7 Social Media Marketing Trends of Focus for 2021

With the chaos of 2020 behind us, one thing was certain: we’ve spent a lot of time on social media this year! Last March, as countries implemented stay-at-home orders due to the global pandemic, social media usage rose worldwide by 21%. Now as the world approaches 3.6 billion social media users and continues to deal with the pandemic, brands are asking “What social media trends should I expect in this constantly changing landscape?”rnBelow, we’ve compiled seven social media trends which marketers should watch or leverage in 2021. Ready? Let’s dive in! 1. The organic social media relationship funnel Who do your customers trust? With rising concerns over privacy and fake-news, forming a trusting relationship with your customers in 2021 is going to be harder than ever. With studies showing that 75% of people don’t accept advertisements as truth, there is a lot to be said for a relationship marketing approach to building trust with your social media audience. These stats speak for themselves: 63% of social media users feel consumer ratings are #1rn70% of consumers believe customer opinions (that’s more than double those who trust advertisements)rnTo cut through in 2021, social media marketers must invest in their relationships with employees, customers, and influencers, to ensure their key brand messages are backed up by the voices their customers value the most. 2. People-first social media Two-way communication is the ticket to boost your organic posts to the top of your audiences’ social feeds. An active online community who engages with your content through likes (good), comments (even better), and shares (super!) can help amplify your content significantly. 3. Social content for good A growing focus on political, environmental, and social issues throughout the year means increased social media conversations about the issues close to your customers’ hearts. Study show that 56% of consumers say they have no respect for businesses that remain silent on important issues. Now is the time to leverage your social platform to inform and reassure your customers. 4. Video will continue to take center stage. Early in 2020, HubSpot’s “Not Another State of Marketing Report” found that video was the most commonly used marketing content. As major platforms, like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and LinkedIn increasingly amp up their video capabilities; marketers can expect high video consumption to continue and grow in coming years. 5. More brands will go live.rnIn 2019, one in five Facebook videos was live. In May of that year, YouTube users cumulatively spent 284 hours watching live video. In 2020, most brands were forced to take conferences, events, and other marketing experiences online; it’s not shocking to think that 2021 live stream numbers could be higher. Currently most brands are using Facebook, Instagram, Twitch, and Twitter to live stream events, Q&A’s, tutorials and various types of content. Allowing followers brand engagement at events they otherwise might not have been able to attend. Read more