Many businesses were forced to change their marketing strategy in order to stay open during global shutdowns to limit the spread of Covid-19. While working from home hasn’t been ideal, social platforms have continued to rapidly evolve and grow to meet the demands of users. We’ve put together a list of the top six social media trends you need to know for 2021 to help you while mapping out your marketing plans.
Social Commerce
As many businesses learned to run remotely, social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, and TikTok quickly started to develop online marketing solutions. Facebook and Instagram developed purchasing options directly via their apps. With the development of these shoppable posts, consumers can now purchase a product seen in a post without ever leaving the app they’re using.
The use of these online shopping tools will become highly useful, especially for businesses that aren’t able to build their own e-commerce sites.
Fitting Into the Conversation
At a time where endless content floods our screens, it’s essential for brands to stand out in a busy marketplace. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, brands extended the same sentimental tone and became nearly indistinguishable from one another. While it was a good time to prioritize listening over talking, marketing strategies had to be changed. In 2021 we will continue to see a shift of brands creating unique ways to fit into their consumers’ conversations rather than leading them, as well as creating social media content that appeals to their viewers.
Engagement Data and Identity
Your customers are out there, and you are able to use social media to create long-lasting relationships with them. However social media managers struggle to know if they’re communicating with a lead or a disgruntled critic. Utilizing data integration is vital. The targeting opportunities and detailed reporting metrics that come with paid ads can help you deliver content to the right people. We will continue to see brands sharing tools and data between social and CRM (Customer Relationship Management) while gaining greater visibility into customer interests.
Continued Interest in Video Content
Video content outperformed other forms of content this past year. According to Ad.IQ, more than 175.4 million people are watching digital content in the United States alone. Youtube engagement is at an all-time high, with creators seeing 20-30% more views this past year, so it’s easy to assume that its success will only continue to grow on all platforms. Smaller businesses may be hesitant to invest, but it’s important to give consumers content that they are drawn to. As Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and TikTok increase their video options, we can expect to see high video consumption over the next year.
Live Content
As brands searched to find their new normal in 2020, different ways to connect with consumers were discovered. In-person events were canceled, and the search was on to find a solution to maintain authentic connections. Online conferences and events seemed to quickly fill the gap. At the moment, many brands are taking to social media platforms to live stream Q&As, answer questions, and share tutorials with viewers. In 2021, we will continue to see live video grow in popularity while brands continue to incorporate it into their marketing strategy.
Fee-Based Communities Will Grow
Many businesses continue to struggle with creating organic reach on social media platforms. This has led to a surge in topical community growth, such as Facebook groups. Not only are these more personal forms of marketing thriving, but 2020 also saw direct to consumer spaces such as OnlyFans, and Instagram shopping reach explosive growth at rapid speed. In 2021, we will see these trends converge while brands begin to implement fee-based plans to offer members exclusive content, products, and more. This new version of a membership will give its members valuable resources while interacting with other members and the business by paying a small monthly fee.
As we continue to create our marketing plan to fit the ever-changing needs of 2021, implementing tactics to maintain an authentic connection with your audience is critical. Staying up to date on trends, online consumer behavior, and social media data will continue to help your brand and online presence grow. Start the new year off right by understanding the trends, and decide how they could best benefit your brand and its consumers.
If you need help creating your marketing plan or social media strategy for the new year, shoot us an email at info@foleymarketingadvisors.com – We’re always happy to help!