2021 Social Media Marketing Trends To Look Out For

Can you believe 2021 will be here in less than 2 months? Crazy, right? This year has been a whirlwind with the pandemic, and it's caused our lives to change in many drastic ways. Aside from the changes in our social lives, the virus has also altered business operations over the year. It has changed the way people have carried on business which includes huge changes and alterations within their marketing strategies along the way.

With people quarantining more than ever and staying indoors, businesses have realized the importance of moving their marketing efforts more toward digital marketing. If people are staying in and not going out, what do they do to pass the time or find entertainment? Technology! Businesses have already been utilizing digital marketing before the pandemic (let's hope…) but the dependency on digital marketing has definitely increased due to the harsh impact of the virus.

Although marketing has changed drastically within this year, it's more than likely social media marketing will continue to change in 2021.

So let's get to it! What social media marketing trends can we expect to see in the new year? Well, although no one can predict the future, we are here to tell you about 7 social media marketing trends we believe your business should look out for in 2021.

1 - Social Gaming Comes About

Since the beginning of COVID-19 and quarantining, there has been a steady rise over the year in social gaming. People have turned to their phones, video gaming systems, computers, and many other technological devices for entertainment more this year than ever before resulting in the increase. And typically, when people are playing games online, they are playing with other people.

What does this tell brands? This tells brands that it opens up a new marketing opportunity. It's an opportunity for brands to engage in social listening to find out why social gaming has caught the attention of many. Through social listening, brands can examine what exactly catches attention and can find a way to include it into their marketing strategy in hopes they can do the same. By incorporating interactive content into a brand's marketing strategy, it could increase a brand's engagement as well as help them develop more leads.

As we enter the new year, we don't see this type of interactive content declining any time soon. It's an upcoming trend that most businesses should keep their eye on. And as the year comes about, make sure you're actively social listening. Invest some time in learning and seeing what people are participating in on social media to see if you can incorporate something similar in your social media marketing strategy to pull more people in.

2 - Digital Disinformation On The Rise

As I'm sure most of us have seen in the past few months, social media platforms have really cracked down on tackling misleading and/or false content. As COVID-19 carried (and still carries on) throughout the year, there were (and are) tons of articles and content being posted to social media that had/has no science or reliable sources to back it up. Social media users were and still are finding it hard to determine who to trust. Social media platforms became aware of this issue and began taking action immediately. They started regulating content that came onto their platforms, flagging potentially false content, and often at times deleting it.

What does this mean for businesses? As social users begin to question trust, it is going to be imperative for brands to take action as well to make sure their audiences are receiving reliable information when they post. By doing so, brands will be able to obtain trust with their audience allowing them to continue working on building and retaining those relationships.

3 - Memes are EVERYWHERE

The subtitle says it all! Memes have and will continue to be a major trend. These types of visuals are used by people - mostly millennials and Gen Z - as a part of digital communication to express feelings and emotions.

Seriously, people love using them, and so do many brands. Many businesses utilize memes to connect with their audience and showcase some personality behind the brand. However, if your business is going to use memes in your social media marketing strategy, there are some measures to be taken to protect your brand.

Memes are often known to showcase opinions and can even be used malevolently. When your brand goes to post a meme or takes user-generated content that consists of a meme, make sure your brand follows the correct guidelines so it doesn't get in trouble.

4 - Conversational Marketing

Social media is all about communicating. Whether it's a person or brand posting on social, you are posting to show others your content; therefore, communicating with the social world. Let's be honest, no one posts to social just to post. They post to stay relative and to inform others.

Communication on social from brands is only going to continue to be more crucial, and you're going to need to do more than just post. Brands need to focus on providing valuable conversations with their audiences on social media in order to create and/or uphold valuable relationships with them. The key to a brand's success is being trustworthy and transparent with its audience and good communication will make that happen.

Some brands are already effectively communicating with their audience on social which is great! But there are many who need to hop on this trend in the coming year!

5 - The 4 C's Brought On By COVID-19

According to the recent report done by Talkwalker and Hubspot, COVID-19 has brought 4 major C's into online social marketing:

• Community
• Contactless
• Cleanliness
• Compassion

These 4 C's are going to mean a lot for the rest of the year and into the year 2021. A majority of people are going to respect brands more if they incorporate these 4 C's into their marketing strategy. By including these 4 key elements in your upcoming market strategy, you will show your audience that you care and are sensitive to what is going on in our world today. Posting insensitive content - even if it's not intentional - can have a bad effect on your business.

The report also shows that these 4 C's are what has driven and will continue driving conversations. It's going to be crucial for brands to understand and work these into their content as we enter the new year if they haven't done so already.

To Sum It Up…

The bottom line is that people aren't going to forget all about COVID-19 when the clock strikes 12 on January 1, 2021. Unfortunately, it doesn't just go away. COVID-19 will still be around and scarce. As we take on the new year, we can only hope COVID-19 cases and scares will decrease. However, people are still going to be cautious and weary in 2021. Due to this fact, businesses need to make sure they are keeping up with the latest social media marketing trends to really push their brand forward.

As a business owner, it's common to feel as though you don't have time to fully invest in your marketing strategy due to your busy schedule. There's no need to stress or worry, Hyperchat Social is here to help! We want to take the stress of keeping up with the latest marketing trends off of you. Let us take on the task of creating a marketing plan that will be right for your unique business. If you're interested in learning more, schedule a consultation with us!