public to private spaces is changing customer expectations. A recent survey revealed that 90% customers prefer to have one-on-one conversations with their favourite brands. It further noted that personal contact with the company makes them feel confident about their brand.

Create autoresponders on your Facebook and Instagram pages. Maintain an active online reputation management team and familiarise them with the products/services you offer.

Pro tip: Take advantage of the convenience of technology and set up chatbots to assist with accessing your social media platforms. This is the best way to expand your customer service efforts and create a better experience.

It's safe to say that social media is here to stay for the long haul. If understood properly, the social media trends of 2020 have a lot of potential. Proper planning, strong strategy and best execution on social media platforms can do wonders for brands. Follow the above list and make this year a big one!

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