8 Social Media Trends Every Marketer Should Watch In 2020

Posted: November 22, 2020 | Last updated: February 12, 2024

Social media often feature different trends. These trends usually come and go and depend on what the next “new hot thing” is. Speaking of hot things, 2020 has been quite challenging for businesses. And every marketer is asking, “what are the social media trends today?”
A keen observer and user of social media should be able to point out what are the trends for 2020 and beyond and use them to his or her advantage. This is especially true for those who market or advertise online, as trends can dictate your company’s success or failure. Social media is a dog-eat-dog world, and keeping on top of trends is a must.

You might be asking, “what is the most popular social media 2020?” Well, 2020 has been an interesting ride, and now that we’re nearing the end of the year, we’ll share with you the trends that have stood out on our list. Check out the social trends examples below.

Short Posts

Look around current social media platforms, and you’ll notice more posts with short lifespans. However, this doesn’t mean that they’re not relevant anymore. They’re just viewable after a certain set period—say 24 hours from the initial posting. 

The trend is not limited to one social media platform. Facebook and Instagram have introduced the Stories feature, enabling users to upload images or videos viewable only within 24 hours. These fleeting posts—here today and gone tomorrow—are surprisingly popular with users and viewers alike.

Moreover, short video clips and gifs have all become prevalent. No longer is it a contest to see who can produce the longest video; instead, producers are scrambling to fit ideas into a short time frame of one to two minutes. It’s not uncommon to see posts sped up to fit in as much as they can into shorter videos. 

Why did short posts become a trend?

One reason for this development is people have changed the way they consume entertainment. Before the advent of social media, and indeed during its early days, people varied in their content consumption. Users were used to the pace found on TV shows and movies. However, there’s more entertaining content available at your fingertips now more than ever. There’s a general feeling among users that they want to consume the most content they can in the shortest amount of time. 

As for short-lived posts, there’s another explanation. Perhaps the most convincing one is people tune into these kinds of posts because they might not be there the next time they go online. Hence, it makes sense why a person would consume short-lived posts first and then longer ones later. 

If you want your marketing campaign to be noticed and consumed immediately, it might be a good idea to maximize the short posts trend.

E-Commerce

E-commerce has been a booming social media trend for the most part of 2020. For example, as early as 2019, Facebook introduced its Marketplace feature, which allowed people to browse posts featuring only items for sale. 

Instagram has also jumped on this feature, although not to the extent that Facebook has. At most, Instagram allowed users to view items for sale and give actions to posts, such as inquiring and buying. However, Instagram has recently introduced an update that allows for more focus on E-commerce. 

What triggered the E-commerce trend?

Perhaps the biggest boon to E-commerce was the pandemic. Many users stuck at home retreated to online shopping, either for essential or non-essential items. This trend will likely continue throughout the 2020s and into the next year. E-commerce and online shopping have been steadily growing since they were introduced in the early 2000s, and there’s no sign of stopping this trend. If the trend stays, it’s no surprise if we see more social media platforms focusing on E-commerce and editing their layouts to suit this.

Video

Video content used to be restricted to certain social media platforms, but this is no longer the case these days. It’s rare to find a social media platform that doesn’t support video posts in one way or another. Back in the early days of social media, videos were only found on YouTube and Vimeo, but they’re everywhere now. 

Video is undoubtedly one of the most popular social media trends of 2020. It gets more engagement than photos. Moreover, video isn’t limited to pre-recorded content. With the introduction of “live” video options, people are becoming more and more drawn to producing video content. 

We can even say that video will predictably dominate social media by the end of 2020 and beyond that. It’s often necessary to provide a caption with images, which takes away from the viewer’s experience. However, video is a little more seamless in engaging the person and offers more options. 

For example, you can add narration, sound effects, or background music. Video content indulges in most of our senses, and it’s no surprise that it has become an increasingly popular social media trend in 2020. 

How can I maximize video for social media marketing?

Most marketers would maximize live videos. Anyone can go live these days and create live video content. This democratization of live broadcasting changed the way we consume information and entertainment. Other users can interact with the creator in real-time with live videos—something not possible for pre-recorded videos. 

It’s not too late to get on the video content trend. For those who are into social media marketing and advertising, video content is an imperative part of your campaign.

Influencers For All

Many had predicted the influencers’ demise in 2020, but this prediction has been proven wrong by influencers themselves. They’re stronger than ever when it comes to social media. Some experts have attributed this to the unprecedented level of entertainment consumption during the pandemic. 

With many traditional entertainment channels suspended or postponed, influencers became trusted individuals to produce new content constantly. Also, marketers have figured out a way to include social media in their influencer marketing mix. This has led to the strengthening of social media influencers. 

Another factor that impacted the influencer trend is people these days don’t consume entertainment and advertisement like before. There’s a growing trend of shying away from “traditional” advertising in favor of raw and authentic content. Influencers may airbrush their life sometimes, but there’s no denying that much of their content is based on their raw personality. This appeals greatly to a large population—that’s why advertisers are eagerly collaborating with influencers. 

Is there a downside to the influencer trend?

Maybe. An influencer’s reach and influence are always subject to many factors. There’s that constant need to stay current and relevant. Sometimes, this can lead to missteps, causing an influencer to lose fans. Also, there have been recent talks about Facebook and Instagram removing their “like” option on posts, which would deal a severe blow on influencers who rely on this to measure their reach. In sum, only time will tell. Influencers have always been good at adapting to the changing times, so it wouldn’t be surprising if they stay relevant even beyond the years to come.

Social Media For Brands

Social media started as a platform for “real” people only. It was practically unheard of for brands back then to maintain a social media presence. However, the reverse nowadays is true—it’s practically unheard of for a brand not to have a social media presence.

Why are brands flocking to social media? The answer is manifold. One, it’s a great way to interact with customers. Before, brands were unreachable entities, which tended to make them a little out of touch with reality. However, they can easily hear customers’ feedback on social media and address problems even before they begin. Social media humanizes brands, and when a brand is more familiar in the consumer’s eyes, they will be more likely to patronize it. 

Another reason why the social media trend for brands has become so prevalent is that social media has more reach than ever. Traditional advertising through movies and films aren’t just cutting it anymore for brands. If you want to reach a larger audience, you have to advertise on social media.

Is it ideal to prioritize social media in your marketing strategy?

Definitely. Some brands, especially the independent ones, have even switched to purely social media marketing for their products and ditched brick and mortar stores. The appeal isn’t hard to see, after all. For one, you’re cutting out the middleman, which means more profit for you. For another, this means lesser expenses, as managing a social media account is positively less expensive than maintaining a brick and mortar store.

Me, Me, Me (Personalized Marketing)

Along with the necessity of having a social media presence comes the demand for personalized marketing. It’s one of the social media trends for business. Bland advertisements no longer lure potential customers. Marketers are also wising up to this. 

Instead of casting wider audiences, marketers are targeting small sectors of consumers with personalized ads. This means that the marketer takes information relevant about the audience and uses it to personalize the ad for them. 

This technique has proven to be widely successful, especially in 2020. As it stands, personalized marketing seems to be the future of advertisements.

Communities

Corollary to the concept of personalized marketing is the rise of communities among social media. You may be wondering, “why is social media important 2020?” Many social media platforms, such as Facebook and Reddit, have made it easy to create groups for similar-minded users. This trend was especially popular during the quarantine period—when the only interaction people had was through social media. 

However, communities aren’t restricted to hobbies. Marketers have maximized communities to promote their products and brands to interested customers.

Competition Among Social Platforms

One interesting trend for this year is that new and upcoming platforms threaten social media giants. Observers are now looking at what is the fastest growing social media platform 2020. Facebook remains at the top in terms of number of users, but the demographic has changed dramatically. 

For example, many young people have Facebook accounts, but they prefer to use Tiktok or Twitter to engage in social media. It’s interesting to see how the bigger social media platforms will tackle this trend and whether we’ll see a new platform overtake them soon.

Join the Social Media Marketing Trend Now

This year has been an interesting ride, and some social media trends either came out surprising or predictable. Perhaps some of them will last until next year and beyond, while others might fizzle out soon. However, what 2020 has proven is that trends can be unpredictable sometimes. The best you can do is to identify these trends and use them to your business’ advantage. 

Widen your marketing horizon and check out our article “Influencer Marketing 2020: Trends, Strategies, and Examples.”