Private, short-lived and synchronized – what will characterize 2020? Hidden likes? Instagram reels? We took a closer look at the two biggest social channels and their upcoming new features. What new functionality will for instance Instagram launch and what will be trending in social media in 2020? Here we share six spottings.
The TikTok app was a great hit in 2019, most of all how it made young people create videos where they dance and mime to music. Instagram is expected to launch its own version of the app this year – Instagram Reels, which was pilot-launched in Brazil in 2019. Like in TikTok, Reels users can create short video clips and collect music from a big library of licensed music. The clips are published as “stories” and there will be a new section for the most popular Reels. In 2020, we will still see people dance, sing, do sketches, and synchronized moves to various popular songs. Instagram Reels will probably attract a younger target audience. But perhaps the trend will spread also to older users.
"Momentary content breaks through the algorithms"
In recent years, both Facebook and Instagram have made it harder for companies to reach followers’ feeds. Momentary content that lives only for 24 h seems to break through the algorithms and reach more followers. That’s why stories will presumably remain popular in 2020.
Stories will place your content at the top of the feed and 62% of Instagram users say that they have become more interested in a brand or product via stories.
Behaviour in social media is changing. On Facebook, people write fewer own posts, publish fewer photos, and share less articles and news. A development that has gone on for several years.
But the fact that fewer people create and share content doesn’t mean that Facebook is dead. The channel is still the world's biggest. But companies that are active on Facebook have to measure engagement in new ways. For example focus more on viewings, clicks, and saved articles and video cliks.
"One theory says that less focus on likes will generate more content"
At the end of 2019, both Facebook and Instagram tested to hide likes for some users. They maintain that it’s about reducing the pressure when it comes to likes, especially among young people who seek acknowledgement and compare likes. It’s a good thought. But does it really solve the problem? Anybody who has posted something can still see how many people that likes it, and likes are only hidden to others.
Then it strikes you, that Facebook and Instagram worry that a decline in engagement on Facebook may increase and spread further. By hiding likes, they may be able to prevent a possible likes fatigue. Another theory says that less focus on likes will generate more content. On Instagram, for instance, many influencers erase pictures with too few likes. But if the focus is on other things than likes, it would prod users to publish more content. If and when hidden likes will become a reality for everyone is still unclear, but we guess they will.
Putting your trust in organic reach doesn’t make much sense today. It requires unique content, perfectly tailored to fit its purpose. But not even then can you be sure to reach all your followers. That’s partly because Facebook and Instagram changed their algorithms drastically in 2018, which makes it harder for companies to reach their audiences. And partly because people are not as active in the usual feeds as they used to be, and instead use spend more time on messenger, stories and private conversations.
This is why social media advertising has become a must. The advantage of placing ads on Facebook and Instagram is that you can define your target audience by gender, age, place, interest, profession, etc. You can also go for visibility where your target audience goes, regardless whether it is in stories or on messenger. If you do advertising in social media, it has now become possible to follow up the effects in a new way. Using the Facebook pixel you can see what Facebook and Instagram users do on your website after having clicked on your ad.
There are signals to suggest that social media are becoming more private. What signals and why? Messenger is one of Facebook’s most popular service. And many users participate in private groups and chat rooms. In addition, more and more people choose to communicate with companies via private messages in social media. In Asia this trend is already clear. There, various messaging services dominate internet usage and it’s a common belief that this trend will come to spread.
Sources:
Social Media Today
Svenskarna och Internet 2019
De 15 viktigaste trenderna inom sociala medier 2020