Social Media Trends to Watch in 2020!

Olivia Thwaites - PR Executive @ Goho Marketing & Events

2019 was a historical year for the media, politics and businesses in the UK, as we said hello to a new Prime Minister and goodbye to household names like Thomas Cook.

As always, 2019 was a year that saw developments in social media and new ways for consumers to engage with it. Social media has continued to prove its value, as it provides brands with a chance to engage with their customers and build brand presence. Last year we saw companies use social media to generate conversation around their brand values and purpose, opposed to focussing on pushing their product. Social media can work for or against your company so being one step ahead of the online game is more important now than ever.

TikTok

A new contender has taken the social media sector by storm, TikTok. This social media app allows users to post short lip-synced, music, talent, or comedy videos and it has growing popularity, especially with young people. TikTok’s popularity is an interesting insight into today’s ever-growing thirst for video content.

TikTok became most popular in 2018 when it was downloaded over one billion times. According to Sensor Tower, TikTok was the third most-downloaded app of 2019, beating both Facebook and Instagram. TikTok's audience was originally dominated by younger users, however, as TikTok videos are trickling onto Twitter, Instagram and Facebook feeds; its reach is extending rapidly.

If brands consider using TikTok as a platform to extend their reach, it’s important to note that it is a light-hearted platform, used to entertain. This means that TikTok doesn’t work for all companies, as brand messaging must authentically match the tone of this new platform in order to be successful.

TikTok provides brands with a chance to be truly creative, out of the box and gain attention from a younger demographic. The nature of the platform works to gain brand awareness opposed to generating direct profit. For example, Chipotle an American chain of fast food restaurants around the world, have over 250,000 followers on their own official TikTok account. Chipotle have been using this account to create lighthearted and meme worthy content, all related to tacos and burritos, several of which have gone viral.

Videos

If TikTok’s popularity has proved anything, it’s that videos are still a quick, accessible and engaging mode to push brand messaging and achieve successful consumer engagement. With the most social media platforms providing users with the chance to add digital stories, brands shouldn’t miss out on this opportunity.

Digital stories pull back the curtain on a person’s life and the real moments. Opposed to paying for a #ad post, stories are a great way of inviting consumers in and making the content feel personal. Stories build brand trust, as videos appear without editing or filters that otherwise fill Instagram feeds. The entire concept of content marketing is based on trust in order to create long-term relationships and stories are a successful way to do so.

Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing is still thriving in the social media sphere with endless clever, authentic brand ambassadors that can truly love and emulate your brand. With new Instagram guidelines in place, brands and their influencers are obliged to be truly transparent about their partnerships which means disguising a sponsored content post is virtually impossible. Companies should be cautious about fake followers, collaborations that lack transparency and influencers that lack influence.

It is important for brands to spend time collaborating with their brand ambassadors in order to successfully create authentic content for said channel. If not, partnerships can appear lazy and consumers can quickly view #ad posts as spam. With this in mind, brands must ensure their brand ambassador is believable and has a genuine passion for the product.