What changes will we see in the world’s largest social network in 2020? Aside from changes to the algorithm which we experience every year, we’re expecting shifts in user behaviours. These changes will naturally impact our Facebook marketing decisions.
In this article, we’ll walk you through some forecasts for 2020. Then we’ll discuss the future of Facebook marketing, and how to capitalize on social media marketing in the new year.
Facebook Trends: What to Expect
Technology
According to Facebook insights for 2020, user behaviors are shifting in exciting ways. These changes will pose challenges and create opportunities for marketers.
For instance, more people have mobile phones than running water or electricity in their homes. And mobile is generating close to half of all U.S. e-commerce sales.
Facebook’s 2020 insights also show that millennials make up around half of the world’s workforce. More people are seeing themselves, first and foremost, as citizens of the world.
As we will soon show, your Facebook marketing decisions should heavily weigh out the importance of mobile and the prominence of millennials in the market.
Users
While Facebook still takes the award for the largest and most used social network, we are seeing the trends shift in recent years.
Facebook has lost millions of users in the past few years, and we expect the number of Facebook users to continue to drop.
Millennials are the main demographic which have been quitting the social network altogether. The main reasons they cited in leaving include concerns about privacy and data, or simple fatigue with social media itself.
In the meantime, more and more people are starting to use more visual social media platforms like Instagram and Snapchat.
Influencers
Influencer marketing as a key social media marketing strategy is still going strong in 2019. In fact, many brands still see good return on investment (ROI) from influencer marketing.
While this is great news for the approach, the same research shows that audiences don’t trust celebrity influencers as much as they once did.
So how are these successful brands capitalizing on influencer marketing? They’ve shifted to “micro-influencers” — i.e. local and mostly unknown influencers who have authority in their area of expertise. We can expect this trend to continue into 2020.
Planning for 2020: Where to Focus
Create value
While the number of Facebook users declines, brands might find it harder to engage audiences like they could in the past.
The days of posting content and expecting instant engagement are over. Facebook marketing must provide real value to be effective.
Facebook marketing, like other types of digital or content marketing, should be useful and entertaining.
Take special steps to ensure that you provide value to your users with every post and every ad.
Diversify
We’ve already seen how Facebook’s user numbers are dropping, especially among younger demographics. Not only are users shifting towards Instagram and Snapchat, they are also taking up new social media platforms like Tik Tok.
I strongly recommend diversifying your social media marketing to include two or more social networks. By hosting campaigns on a number of platforms, you’ll learn more about where your audience spends their time and what the best ways to communicate with them are.
Remember, It’s the Millennials’ Market
Your target audience will depend entirely on your product. Nonetheless, it’s important to keep in mind that millennials, being the largest working demographic, are going to hold the most purchasing power moving forward.
Use this knowledge to your advantage in 2020. If you have multiple audience segments, you might find you get more bang for your buck by investing in millennials.
On the other hand, if your audience consists of Gen-X or Baby Boomers, consider how to home in on their niche markets in a millennial-dominated world.
Build Communities
Facebook advertising has become more competitive and more expensive vs. ten years ago. But there are still cost-effective ways to use Facebook marketing in your strategy, such as building your very own community.
You can build a community using Facebook groups, or simply by generating plenty of discussion and engagement on a particular page about your industry, product or service.
Use micro-influencers to draw interest to your community. Remember to respond to every post with valuable comments.
Prioritize User-generated Content
Users are clearly skeptical of branded advertising and content. They trust recommendations from real people, and better yet, family and friends.
Just like micro-influencers will be a useful tool in 2020, user-generated content (UGC) will also inspire campaigns. Make user-generated content a part of your social media marketing.
You might host competitions encouraging users to post photos or tell stories that are relevant to your brand. Be creative, tailoring your UGC campaign to your audience and industry.
Measure, Measure, Measure
Marketers should measure every part of their Facebook and marketing campaigns. The more in depth your insights, the greater capabilities you will have to make your campaign more successful.
And in 2020, you should not underestimate the importance of measuring your results as the Facebook environment becomes tougher for marketers.
Remember to measure your campaigns with Facebook Insights, and always split test your advertising and content.
Feature Image Credit: CC 0; Public Domain, sourced from Wikipedia.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions stated in this post are that of the author, and Return On Now may or may not agree with any or all of the commentary.
Michael Bird
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