A Fusion of Opinion on Top Digital Trends for 2020

Fusing opinions from our digital innovators Gavin, Ella and Katie, we’re debuting our first combo blog outlining some of their predicted trends for 2020.

From the rise of TikTok, the growth of vertical video, and the acceptance of AI; these are the trends digiteam @ MXB believe every marketer will be discussing this coming year (and possibly years to come!).

In 2020, marketers should not ignore the rise of emerging social platforms like TikTok who’ve experienced a meteoric rise in users in 2019 (close to 750 million monthly active users).  Whilst only time will tell if the hype will last, Ella, our resident TikToker and avid social media user believes savvy brands will embrace it as they adapt their social strategies to capture younger audiences  (41% of TikTok’s users are between 16 and 24).

It’s over to Katie for her top trend prediction and things get a little darker.  Yes ‘Dark Social’ is upon us, which basically means more social media users engaging privately (and no, we don’t mean looking at Facebook in a dark room!). Users are continuing to prefer using private messages to engage with friends and family, rather than public timelines (That’s a lot of people sliding into DM’s).  Katie believes that the Dark Social environment is a critical space for brand discovery and customer acquisition. Trends show that brands will soon want to swim in the sea of opportunity that lurks in this dark blue ocean.

It’s no secret that the whole MXB team love video content ideation and creation so we unite in saluting the comeback of longform video in 2020. The rise of stories on Instagram and Facebook and the introduction of IGTV have forever changed how we consume media video content.  Over the past few years, marketers often relied on short-form video to capture their audience’s attention; however, 2020 is going to see the rise in long-form video which will help to build stronger emotional connections and drive engagement. Live video will also continue to grow in 2020 which is no surprise as Facebook stat’s show users spending up to 3x more time viewing live videos than traditional videos.

Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) are far from being new concepts to marketers, but this technology will evolve more in the next few years. We’re excited! Especially the opportunity for our FMCG clients to enhance the in-store experience, bring brands and products to life, and introduce gamification into the exciting campaigns we have planned in the new year!

Over to you Gav for the final trend!  Our resident ‘influencer mastermind’  tells us in 2020 brands will move away from macro-influencers, focusing more on micro and nano influencers to target more specific audiences and driving more authentic engagement and traffic.

There you have it, a fusion of opinion on the trends MXB’ers are most looking forward to for 2020. We’ll share digiteams thoughts throughout the year so stay tuned.