State-of-the-Art Social Media Marketing Trends for the 2020s

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With the entire world on lockdown since the spring of 2020, people have been spending more time than ever on their social media platforms of choice. This includes a massive growth in online activities like shopping, blogging, and vlogging. According to the experts, social media has become an essential marketing tool for all sorts of companies and services in the maturing 2020’s digital era.

With that in mind, the social media environment is changing rapidly. It’s no longer just a place to post pictures of your favorite meal or vacation destination. It’s become a place to influence potential customers and to establish your particular brand, not only with words and photos, but with high quality video.

Says Vidyard, an online video platform, video messaging can be utilized by your business to “collaborate, convert, and create.” Video’s many benefits include the power to capture and hold attention. It can influence buying decisions, increase organic traffic, increase conversions, and in the end grow revenue. While only 20 percent of visitors will bother to read text posts, 80 percent will actually take the time to watch video.

So then, what are some of the state-of-the-art social media marketing trends you need to be aware of in the 2020s? Here’s just a few.

It’s all About the Video

There’s that V word again. But while video has long been an effective marketing tool on social media platforms, only recently has it taken over as the champ of marketing formats. Business2Community.com reports that in 2021, people have been watching an average of 2.5 hours of online video per day. Taken a step further, people prefer being introduced to a service or product via video.

A recent surveyed found the following to be true regarding video marketing:

--short videos work the best

--People have been persuaded to by a product because of video.

--Business owners and service providers have noticed an increase in website traffic due to video.

--Visitors are spending more time on websites due to video.

--Video + Traffic + Engagement + Conversions = Increased Sales.

--86 percent of companies worldwide are using video. 69 percent of non-video marketing companies plan on making the leap into video in 2021 and beyond.

You can utilize video on Facebook and Instagram. But YouTube remains the video king. The platform is not only free to use, but it can provide you with SEO tools to create the right keywords for your video channel, increasing the views from your target audience.

Don’t Underestimate Facebook and Instagram Stories

Originally started by Snapchat, video stories are growing in popularity by leaps and bounds. This is especially true of Instagram and Facebook. Stories differ from regular posts in that they allow for more interaction with viewers. Stories can utilize tools like question boxes, digital stickers, and even voting.

Sources claims that more than 400 million people watch Instagram stories on a daily basis. Most users will watch stories on an average of 28 minutes per day. About 1/3 of Instagram users said they were influenced by the products they viewed in the stories. Many businesses are now using stories to promote their brand. They are also hiring professional video outfits and freelancers to create video stories for them.

Live Streaming is Booming

Statistics from Twitch show that in 2020, 1,116 billion minutes of live streaming was watched by 6.9 million monthly users. That’s said to be a 69 percent uptick from the previous year alone. Live streaming is evolving into other functions like “live shopping,” “live interviews,” and even “book launches.” But combining live streaming with social commerce opportunities like live shopping is said to be the latest and greatest trend in 2021, having generated $60 billion in sales globally.

You can use Instagram Live Shopping to sell products from clothing lines to eBooks utilizing a live broadcasting format. You can also team up with influencers and other creators to drive potential sales to larger audiences. Recently, Amazon introduced “Amazon Live” for sellers to promote their specific brands.

With many people now working from home as independent contractors and side-hustlers, social media marketing has become an absolute must. While posting great written content along with stunning photos remains an effective marketing tool, video has most definitely captured the attention of social media browsers in the 2020s, the same way TV commercials did in the 20^th century. By combining stunning YouTube videos with Instagram stories and live streaming, you can increase your audience significantly, and as a result, increase your revenue.

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