Predicting social media trends 2015-2020 and beyond

Andrew Ford, Social Star, e-ttraction, social media prediction.jpg

Back in 2015, I wrote a blog that LinkedIn would surpass Facebook by 2020. I even had a US$100 bet with the global head of sales from Facebook! 

See the original post here.

So was I right? Well, I would argue that LinkedIn has surpassed Facebook in attention from business people. Gary V is onboard and Hubspot states that "LinkedIn beats Facebook when it comes to generating tangible leads" and the best platform to share content.

Sure Facebook the company is going strong, but that isn' t the product of Facebook by itself. Take out Instagram, Messenger and Whats App and Facebook, the stand-alone social media site, is still useful but not as important as it was before. It's a great ad machine but without user attention, it can't last forever. 

Of course, it depends on your country, who your target market is and your type of business. However, I would argue that LinkedIn has risen to be one of the top social media channels over the last five years and Facebook has dropped during the same period.

So I was about 80% right on that prediction.

So what is the next prediction? I feel there will be a reaction against social media and towards more authentic communication. It's already started. People are switching off. I think people will start buying retro phones that only text and make calls. Nokia resurgence! (gezz I loved my 6510, bring them back haha)

I haven't seen any new social media that fills the gap between self-promotion social media and an authentic way to communicate with others, but it will come and take over quickly. Just like when iPhone came out and instantly made my Blackberry redundant. (loved that phone too)

I give LinkedIn one year to become annoying because of all the spam messages people are getting. I'm still amazed that no one has come out with a serious competitor to this business platform. If anyone has a lazy $10m let's go build one!

Facebook will start to crank up prices to keep making revenue targets, whilst user experience drops. That's what big public companies do. It's a death cycle and in 5 years it will be a shell of what it used to be.

But Instagram will continue to grow and peak in two years before influencer marketing becomes too annoying and we switch off. It has great marketing currently so for product-oriented businesses, make a cool ad and this is your platform.

Tik Tok is already taking teens attention from the Facebook/Instagram team and growing massively. Influencers there are raking in hundreds of thousands a year. They will find ways to be more mainstream and this Chinese team will create more compelling social media sites. They are on point and could really challenge Instagram for dominance of youth marketing. Adults stay away, like seriously.

The other stand out performer has been YouTube. It's been a solid performer over the last five years, based on its influencer marketing efforts and will just keep growing.

So how does this impact you as a business owner? My advice is to build your own brand independent of any social media site. Get a website and use the social media site that best suits you for now. Then change when the market changes. But keep your core content assets on your own personal website and keep building your contact list alongside your social media following. Build a home base you own, not rent.

Social media is here to stay, but in 2025, there will be a whole suite of sites that we haven't seen yet that will dominate the current ones we have today. Anyone wanna bet? :)

Cheers Andrew

Andrew Ford

Marketing expert Andrew Ford, the founder of Social Star, has discovered the secret of ‘Powerful Branding’. With a fire for unleashing people’s inner brand and developing business models to generate profit from an individual’s passions, Andrew leverages ground-breaking digital and social media marketing techniques to create digital strategies for clients to attract maximum opportunities. Having established a strong name for himself in the field, Andrew blends traditional business techniques with now-necessary tools for entrepreneurs to achieve scale, quality, and influence in their niche. Andrew’s comprehensive business background and qualifications consist of a Bachelor of Business (Marketing) (RMIT 2003), a Graduate Certificate in Management (MBA Executive Program, University of Sydney 2005), and a Masters of Entrepreneurship and Innovation (Swinburne University 2011). Continually on the cutting edge of his own education, Andrew has tested his marketing theories in forums such as the BCG Business Strategy Competition, which he won in 2005 against all Victorian MBA schools, and the Venture Cup Business Plan Competition (Swinburne University 2003), which he won in the Masters category. With experience working at Hewlett-Packard, Sensis (Telstra) and IBM, Andrew also has mentored dozens of junior staffs to help them achieve their professional goals. Meeting and influencing high-profile public figures helped Andrew to realise just how many professionals require more understanding and control of their public brands or appearance, and need help with the skills to use the many amazing free tools at their disposal to generate success. At Social Star, Andrew consults with clients to uncover their personal brand – both where it is today and where it can be tomorrow – and refine and define how that should be displayed in social media in order to attract their perfect target audience. Andrew mentors his clients to rapidly grow their business’ audiences, resulting in larger potential client bases and higher revenue. Applying formulas that integrate over twenty years of Andrew’s business experience and fifteen years of formal business education, Social Star specialises in building clarity and velocity for clients’ brands using the ‘Understand, Build and Leverage’ methodology. ‘Having a Personal Business enables people to have an authentic, congruent connection with their valued clients and partners, using their brand as the bridge,’ says Andrew. ‘I’m highly driven to work with the new breed of entrepreneurs and small business owners – people who have a passion for making the world a better place. Traditional business models are stepping aside as people follow their innermost dreams and my role is to see them operate within their values while creating wealth. Some people think you have to sacrifice what you love to be successful in your business, yet it is actually the opposite. Follow your passion and success will come.’ Lecturing at Swinburne University from 2009 to 2011 on brand dynamics and digital marketing, presenting at numerous conferences, and consulting to hundreds of clients, Andrew has seen his philosophy work that if you follow your unique path, based on your skills, experience, values and goals, you will automatically attract the opportunities you desire and achieve the success you deserve. Living his mantra, Andrew has created a successful business and attracts high-profile clients including musicians, athletes, authors, models, entrepreneurs, professionals and small business owners, helping them find their ‘why’ in their business and fulfilment in their lives. Business for Andrew is more than work, it’s personal. Running a personal business means that he is able to fulfil all of his values rather than separating his life from work. It supports his two boys while providing social opportunities, educational development, fitness opportunities, spiritual fulfilment and many valuable friendships. Social Star has now become the vehicle for Andrew to crystallise his mission in the world, to help people love what they do, supporting his ‘why’, that if more people loved what they did, the world would be a better place.

 
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