Undeniably, 2020 has been a whirlwind of a year for businesses, especially for marketers as they are demanded to find ways to keep the business afloat during a time riddled with unpredictability and uncertainty. In fact, Marketing revealed that the social media marketing trends for the year 2021 will be centred around the 4C’s, which are, Community, Contactless, Cleanliness and Compassion. With that in mind, here are the prediction for social media marketing trends for 2021:
1. Relationship-based social media marketing will be a priority
Entrepreneur reported that 70% of consumers believe their fellow consumers over advertisements. This, coupled with the fact that the Covid-19 pandemic has emphasised the importance of maintaining engagement and growing followership to sustain a business, businesses ought to focus on cultivating user-generated content in 2021. To achieve this, businesses need to nurture relationships with their customers and niche-relevant influencers as it will facilitate in re-establishing trust amongst your consumers.
2. Add some platform diversity to your social media marketing strategy
When the world was on lockdown in March 2020, TikTok skyrocketed to a point it accumulated over 76 million downloads. This highlighted to marketers that consumers are looking for platform diversity in consuming content that Twitter has jumped on the bandwagon and included highlight reels on their platform that mirrors Facebook and Instagram. Therefore, to increase engagement, marketers should look to include trending social media platforms in their social media marketing strategy.
3. Live-streaming will still be a necessity
Working from home has demanded businesses to rely on live-streaming platforms such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams to, not only organise meetings and conference calls, but to also organise product launches and webinars. In fact, the consumption of live video was at an all-time high throughout the lockdown, which awakened the trend of event marketing to reach global audiences. Moving forward, businesses should strategise how their products and services can be promoted via event marketing or live-streaming to ensure that it keeps up with the ever-evolving social media sphere.
4. Conversational tone will set you up for social success
It goes without saying that businesses are looking to achieve social success through effective social media marketing. MarketingTechNews pointed out that in 2021, businesses are advised to approach consumers – both existing and potential – with a more conversational tone for their user-generated content. In doing so, businesses need to place an immense importance on two-way communication as it will cultivate relationship and subsequently, establish trust as well as connect with them through well-thought-out content that adds value to their life.
5. Socially-conscious content will be popular amongst consumers
Showing your consumers that you are socially-conscious is just as important as more consumers are looking for socially-conscious content and brands. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought out a softer and kinder side of humanity. With that thought in mind, businesses will need to find a strategic way to infuse relevant topics such as mental health and social justice in their content or face being irrelevant in 2021.
As 2021 is upon us, it cannot be denied that social media marketing will continue to be a necessary marketing tool and marketing platform to disseminate information, connect with consumers and to increase engagement. Nevertheless, it is important for businesses to stay attuned to social media marketing trends to help build their businesses for social success.
Fortunately, our social media-savvy marketers have the eyes and ears to stay attuned to the ever-evolving social media sphere that will benefit your businesses tremendously. Speak with our consultants today, to have an idea of what we have to offer.
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