Social Media Marketing Trends for 2021

Every year we have a few trends that come to the top. Of course, COVID-19 is an unbeatable trend for 2020. There are even challenges that catch the fancy of many and become trends in social media. But what we have here are qualitative trends that are likely to rule during 2021 in Social Media.

The list of Social Media Marketing Trends in 2021 are as below:

1. SEO will come into play for your social content too
2. Instagram Reels can boost your organic reach
3. 75% more online shopping via Social Media
4. Be Human
5. Look at nurturing your audience
6. Be Agile
7. Make your creatives natural and mobile-first
8. Focus more on UGC and Personality

SEO will come into play for your social content too

We have all long known about tweets being indexed in Google search, Facebook search algorithm tweaks that will help your post content to rank in their own search.

Now even Instagram has joined the party!

So in 2021, we expect people to find accounts based on the content they are posting and not just the hashtags they are using.

And this trend is likely to get implemented in other social media networks too.

Look towards investing in keyword research for your social media channels going forward.

Instagram Reels can boost your organic reach

Invest in Reels, try to get one out every day. It helps immensely for your organic reach. Believe me, at the beginning it will look like a lot of effort to do a 15 to 30-second video initially. But with due practice, one could get the hang of things and start churning out TikToks or Reels much faster.

Pro Tip: Invest in Instagram Guides, treat it like a visual blog rather than anything else.

75% more online shopping via Social Media

With COVID19 more and more brick and mortar stores are moving online shopping. And eCommerce ads are already exploding. Social proof is likely going to play a major role in such ads performance and this is exactly where your Influencers, micro-influencers and nano-influencers are likely to come in handy.

Pro Tip: Put Facebook Pixel and other tracking tags to your website before you run the ads. This way you'll be able to collect user information and thereafter, run personalised ads. Personalisation of ads is the key to improve your ad performance.

Be Human

Go less on sales-oriented content.

Be opinionated.

Be authentic.

Be real.

The best way to do it is by case studies, social proof testimonials and use cases of your products or services. End of the day what makes sense is what works.

Look at nurturing your customers

As social media-driven shopping increases, be focused on improving your content and nurturing people through your catalogue and what matters for them.

Most forget that customers are also humans and they need care and love + loads of information to make the right choice. Along with personalisation of ads, one has to invest in a content strategy for your social media presence, wherein, you decide what content goes where and how.

The main objective is to help users go through a journey of sorts with the help of your content. This evolution of a prospective buyer has to be crafted with such precision that, buying your products or hiring your services becomes a no brainer.

BE AGILE

Three things need to be agile in social media marketing for 2021:

• Content
• Ads
• New feature adoption

There no longer can be set content calendars or set templates for ads. What we should start doing more is experimentation. Try out all the features available at your disposal. Be creative and be genuine.

Make your creatives natural and mobile-first

Social media users are 95% driven to take actions on their mobile devices from the respective social media app. In such cases all, you need to do

The best way to do this is by following the trends in your chosen social media platform of choice.

Creating your content as close to reality as possible.

Gone are the days of hyper stocky visuals and abstract ads. Only premium brands such as Apple can afford to do such random and out of the world stuff as they have their brand power to support such out of the context creatives.

Most of the small brands cannot afford to go abstract or dreamy. So get your creative stuff done from your mobile devices itself to be as close to reality as possible.

Pro tip: Build your creatives on mobile apps to get the best results in your ads.

Focus more on UGC & your personality

You need to look at the following key factors:

• More conversation on social media
• Automate your customer service
• Mobile-friendly website
• Track & repeat what works

UGC is user-generated content. One of the easiest ways to get amazing content is by providing exceptional customer service. People usually take to social media to complain about a bad product or service. But the only way they talk about a brand positively is when they receive an amazing quality product or service and support.

And of course, there are other ways to generate such content - run a contest, feature customers, etc.

The second point is to portray the true personality or character for the brand on social media. It can be done by showcasing your support to sports teams, singers, dancers or other creators who have done exceptional work and you want to appreciate them for their efforts.

Surprisingly, the personality/character of a brand on social media is perceived by their affiliation and charity they do, promote or showcase online. So get ready to feature your favourites in your social media too.

Hope these trends are useful and helpful in your social media strategy planning for the year 2021. Have a good year everyone and stay safe.

Please feel free to post your comments, queries or doubts to me. I'll be happy to respond.