Big changes are in the works for how businesses plan to use social media to interact with consumers in the coming year. According to a MediaPost article by Oliver Yonchev, there are a few of the latest trends in marketing and advertising that advertisers need to be aware of going forward in order to perfect their social media marketing campaigns.

Social Media Marketing Trends

Podcasts are Taking Off

Most of us know at least one avid podcast listener (in all likelihood, we know WAY more than that). The rising popularity of the medium, coupled with how little podcasts cost to create, make them one of the latest trends in marketing and advertising and an ideal advertising method for your social media marketing clients. In fact, roughly half of all brands either have podcasts in the works for next year or at least are planning on launching a podcast in 2020.

Time to Rethink Ads in Instagram Stories

Instagram has increased the amount of advertisements it plans on adding in between its members’ Stories on its site. The company is also testing the use of back-​to-​back ads in this space. This could potentially result in the Stories section of Instagram being overcrowded with these kinds of ads. If brands place their social media marketing ads in an overcrowded space such as this, their efforts may backfire. Too many ads distracting from the content that actually want to see could anger Instagram users instead of piquing their interest in your client's product or service. So, advise your clients to tread carefully if they're thinking of placing their ads in this space.

Facebook to Focus on Groups

In an attempt to better engage with users, Facebook is realigning its site to center on Facebook Groups, highlighting local community happenings. If advertisers quickly start their own Facebook Groups, they can be at the start of this latest trend in marketing and advertising, building their Group engagement as popularity grows. Not all social media marketing has to include traditional social media ad types. A group could be just what your client needs.

The Emergence of TikTok

TikTok, the latest short video social platform, draws the attention of its users for an average of 45 minutes every single day, reports Yonchev. That’s more time than most social networkers spend on other platforms, even giants such as Facebook. As a result, many social media marketing clients may be lowering their Facebook ad spend to allocate more funds to future TikTok ads.

What demographics are using which social media platforms? What are they planning on buying in 2020? And what if your client wants to create a multimedia campaign; what media format would pair well with social for your client’s target demographic? Those answers can be found on the social networking profiles available in AudienceSCAN on AdMall by SalesFuel. There you’ll find audiences such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube Users, as well as Social Network Ad Responders and Podcast Listeners/​Ad Responders.