04 Sep 3 Facebook Trends to Consider in 2020 Planning

With initial 2020 planning discussions in motion, it’s important to look at industry trends that may impact your social media marketing strategies and tactics.

Given Facebook is still a priority channel for many brands, our social media agency wanted to share 3 main trends we’re seeing that could have a big impact on social media strategies for next year.

1. More Focus on Multiple Placements & Automatic Buying

Inventory on Facebook (particularly Facebook newsfeed) is increasingly competitive, which is why many Facebook representatives this year have heavily encouraged media buyers to move toward four placement options.

While we’ve seen this move rewarded with media efficiencies in CPC or CPM, we have noticed engagement can suffer, as some placements (like Marketplace ads or right-hand rail placements) are not as conducive to engagement as the newsfeed.

This move – combined with the announcement of Campaign Budget Optimization makes one trend very clear: Facebook is going to increasingly push agencies toward multiple placements and automatic buying features in the new year. This will allow the system to maximize its ad inventory to meet the demands of marketers, which may reduce costs in the short-term. We believe social media marketers should be wary and keep a close eye on overall performance.

2. Facebook’s Ad Offering is Less Focused on Engagement, More Focused on Conversion

As you we’ve increasingly noticed over the past year or more, Facebook is increasingly moving away from ad offerings that drive engagement on the platform and is focused more on ad offerings that can drive website traffic and conversion.

This shift in focus will have a trickle-down effect to brands that may have previously developed engagement-based objectives for social efforts or enjoyed high engagement on Facebook and Instagram. When goal setting for the upcoming year, brands should ensure objectives and strategies keep this gradual shift in mind.

3. Increased Priority on Private Messaging and Facebook Groups

This year, Facebook has made several announcements to show that it is taking private messaging and Groups seriously. The simplification of privacy settings on Facebook Groups and features to help aid in the visibility of Group engagement are all moves from the network to encourage users and brands to join or create groups.

This combined with new Messenger ad opportunities and rumblings of Facebook creating a new private sharing app, Threads show us that the network sees potential in private engagement.

Looking to next year, brands should consider the role Groups play in their social media marketing strategies and also keep an eye on testing and learning new private messaging opportunities as they roll out.

Finally, we encourage you to pull recent audience data to ensure that your focus on Facebook or the family of Facebook platforms is adjusted accordingly. Given Facebook has remained in the privacy hotseat for most of this year, we anticipate many users and brands will look to diversify channel strategies.

Want to learn more? Check out our on-demand webinar discussing Facebook Groups for Brands and what information to consider in your 2020 planning. Or, feel free to reach out using the form below to get in touch with our team to help enhance your social strategy.