Starting or growing your small business at the beginning of this decade may be an intimidating endeavour due to the vast array of technological and social changes currently happening. It goes without saying that in order to stay competitive, you should keep up with the trends. Adopting them early on enables you to differentiate your brand from the competition, but this only works if you fully understand what they are and how they can help your brand grow. To help you out, here’s a brief overview of the current trends dominating industries in 2020:

Increased focus on health and wellness

Firstly, something that should always be a top priority for your business is personalising health and wellness benefits when it comes to your employees. Forbes notes how different team members, especially those belonging to a variety of generations, might have varying needs when it comes to obtaining medical care. During tough economic times, employees value having access to more specialised care, such as those relating to practices such as chiropractic care, acupuncture, and hearing. If you can’t afford this at the moment, offering other wellness initiatives such as mindfulness classes and gym memberships is another alternative.

The rise of digital platforms geared towards the youth

Going digital is also becoming more popular due to rapid advancements in technology. Marketing to younger generations like Gen Z and Millennials should be primarily done on platforms like Instagram. According to an article on business trends by Entrepreneur, 59% of Gen Z said they use their YouTube app a lot more than they did a year ago, so gearing your advertising towards these platforms should be more lucrative in the very near future. Similarly, TikTok, a video platform where dance videos go viral, has been growing very quickly in popularity over the last few years. “With 500 million active users worldwide, it ranks ninth in that category among social-networking sites, ahead of LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest and Snapchat.”

Growing number of payment methods

Depending on your target market, providing a variety of payment methods is vital for optimum convenience. FIS Global shows how countertop card machines or portable versions can be good options if you have a retail store, whether payment is required at the till or around the shop or restaurant floor. Alternatively, mobile card machines and mobile card readers are great options if your business involves visiting customers door to door. Payments via smartphones are becoming a lot more popular due to the 24/7 accessibility of online shopping and quick delivery methods that have become commonplace nowadays.

Changes in customer support methods

Previously, customer support was primarily conducted through phone calls. However, online customer support is quickly becoming a new trend, with real-time chat options enabling specialists to provide tailored solutions in response to consumer inquiries and complaints. The good news is that this encourages customer interaction for people who don’t like spending time on the phone or waiting in a queue. Business2Community describes how the growing popularity of AI solutions meets this online demand, allowing humans to intervene when it comes to specialised inquiries. For small businesses, there are a variety of affordable options to integrate into your website.

Finally, when it comes to creating content for social media, it’s worth reading the ‘3 Top Tips for Running Your Social Media’ so that you don’t put all your eggs in one basket. This rule also applies to following industry trends for 2020, because investing too much of your capital early on can prevent growth in the future.