Trends for 2020
From Netflix’s “trending now” list to Twitter’s all-important sidebar, almost every platform is geared up to identify the most clicked-upon items. At ALHAUS we like to keep our fingers on the pulse when it comes to long-lasting content trends, productivity and social media innovation too. As we embark on a new year, we've outlined some of the most promising trends for 2020.
Content: interactivity
Catering to short attention spans with pithy content isn’t easy but achieving interaction is the new goal of social platforms and websites around the world. Instagram and Facebook algorithms have been leaning in favour of interactivity for years — ensuring accounts with higher interaction appear more frequently in users’ feeds.
Interactive content requires participants to engage instead of just passively watching — as would have been the case with irrelevant adverts that interrupted user experience in yester-years. Examples include augmented reality lenses (think Snapchat filters), surveys on trending topics, games and competitions. Interactive content is king.
Marketing: personalisation
Personalisation has been key for some years now and its role continues to grow: the most used and approved method of attracting interaction is with high quality content personalised to your audience. Thanks to analytic tools inbuilt into social platforms, it’s never been easier to identify the age, gender and other interests of your demographic — meaning it’s now all the easier to create personalised content that your audience is more likely to engage with.
Streaming companies have had success with list features like “Top picks for you” while the likes of Amazon share items “you might also like” to encourage further purchases. Instagram ads within your newsfeed are tailored to the content you already follow and engage with, as studies have shown that increasing personalisation grows consumer spending substantially. Expect to see more and more of it.
Social media: live video
The live video content trend has been growing steadily and is the perfect way to create interactive content. Social media platforms such as YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat have already introduced the function to live stream.
Auto-playing video content has long been considered very effective in delivering brand messages and holding a user’s attention, but introducing a live element adds a thrill to the likes of interviews, enabling the audience to interact via comments and emojis or even suggest their own questions as part of a Q&A session. Also, studies have shown that people spend more time watching live content than scripted videos.
Design: kinetic typography and animated logos
Kinetic typography essentially refers to text that is moving (or animated) and generally appears via short looping videos. Logo text may slide in, appear one letter at a time, fold in half or flip — anything to convey brand identity and values. Squarespace and Uber are two examples that have incorporated kinetic type into their rebranded identities in recent years.
While typography has always been integral to design, the increasing number of consumers who interact with brands digitally (on screens via social and web) as opposed to in shop or via printed adverts in magazines, means text can do more than it ever did before.
Lifestyle: eco-travel and telecommuting
While text will start moving, expect people to stop. With the global climate crisis raging on and the wave of protests that took place across the world in 2019, it’s no surprise that people will be conscious about their carbon footprint in 2020. While travel remains important to many, the knowledge of how much carbon each flight produces may affect far-flung wanderlust. We may see a rise in those choosing to take trains or buses to cities and countries that feel more local.
Closer yet to home, we may find more people telecommuting in general. Thanks to high-speed internet in most homes, choosing to Skype into meetings or video chat with clients and patients may become the new norm. In the UK, the GP at Hand programme has meant many people can speak to an NHS GP in minutes for free instead of waiting two weeks for an appointment in person.