Social media has now become synonymous with digital marketing, going hand-in-hand with most – if not all – digital campaigns. Social media is far from stagnant though, and what worked a couple of months ago may not get you the same good results today.
When it comes to social media, it is more critical than ever before that marketers understand and stay ahead of the curve. Doing so means that you have the right tools at your disposal, an up-to-date plan, and the required skills to make the most of social media.
Lets look at what experts predict will be the social media marketing trends that will dominate 2020:
Dharika Merchant, COO, Alchemy Group and WORD says “2019 was a busy year for all social media platforms and now it’s time to review our 2020 social marketing strategies.
Further engagement with the audience than ever as algorithms become more smarter so there is no short cut to genuine engagement. It’s not enough anymore to encourage people to like, comment, share on your post. Influencer marketing and the rise of micro-influencers as influencers with enormous following are becoming more expensive for small and medium-sized brands. That’s when micro-influencers came in to bridge for the gap between being interested in influencer marketing and having the right budget to try it out. The end of fake followers as Instagram announced that they’ve started removing inauthentic likes, follows, and comments from accounts that used third-party apps to increase their popularity. This is a big step for Instagram towards preserving its credibility as a popular social network where people (and brands) can grow their community through genuine interest and engagement.
Social media marketing is heading towards a stage that focuses more on ROI, new technologies and a positive brand- customer relationship.”
Viraj Sheth, Co-Founder & CEO, Monk Entertainment says, “ The social media marketing trends that will dominate 2020 will be:
- Video content marketing
It goes without saying that videos are taking up a heavy chunk of the user consumption in today’s times. Brands must deploy their resources aggressively towards creating video content across all social media platforms.
- TikTok – The Next Instagram?
There is no doubt about the fact that TikTok has raked in massive amounts surpassing the number of downloads of Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram. The brand has been providing reach to the remotest corners of the country at very affordable CPM rates for brands. It is definitely a platform to watch out for.
- Influencer Marketing On The Rise
Being in the space of influencer marketing for the last 3 years, I have closely monitored the increase in budget allocation from brands for their influencer marketing initiatives. This will only reach newer heights in 2020 with the increasing clout of digital stars with the Indian audiences.
- AR & VR on social
Brands have already started adopting AR initiatives like the usage of face filters on platforms like Snapchat, Instagram. VR has been adopted by video-first platforms like YouTube to give users a superlative experience of content consumption. Expect a lot more innovations to happen in this space.
- Gaming
The video game business is now larger than both the movie and music industries combined, making it a major industry in entertainment. This year, the global games market is estimated to generate US$152.1 billion from 2.5 billion gamers around the world. In-game marketing has come-of-age and is going to be the next innovation in marketing. We saw Marshmellow execute a concert in Fortnite, Varun & Shradha promote their movie Street Dancer by integrating a Street Dancer 3D Parachute in PUBG Mobile.”
Bharat Subramaniam, Managing Director, Big Trunk Communications says “Topical content and micro-moments marketing is the flavor of 2020. Social media platforms have become miserly with respect to free organic reach hence the focus is more on quality and contextualization of content. The value of finding the apt medium which attracts the brand’s target audience as per demographics and preferences cannot be undermined. Brands which will understand the “intent-rich” micro-moments in their customer’s journey across relevant digital platforms and target them with quality content will emerge winners – both in business and in brand recall.”
Krina Gindra, Founder, Squadk.in says “ The relationship brands want to build with their customers is more important than the products and services they sell them. So Connection, Community and Experience will be really important in 2020 . Influencers who are authentic will be more powerful than “power influencers” , as these authentic influencers will share content they care about and actually use on a regular basis. Facebook is no longer the one-stop-shop it used to be. Younger demographics are favoring the sister platform of Instagram, as well as TikTok and Snapchat. Smart brands would do well to ensure they have a solid Stories strategy for 2020 with daily images, micro-videos, and content that audiences value”
Agam Chaudhary, CMO, Digitalabs (A division of Laqshya media group) says “TikTok. The time to get on-board with the platform was yesterday. However, it will be the go-to platform for all “youth-oriented” brands out there. It isn’t absolutely for your brand to be posting content on the platform, but to miss out on observing prevalent tastes and trends that the platform throws up will be a big miss.
The king of all content formats has been video for a fair while. It is only going to make its presence stronger this year. The novelty of video content will wear off and will be replaced by standing out through the production of highly engaging content.”
