Top 5 trends in social media and influencer marketing | January 2020

2020 has begun three weeks ago. And what a start of the year! So much has happened already. We are really glad to introduce you to the start of this year’s social updates, mesmerizing influencer content, and disruptive campaigns. Stay tuned!

1. The world joins forces to support Australia

Photo by Fábio Hanashiro on Unsplash

Every year, Australia has its “fire season”. But this year, the fires took another dimension - the country experienced one of its worst droughts in decades. The combination of the driest Spring registered in Australia, with the record-breaking heatwave in December, and the strong winds that have made the fires and smoke spread more rapidly, have led to a national disaster. Many pointed fingers at climate change as the main cause of these fires. To reverse the effects of the fires and support the local population, citizens and companies across the Globe mobilized themselves and sent donations to Australian associations. For example, the Australian comedian and actress, Celeste Barber, has succeeded to fundraise more than $50 million dollars for The Trustee for NSW Rural Fire Service & Brigades Donations Fund to support bushfire relief efforts in Australia, which has also become the largest Facebook fundraiser globally. On TikTok, Instagram, and Youtube, influencers also joined the conversation by raising awareness and driving donations. Rains have finally arrived in the country helping firefighters to contain the blazes, but it is the great human bond created to support local forces that will enable Australians and their nature to rise from the ashes.

2. New Year = Resolutions

Photo by Jamie Street on Unsplash

Time passes, but traditions stand. As 2020 kicked off, many shared an overview of their 2019 and their expectations and goals for the new year. On TikTok, #2019check gathered 84.6 million and hashtags around the topic of “new year resolutions” drove more than 90 million views. Aligned with TikTok content, videos were amusing and entertaining while on Youtube, the discussion was more thoughtful. Youtube influencers emphasized more on establishing realistic resolutions, such as the lifestyle influencers Naynaflorence (73.8K subscribers), and advised their followers on how to succeed in keeping NY resolutions, like the educational influencer Veritasium that already gathered more than 550K views. What are your resolutions?

3. #Megxit is shaking up the royal family

Photo by Standard

It’s on Instagram that the news were first released - Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced that they are going to take a "step back" from the royal family as 'senior' members. The couple stated their intent to "work to become financially independent" and launch a "new charitable entity." Since the announcement, thousands of posts, memes, and articles have been shared. Brands also jumped on the opportunity to get exposure out of the news. On Twitter, Burger King jokingly offered Prince Harry a part-time position at one of its restaurants. The couple’s bold choice drove lots of conversations on socials - more than 100 Tweets are mentioning #megxit per hour and almost 10K posts have been created on Instagram referencing to the royal news.

4. What did take over CES 2020?

Photo by Rodion Kutsaev on Unsplash

CES is the annual event that you cannot miss if you are working in the consumers’ electronics industry. The convention became the global stage where next-generation innovations are introduced to the marketplace. This year, more than ever, sustainability was at the center of the convention. More than 200 companies present at the event showcased sustainable innovation, from improving energy efficiency to responsible recycling. 

Another major introduction was Quibi. The future of video may have been presented with this upcoming American short-form mobile video platform which raised $1 billion on the promise of a roster of Hollywood stars and supposedly revolutionary video-streaming technology that delivers portrait and landscape video at the same time. Quibi is mobile-first and short-bite, so be ready!

5. Nikkie Tutorials revealed being transgender in a powerful Youtube video

Photo by NikkieTutorials

The 25-year-old Dutch beauty influencer, Nikkie de Jager, released a Youtube video earlier this month in which she comes out as transgender. During the 17-minute video, the beauty Youtuber with 13.1M subscribers explained she was born in the wrong body and that she now feels free. In a powerful speech, Nikkie Tutorials shared that she has been blackmailed about it but decided to “take back” her own power to reveal she is transgender (just if we need to put a label on it). The video has been viewed 32M times so far and the influencer received a lot of support from her followers, from other influencers and celebrities. With this video, Nikkie de Jager aimed to inspire other “Nikkies” to “truly live [their] lives the way [they] want it” - and we can only wish the same.