 Click to download the infographic. Are you looking to make 2020 your best year yet in business? Realtors, mortgage lenders, and just about any entrepreneur or business owner should understand and adopt these 20 social media marketing trends for 2020 – and beyond. 1. It’s all about video. No, really! For three years now, I’ve been saying that you should start shooting and releasing a bunch of video content. And in 2020, I’m telling you to shoot and release a bunch of video content. According to one prominent study, 82% of all online content consumed will be video by 2022!  Want to see the whole infographic? Click to download. 2. Social listening If you sat down and actually tracked how much of your marketing consisted of one-way communication (you talking to them), you might be shocked that it’s near 100%. Instead, make an effort to listen to your audience online with questions, polls, surveys, focus groups, and more. They’ll love you for it! 3. Social communities are invaluable Yes, Facebook groups are back. Think of this paradigm shift: instead of building a Facebook page that highlights YOU, as a Realtor, lender, or business owner, what if you started a Facebook group that focuses on a certain neighborhood, or a first-time buyer forum, a teachers/school group, etc. You’ll see that it’s far easier and faster to build a thriving community when the group is about something – not just about you. 4. Get personal People will do business because they like and trust YOU. So, remember that when you’re creating marketing messages and content that’s bland, uninspired, vanilla, and not 100% authentic. 5.Segmentation is key The internet is too big and too crowded for you to try to direct your marketing towards everybody and expect to see results. Instead, smart corporations and brands are going “micro” in 2020, breaking their overall audience into sub-groups based on demographics, needs, challenges, values, etc. and appealing to each of those individually. 6. Location, location, geo-targeting location Location targeting is essential in 2020 with geo-targeting and check-in tools on social media, especially if you’re in real estate (local) or mortgage (regional or statewide). 7. Influencers go nano Influencers will still be as sought-after and important for social media marketing in 2020, but brands will focus on smaller influencers who dominate a micro-niche. Think of it as depth over breadth of influence. 8. Here comes the social backlash Until recently, social media was basically a free-for-all, with only causal reference to legality, disclosures, regulations, etc. However, there’s a huge backlash underway, as data collection, fake political ads, divisive and hate speech, and more threaten to poison our internet use. You’ll want to pay a lot closer attention to your disclosures, privacy policies, etc. as you market online this year. 9. Instagram no-like Instagram is deemphasizing their “like” feature, and at some point in 2020, you’ll be able to see how many likes your post has, but others won’t be able to. Not only is this a concerted effort for Instagram to clip the wings of fake followers and likes, promote their own ad platform, and take back power from influencers, but it believes that this superficial evaluation is actually hurting peoples’ mental health around the globe. 10. Drop the “vanity metrics” Getting rid of like counters is part of a broader movement to reduce “vanity metrics” across social media platforms. In fact, in a recent TED Talk, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey said that “follower counts are now meaningless, and, if he could go back, he wouldn’t emphasize the “like” button so much.” But marketers and brands will have other powerful metrics to go by, like the quality and frequency of user engagement. 11. Ephemeral (like Stories) is in Social media posts and content that shows up for a limited duration and then disappear will be more popular than ever in 2020, especially Instagram Stories, which is used by 64% of digital marketers. 12. Customer service via social media In 2020, consumers want information, answers and help NOW. A surefire way to lose a lot of clients is by answering their messages and emails in a day or even waiting until the next morning, Therefore, automation like chatbots and autoresponders will play a big part in the customer experience via social media. 13. Virtual Reality is real (sort of) Virtual Reality has been on the horizon for years now, yet still not part of our everyday lives. That may take a shift in 2020, as Facebook rolls out their Horizon, a social virtual reality world. 14. Augmented Reality is already here You may not know that you’re living in a world filled with Augmented Reality, but all of those filters, image manipulators, emoticon creators, and other interactive apps are part of the AR takeover. 15. User-generated and employee-generated content One of the biggest marketing shifts of 2020 is the use of user-generated and employee-generated content. Testimonials, insights, stories, and other content from your clients, partners, and even employees are seen as far more authentic and demonstrates social proof. 16. Re-discovering privacy The internet can be a scary place these days, as everyone has access to you and your “stuff” once you use social media or other platforms. However, “The future is private,” as Mark Zuckerberg revealed 2019, and part of that is the prevalence of social media for private messaging or content that is private or excludes. For that reason, Zuckerberg united Facebook Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp, and private messaging apps now have 5 billion monthly active users – far more than all social media platforms combined! 17. Trust is timeless Nothing’s changed in regard to establishing trust with your marketing and work communication – it’s still the #1 most valuable commodity there is. Just like in romantic relationships, there will be no business relationship or sale if you clients don’t trust you. Trust will be even more important in 2020! 18. Go with video for your ads Many of you are utilizing paid ad campaigns for Facebook and other platforms, with mixed results. (Read more info on Facebook’s big ad rule changes for realtors and others in 2019). But if you really want to maximize the effectiveness of your ads in 2020, go with video – not just a post with an image or graphic. Speaking of which, give YouTube ads a try! 19. Consumers want meaningful content There’s enough clutter and fluff on the Internet – your audience doesn’t need more of it. Instead, they need meaningful content that will impact their lives in some form, so always look to solve problems, provide solid information, help without overtly selling, and focus on providing value. 20. You don’t need fancy – just effective I can’t tell you how many Realtors, loan officers, and professionals I talk to who have million-dollar CRMS but they still don’t send out email campaigns regularly, want to get into Facebook ads but they don’t even bother posting on their current Facebook page, or think they need an advanced social media strategy when they don’t even create any of their own content yet. Instead of looking for the next big shortcut or get-rich-quick tool, utilize the 6 fundamental pillars of online marketing, first. Integrate these into your overall marketing system, give it time to grown, and I promise you that you’ll see terrific results! Your friend, Norm :-) [email protected]  Don't forget to click to download the infographic and thanks for sharing!
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