4 Hot Trends to Follow in 2021
Written by Courtney Raguso, Social Media Content Creator
Social media is no longer just for socializing. It’s a place that’s used to help create awareness, engagement, trust and ultimately brand loyalty. Just look at Instagram; studies have recently found that over 50% of brand discovery happens on it. There is so much opportunity available out there with new features and new apps continuously appearing. As more people increase their screen time and integrate social media into their lives, the user base has also become more representative of the broader population. If brands want to keep up, they’ll have to stick with the latest trends. They will have to be authentic and give their audience that sense of community and connection they’re seeking with brands online. Check out these 4 hot social media trends that you can use in 2021 to keep up with the competition.
Instagram Stickers for Engagement: According to recent studies, stickers perform better 83% of the time. Using Instagram stickers on your stories is an effective way to boost your engagement and reach. Stickers such as location, mentions and hashtags are great for just that. Just like with regular posts, your story will also appear in the public feed for that given location. So people who aren’t following you can also see it. Hashtag stickers work similarly to location stickers. When you use a certain hashtag in your story, people searching for that particular hashtag will also get to see your story. On the other hand, mention stickers are great for sharing user generated content or to show appreciation for others and give them a shout out. Beyond just reach and engagement, stickers also offer a great way to gain insight on your audience. These include the poll and emoji slider as well as the question stickers. They are great to use because not only does it offer great insight on your audience, but it also lets them know you’re interested in getting to know them.
Cross Posting from TikTok: TikTok has become extremely popular in the last couple of years with over 1.5 billion downloads. That’s 32% of the internet. TikTok’s usability makes it easy for users to create fun, short-form videos in a way that other social media platforms can’t. Repurposing content involves taking something you’ve created, putting a new spin on it, or it can just be taking that one piece of content and turning it into dozens of smaller pieces of content. In other words, you can take a piece of something you did, like a clip from a video, and post it across various platforms. Just remember to keep it contextual to the platform you are posting on. There are many benefits to repurposing content. It helps you reach new audiences, reinforce your message, and improve organic visibility. By diversifying your content like this, you can cast a wider net with your content and reach more people.
Gamified Content: People love excitement and games is one way to bring it on! Gamified content offers creative ways to engage and entertain your audience. When you integrate game-playing elements into your content, you are making it more unique to your brand. People love the idea of winning, so bring out the competition by offering a prize or reward. By providing the consumers a sense of achievement and competition, gamification can allow engagement for greater stretches of time that provide real retention benefits to the businesses. Gamification is a great tactic to use when looking to receive more repeat purchases. For example, Domino’s is using gamification to reward their customers for playing their pizza-themed game “Piece of the Pie Pursuit”, where customers can play for points that can be redeemed for free pizza.
Go Live on Instagram, Facebook and Even LinkedIn: This is a great way to get a conversation going between you and your audience to let them know that you are interested in what they have to say. That’s important for any brand to show. According to an Instagram spokesperson, livestreaming has seen a 70% increase in use in the US over the last month. This is largely due to the fact that many people find themselves bored at home suffering from strict stay-at-home orders. However, regardless of the pandemic, online activity is still growing exponentially. According to recent data, over 3.6 billion people are using social media worldwide in 2020. That number is projected to increase to almost 4.41 billion in 2025. People are social beings, and it’s not just the younger generations that are online more. Chris Ferguson, a psychology professor at Stetson University, recently stated that, “People are turning to screens and technology to get their social needs met that they can’t get in ‘real life.’” By going live, you can help bridge this digital gap between physical and digital worlds.
We hope these tips are helpful to you and your business. These trends are here to stay…for now. Never forget to realize that these trends, too, will one day be old and forgotten, or maybe evolve into something else. Our advice to you, is to always be on the lookout for trends, updates, features and new apps because you never know what will work best for your business until you do some research and testing. Big tech companies like Facebook and LinkedIn are keeping brands on their toes with new features and algorithm changes, so it’s important that you keep up. We’re here to help you stay on track and take full advantage of what’s available to you online.
At MSM DesignZ, we put in the time and energy needed for success, so you can ensure you are using every dollar for maximum return. With over 20 years in the business, we have watched marketing evolve from traditional to digital. Whether you need a website refresh, more attractive email, or a quality online presence, we can do it all. When we take on a client, we put in 110% and treat every brand as if it’s our own. We will always continue to place our clients’ needs at the heart of our operations. From web development to social media management, we’ll work directly with you to build a personalized strategy to not only retain but also gain business. We are assisting in all areas for our clients. Visit our contact page at https://www.msmdesignz.com/contact/, and we’ll work with you to devise a custom plan that will keep your brand alive and well. We look forward to working with you!
Sources:
https://medium.com/@Dewber/gamification-and-the-loyalty-programs-81f40d15f897
https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/examples-repurposing-content
https://www.canva.com/learn/social-media-trends/
https://www.statista.com/statistics/278414/number-of-worldwide-social-network-users/