2020 Wrap Up – Social Media Trends & Updates

When it comes to 2020, we all know it has been a different year, hasn't it? Well, one of the most impactful results of the pandemic has been the switch to a virtual world. For the social media industry, the growth has been incredible. We have seen so many new social media platform trends and updates this year. In this week's blog, we are going to go over the top social media updates and trends from 2020. Keep reading to learn all about 'em and to get ready for 2021!

1. TikTok and Reels

TikTok and Reels. By now, you have probably heard about the importance of video content for your social media pages. If you have not already heard about how important creating and sharing video content is, you will want to check out this blog.

Not only has the growth of TikTok increased since the start of the pandemic, but Instagram released a huge new feature called Reels. Reels and TikTok are platforms that encourage users to post short videos, with topics and genres such as humor, education, careers, tips, and more.

Within the span of 12 months, the growth seen in TikTok has been astronomical. As Reels is a newer platform, it is still trying to figure out its strategy within Instagram. TikTok is its own platform, and it has over 800 MILLION users and over 2 BILLION downloads (Oberlo, 2020). Want to learn more about how crazy-big TikTok is? Check out this article.

2020 showed the huge growth of predominantly video platforms. It is crucial that your business or firm starts creating video content, whether it is on TikTok, Instagram Reels, or YouTube. No matter the platform you begin creating video content, you can always repurpose it on other platforms - and you should!

2. Virtual Communication

Virtual communication. While this is not technically a social media industry update, it is too important to not highlight. The necessity and increase in popularity for virtual communication via Zoom, Skype, GoToMeeting, and more was a HUGE moment in the technology world and consumed 2020 business-wise. Now, some businesses and firms are completely virtual after seeing the success behind virtual meetings, appointments, and teamwork.

We saw our world switch from in-person-everything to almost virtual-everything. Due to the pandemic, everything nonessential had to switch to a virtual way of business. Teams began working from home, hosting group meetings online, restaurants switched to only online order and pickup, and other businesses were forced to close in the meantime if their business was not eligible to successfully run virtually.

Business owners have been through a lot this year, however, the impact of virtual communication and business has changed the way of business for millions all over the country. With the increase in popularity of Zoom meetings, some businesses have transformed their entire business model to meet the requirements 2020 threw at them with no warning.

3. User-generated Content

User-generated content has always been huge in the social media industry, but nowadays, it is even bigger. Brands encourage their consumers to post on social media photos and content of themselves using their products as a way for exposure for a potential feature on the brands' social media pages.

With businesses having to cancel product photoshoots, model bookings for clothing, food photoshoots for seasonal menus, and more, the increase in popularity for user-generated content has fueled the fire for more authenticity and truth behind products.

Implementing more user-generated content into YOUR brand and business is a great way to prove to your prospects that your products and services are worthy of being used by large numbers of people. Some examples of user-generated content can be in the form of a lot of things, such as reposting a photo of a customer or client using your product or services or a customer testimonial!

One of the most important forms of content that can be in the form of user-generated content or organic content is stories. Stories were a HUGE deal in 2020, and they will be for a long time. Read more below!

4. Ephemeral Content

Stories. Social media stories are not new, but they are still HUGE. Like we said above, social media stories are not going anywhere.

Snapchat was the pioneer for a social media story, otherwise known as ephemeral content. This means that this content is temporary and lasts only for a certain amount of time until it disappears. Typically, these stories last 24 hours.

As the popularity of Snapchat stories declined in 2018, Instagram stories were on the rise. Now, they are the main place for ephemeral content. This type of content is the content people are clicking on the most. Some people prefer to scroll in their feeds, but stories are the primary place people go when they open Instagram or Facebook.

Other social media platforms are catching onto the success of Instagram Stories, and now, even LinkedIn has their own forms of stories. Ephemeral content is addicting. It encourages you to continue tapping to the next one, and the next one, and even the next one. Next thing you know, you are watching stories for 5 minutes.

Moreover, it is super important to take advantage of what is trending. Stories have been on the rise for some time now, and a decline is not forecasted for a long time. If you are not already posting stories to your business' social media platforms, 2021 is definitely the time to start. Better yet, start now! Here are some pointers. And here, too!

5. Social Commerce

Shopping on social media has become a massive trend. As retail stores began to close down their stores due to the pandemic, businesses were almost forced to take their business to either completely online or allow for an online order to come through with curbside pickup. This gained popularity mostly in the retail and restaurant industry as a result of the removal of product-shopping and in-store shopping.

Businesses were looking for solutions to keep their businesses open, and as a result, social commerce became more popular than it ever was in the past. Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest became some of the main sources for shopping online. These platforms integrated shopping features that allowed for purchases to be made DIRECTLY in the app.

While this could be seen as problematic for some shopaholics, it helped businesses stay in motion and even increased brand awareness for some. This feature is most popular on Facebook and Instagram, as the content you scroll through every day typically has ads mixed in and most likely has shoppable content that pops up on your feed or stories.

The rise of social commerce is another trend that will not be going anywhere anytime soon. It is an easy way for businesses to make money and for consumers to shop at the palm of their hands, anywhere and at any time.

What's Next for Social Media?

Well, we definitely have seen that ANYTHING can happen without preparation; however, there are going to be some awesome trends to look out for in 2021. As mentioned in this blog, these five trends will not be going anywhere anytime soon. In addition, there are going to be updates to all platforms as they continue to figure out how to best navigate and take advantage of a virtual world.

LinkedIn is currently diving into the world of ephemeral content. We are excited to see our clients utilize LinkedIn for this type of content. Instagram is exploring the world of social commerce and Reels, and TikTok is continuing to grow in popularity and users. Not only are these platforms huge right now, but we are sure that they will experience even more changes and updates in 2021.

Hyperchat Social is notorious for knowing all of the latest social media updates and trends, and we will continue to update you all as we learn all about them!

To learn how we can help you grow your social media, increase your brand awareness, and generate leads for your business, visit https://tryhyperchat.com, and schedule your FREE comprehensive consultation! We're excited to help you Turn Social Into Sales in 2021!

Sources:

https://influencermarketinghub.com/social-media-trends/

https://www.oberlo.com/blog/tiktok-statistics

https://www.mediaupdate.co.za/social/149729/five-social-media-trends-to-look-out-for-in-2021