As we embark on a new decade, what will 2020 mean for social media managers, planners and strategists? Here are ten thoughts on what the year ahead might look like for organisations large and small in navigating the social media landscape.
The original plan for this post was to have twenty points. But it was starting to become like one of those albums with lots of filler instead of all killer 😬. New resolution for 2020 – keep it concise!
1. Business of all sizes reign in the range of topics they talk about on social media, focusing on owning a particular niche where they can genuinely influence their audience’s perceptions.
2. Equal consideration is given to the buying/planning of paid media and creative execution, balancing where budget and resource is directed.
3. TikTok brand ambassadors explode in popularity as organisations realise that to really succeed on the platform the message needs to be delivered person-to-person.
4. LinkedIn collaborates with professional bodies to add some form of ‘accredited status’ to relevant member profiles, such as verification of being a health care professional, a chartered accountant etc. That’s more of a wish than prediction!
5. Just because I incorrectly predict this every year… Google [Alphabet] acquires Twitter.
6. Companies invest more resource in ‘true’ community management on social media, considering it as a virtual shopping mall and behaving more as they would in a real-world customer interaction.
7. Pinterest and Amazon develop some form of affiliate partnership to create the ultimate e-commerce experience.
8. FACEBOOK begin selling anonymised, consolidated data about brand mentions across Facebook, Facebook Groups, WhatsApp and Stories to shift the whole social intelligence landscape.
9. At least one of Vision Express, Specsavers or Boots Opticians succumbs to the temptation of playing on the 20:20 rift 😀.
10. Chinese social networks start to grow more of a foothold outside of China.
I’d love to hear your musings for 2020 as well – please comment below.
Finally a very happy, prosperous and successful new year to you all.
Image credits: https://unsplash.com/@jamie452, https://unsplash.com/@mcthilda