Social media’s role is growing, how are you tapping into this behemoth? Dive into the top trends for 2020 social content.
In 2019, it was estimated that people who use social media spent an average of 153 minutes per day doing so. That’s close to two hours a day on either Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and/or YouTube. At that rate, over the course of a lifetime, the average person will spend six years and eight months of their life scrolling through pictures and memes, videos and tweets. To help quantify that total, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has found that the average American spends three years and seven months eating and drinking or 26 years and four months sleeping over the course of their lifetime.
These numbers are only going to increase. The latest year that we have hard numbers for is 2017. Statista shared that people spent 135 minutes a day that year, up from 2016’s average of 126 minutes a day. So if you haven’t already got your social media game on point, your time is running out. Here’s a rundown on the trends expected for social in 2020.
Here and gone
So-called Ephemeral content—posts that disappear after a short time—have been gaining in popularity and will continue to do so.
Finding your niche
Facebook and Instagram have dominated the social media scene for some time, but there are a few smaller players that have started gaining ground. TikTok is one niche platform experiencing massive growth (it launched in 2016), while gamers are loving Twitch.
Farewell likes
Instagram is contemplating ditching the Like function to sidestep the way people find social validation from their social media, which is believed to harm mental health. Doing this would also result in advertisers having to boost their investment in Instagram Ads, since they would no longer be able to gauge ROI of their campaigns with the thumbs up symbol.
Shop around the clock
Commerce is the name of the game. And social is a growing place for consumers to purchase things. Expect more evolution as social networks continue to find ways to sell stuff.
Video dominance
From TikTok’s seconds-long videos to YouTube’s extended content, social media is already all about videos and that will only continue. In fact, a Cisco study estimates that by 2022, more than 80% of social content will be videos.
The rise of reality
Expect to see way more augmented and virtual reality on social platforms in the future. Facebook is introducing a virtual reality world called Horizon, where people can play games and connect. This could be the route social media heads in the future. Augmented reality is already going strong with Snapchat and Instagram using AR as an enhancement to those platform’s visuals.
Stay influential
Lastly, the role of the social media influencer—while not new—isn’t going anywhere. These trendsetters are going to continue to be big revenue generators for marketers thanks to their ability to bring about leads for less than what a paid campaign costs.
