Beyond any doubt, 2020 was one hell of a year! If there is anything to take away from 2020 is, you ought to be prepared for anything. Both the expected and the unexpected! 2020 is a year that a lot of us would rather forget about it. Amidst all this, social media platforms have rapidly evolved. All this is to meet the demands and needs of the users during the pandemic.
You have to remember that social media platforms will always keep their audience/users as their priority. No one could have predicted the surge in social media usage like it happened in 2020. Did you know that the number of social media users increased to 346 million in just a span of 6 months? Yes, that’s what happened last year.
So how will 2021 be? Here are the social media trends in 2021. Also, in the following blog, you will find the social media predictions you need to be prepared for.
Some social media stats to help you prepare for 2021
| SL. NO. | Social media stats for a better online marketing strategy in 2021 |
| 1. | 90% of consumers believe brand recommendations from friends. |
| 2. | Daily active stories on Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp hit 500 million in 2019. |
| 3. | Internet video traffic is expected to jump 4X by the end of 2022. |
| 4. | Nine out of ten customers suggest that authenticity is the most important factor when choosing which brand to support. |
| 5. | 43% of the consumers research online through social media before buying them. |
| 6. | The number of mobile messaging app users will reach 3.12 billion by 2023. |
| 7. | 70% of consumers believe other consumers’ opinions on social media. |
| 8. | 56% of the consumers don’t respect brands that stay silent on major social issues |
| 9. | Videos with social stickers have 83% better engagement. |
| 10. | Facebook is the most important social media platform with 68% market domination. |
What are the 2021 social media trends?
1. Facebook Dominance will Continue
Facebook is a winner in the pandemic! Brands continued to invest in ads and other campaigns even during the pandemic. This is proof that Facebook is one of the best social media platforms for advertising that combine granularity with scale.
It is protected by the bidding model. Thus, it means that as soon as one advertiser drops out, another one will take its spot. Businesses cannot afford to have their place taken by their competitors. This is why businesses return quickly to keep their ads running on Facebook.
According to Sebastian Redenz, “While Facebook was already ascending to dominance before the pandemic, the trend has accelerated this year, which is why I predict that the stock will trade at around the $400 marker in 2021.”
Source – Statista
2. More focus on live and long-form videos
With the pandemic, there was an increase in the need to share real-time live videos. Facebook reported that there was a 50% rise in the number of viewers watching live videos. With people returning to their “normal life”, there will be a huge increase in the number of people sharing real-world experience in real-time.
The use of video content is already popular through apps like Tik-Tok and similar other apps. Every day, the users are also becoming comfortable in sharing their thoughts on a video. The duration of content will get longer. This has been anticipated by video sharing platforms. Thus, apps like Tik-Tok are already testing three-minute videos. Other platforms will follow this and a longer form of content will be the norm.
Source – Wyzowl state of video marketing survey
3. Social Media will Become a True Sales Channel
Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat videos, and more AR will encourage the customers to shop now. Brands are now establishing a relationship with their customers by sharing, relevant, fun, and also informative content. This will allow e-commerce from social to thrive.
Businesses have to expect to see social media evolve to become a sales channel. Yes, it is true that the growth of social e-commerce was slow. However, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other social media platforms are using shoppable ads. Thus, marketers have to invest in social channels for getting more and more customers.
“Companies are now waking up to the true opportunity that lies within consumers dwelling in higher volumes than normal on social channels, especially when ecommerce was the only option for driving sales. I’m hoping that we will see in 2021 the acceleration of the smoothening of social commerce. Content and commerce are only going to get closer in the year ahead.” – Sarah Penny, Influencer Intelligence.
Source – Hootsuite’s social trends 2021 survey
4. Remixing the User- Generated Content
User-generated content is not new. However, the way user-generated content is being created nowadays is new. Remixing is increasing these days. Using the already existing formats, templates, ideas, and then recreating them according to a user’s personality, is new.
In 2021, you can expect more opportunities for brands for remixing. Brands need to use this opportunity to engage with the new audiences and also create additional content for the brand. With more video content, the urge to remix content is on the rise.
5. Social Messaging is on the Rise
The use of social messaging has become greater than social media. Thus, it is going to be fascinating to see what comes next in this space. WhatsApp will get advertising in 2021, just like Facebook. In 2020, we say people connecting with each other on a much more humane level.
In 2021, there will be a continuation of this desire for connecting authentically with a small network of like-minded individuals. More specifically, there will be a rise in voice and face-to-face platforms to facilitate this need.
6. Organic social media relationship funnel
Think about this, who do customers trust the most? With the increasing number of fake news and privacy issues, creating a trustworthy relationship is highly important for businesses. It will be harder for businesses.
Did you know that 75% of people don’t accept advertisements to be true? 63% of social media users feel that consumer ratings are #1. Also, 70% of the consumers believe other consumer’s opinions. To get through this, social media marketers have to invest in building relationships with customers, employees, and influencers.
This is to make sure that the brand messages are backed up with the real customer voices as well. It will also offer more value. Companies cannot look at social media as just a way for promotion. Instead, it is rather a grand arena to engage and collaborate with social media users.
The primary focus should be on clients and influencers. Work with them to incite word of mouth marketing for your brand on social media.
Source – Statista
7. People-first social media
Two-way communication is the way to boost organic posts. It is the best way and probably the only way that works. Why? Social media is all about algorithms. And how do algorithms work? There is no rocket science to it. An algorithm will take your content and present it to the relevant users along with the targeted paid ads. Thus, an online community that can engage with your content with likes, follows, and comments, will help you in amplifying your content.
Therefore, you have created a channel that your new customers will trust. Remember, social media algorithms will always favor people. The idea is to embrace the nano-influencers and above, who already have a liking for you. Include people who like your company. This is a very important part of digital marketing.
8. Use Social Issues in Your Social Content
Whenever there is a political or a social issue, it means increased social media conversation. According to the Social Media Reports from Merkle’s Q4 of 2020, 56% of the consumers have no respect for a company that stays silent on important issues. Thus, now is the time to leverage the social platform to inform and reassure your customers.
In this year, more people will be looking for meaningful content so that they can share them and educate others as well. People will also expect a much more humane approach from the brands. A lot of brands like Nike, Disney, and Ben & Jerry’s have already participated actively on issues like “Black Lives Matter” and also how to sustain business in this pandemic.
This is the time to use your reach and educate your users to spread positive messages. Also, this works as a way to increase more engagement with your audience. Here is an example of how Netflix responded to the issue of Black Lives Matter.
9. Use Social Commerce to your advantage
87% of shoppers believe that social media has helped them in making a better shopping decision. More than half of the world’s population is on social media. According to the data from the US Department of Commerce, social media’s share in the total of US retail sales have rocketed up in 2020. The best part is, this trend is here to continue.
Social commerce is not a very new concept. However, with Facebook and Instagram shops, Pinterest catalogs along with the increasing shopping behavior in the pandemic, this is the year (2021) when social commerce will flourish. Your target audience is already spending a major chunk of their time on social media. So why not make the most of it?
As a brand, you would always want to convert customers as much as possible. Thus, you don’t have to waste time sending them back to your website. Allow them to buy directly from social media posts/ads. This is why digital marketers have to focus more on social media reach, engagement, and effectiveness.
Source – Statista
10. The Algorithm Shifts
This is an important aspect of social media trends in 2021. One of the big questions is, how Facebook will address concerns on the feed algorithm. Under the Biden-led US Government, it might take up more action and restrict misinformation and hate speech to avoid increased pressure and also penalties imposed by the government.
Facebook might do this. According to the New York Times report, after the US election, Facebook has added a new News Feed tweak where “authoritative news came up more prominently”. Thus, fringe content or websites will be downgraded.
This looks like Facebook is trying to create a “nicer” news feed. Some argue that this change needs to be permanent. Also, this can lead to a reduced engagement on Facebook but it might also increase the e-commerce activity. Facebook can appease both elements without losing out.
11. Using Instagram stickers for engagement
60% of the businesses these days use interactive elements like stickers in the Instagram stories. They have good reasons for that. It is a great way to boost your engagement. It also helps in generating conversation with the audience. This is not only useful for the photo content but also useful for the videos. According to analytics, videos that have stickers, have better engagement 83% of the time.
Along with the stickers, you can also include locations, mentions, hashtags to increase the reach of the stories. However, this is already known to most social media users. There is a whole range of stickers that have been introduced by Instagram. These include questions & polls, for interacting with your audience. Another new sticker is the “DM me tag”. It opens up a direct conversation with the account when it is clicked.
12. Text-based posts
By text-based posts, we don’t mean long forms of content for posting on Instagram. What we want to say is, creating text-focused layouts where you engage with the audience, encourage them to comment, share, and like. For instance, you can check out this Australian skincare brand Go-To.
They have created an illustration of the Google search bar. The idea is to urge the audience to ask questions on the topic of “free radicals” in skincare. This is a clever way to not only generate more engagement but also ensures that they are offering their audience actual usable information to the audience.
13. Gamified Content
People have more time on social media these days. Now, more than ever, brands have to use creative new ways to entertain their audience. For instance, there is a trend in social media. It is called Gamified Content on Instagram. Whether it is quizzes, bingo, or “choose your own adventure” type posts. These are fun ways to encourage interaction on your posts on social media. The following is an example of the post that we are talking about here.
14. The Power of Facebook Groups
Last year, Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook will focus on the ‘groups’ in the near future. It is clear from the recent redesign where you can see from the ‘group’ section. As of 2020, more than half of the world is using Facebook. Therefore, more and more startups should use Facebook to set up their private digital ‘community’ for their brand.
Now, the problem is, the Facebook algorithm will make it difficult to get organic content seen. Did you know that only 5.5% of the audience sees your posts on Facebook? Thus, the groups offer a great antidote to this. The groups are a great way for the brands to get their content to more people who ‘actually’ want to see it.
Research shows that people are open to check out content from brands in groups as long as they are adding some value instead of just self-promoting. The more targeted and specific the purpose of the Facebook group is, the more likely it is to get the attention of your audience.
15. Direct Conversations
The focus right now is on making connections by showing genuine care for their problems. Consumers are looking for personal interactions with brands, now more than ever. This is why direct conversations are on the rise. Not only with the DM Me sticker of Instagram, but also the brands are using messaging tools like Telegram and Discord for communicating with their customers.
For instance, the fashion publishing company, Man Repeller, has taken up one step further. They have created their own text messaging service Thoughtline. This is a tool that sends subscribers tips, articles, and networking opportunities from the website through SMS. This is interesting to see that the new trend is allowing the brands to cut through the noise of social media and communicate with customers in a much more personal way.
These are the top 15 social media trends for 2021. In 2021 and the coming years, business brands have to find their place in public dialog on social. Words without actions are meaningless. Therefore, showing commitment will matter more than ever in the coming years. It will be the only way to retain customers and other key stakeholders. This will also help in gaining more customers as well.
