Social Media Marketing Trends 2021
By Gaurav Belani
Did you know that almost half of the world’s population is active on social media every single day?! Statistics show that we spend around 3 hours every day on social media.
No wonder social media marketing is one of the most profitable marketing channels for businesses today. In fact, 73% of marketers say that social media marketing has been effective for their business.
But, everything good comes with its own downside. The kind of competition on social media platforms is massive today. Hence, it is difficult to stand out if you are not on top of your game.
Social media marketing trends are always changing. You need to constantly keep up with trends to stay relevant and competitive.
This article will help you gain insights into the new and upcoming social media trends in 2021. You’ll also find some actionable tips on how you can effectively implement these social media trends.
1. User Generated Content
User-generated content strategy has become increasingly popular over the last few years. The strategy works brilliantly because this kind of content is created by your consumers.
Many leading brands have implemented this strategy and gained significant success from it. Using a user-generated content strategy, you can increase your lead generation rate, social media engagement, brand awareness, and conversions.
One of the prominent examples for this would be the user-generated content strategy used by Buffer, the social media scheduling tool. Buffer users are encouraged to post their photographs on Instagram using the hashtag #BufferCommunity.
This strategy has been extremely successful in creating a sense of community and diversity amongst its followers. Since the posts are not entirely promotional, they effectively work in reaching more people.
2. Influencer Marketing
Influencer marketing is another trend that has been on the rise for the past few years. Influencers are the people who have built a loyal army of followers on social media. Most of these influencers have added value to their followers’ lives for years, thus gaining their trust.
This trust forms the foundation of success for any influencer marketing campaign. Today, all major, as well as smaller brands, collaborate with influencers to increase their brand awareness and sales.
Influencers need not always be popular movie stars. Even comparatively smaller influencers, with a base of a few thousand followers, could do the trick.
Fashion Nova, a leading fashion brand, have grown their massive following on social media through influencer marketing. While the brand roped in big celebrities such as Cardi B and Kylie Jenner, the brand also used 3000 smaller influencers to boost the results of their marketing campaigns.
3. Ephemeral Content
Ephemeral content refers to media that is accessible temporarily for a fixed time period such as 24 hours.
Ephemeral content format is used in features usually called “stories” in social media platforms. You can find stories on Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and Facebook. This type of content has become so popular that even platforms such as LinkedIn and Twitter have recently adopted it.
Stories are a popular format for promotions because they give brands the freedom to be creative by the use of music, questions, polls, stickers, filters, and links. Ephermeral content feels more personalized and real as it is meant for sharing everyday experiences.
Another reason why ephemeral content works great is because of the urgency that it creates. The content disappears within 24 hours and this encourages followers to constantly keep checking stories so that they don’t miss out on anything.
4. Video Marketing
Yes, video content is still trending and is not gonna die down any time soon. Videos are more fun, engaging, and full-of-life. This is why people love consuming and engaging with video content.
Various kinds of video content formats have been trending on social media. While long-form video formats work best on platforms such as Youtube and Facebook. Shorter video formats such as reels have been trending recently on TikTok and Instagram.
Hence, if you are serious about social media marketing, you must experiment with various formats and platforms. The options for video content marketing are endless. Remember to produce and put up high-quality content that speaks to and resonates with your target audience.
5. Use Social Media to Drive Traffic
Social media channels are a great way to introduce your brand to your target audience. Your target personas are most likely hanging out on some or the other social media platforms. All you need to do is make your brand discoverable to them through social media platforms.
Leading brands today are using social media channels for driving direct traffic to their sales funnel. You can also do the same by strategically putting out organic as well as paid content on popular social media channels. Leading businesses also complement their social media marketing strategies through other channels such as SEO services and email marketing.
Conclusion
Social media marketing is one of the most profitable revenue channels for most businesses today. But the amount of competition on social media channels requires you to constantly update your marketing strategies and keep up with the latest trends.
Hence, use the tips in this article to come up with new and innovative ways to grow your business through leading social media marketing trends.
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