Nowadays, a social network is something more than just a website or mobile application. This is a place where people share their happy moments and concerns. It is a great tool to build a strong community with loyal members and, of course, a very efficient platform to promote your services or products.
While you or your company’s social marketing manager can write engaging posts, use high quality stock images, or even add audio to video online to make a music video, there is still no 100% guarantee that these methods will generate more leads.
In case you really want to make your social media page or account a truly powerful source of customers, you need to keep your eyes peeled for the hottest trends. There are no other ways or shortcuts; thus, you need to do your best to be on the same wavelength with your potential clients.
Expansion of Short Video Content
As we all remember, once, Vine and its vines were the kings of animated visual content. However, since the platform’s termination, there wasn’t much attention drawn to the genre of short videos. Though, in the last couple of years, TikTok, the new rising star, seems to be changing the rules of the market.
Now, even huge corporations like Facebook and YouTube are occupied in creating a worthy competitor for the app made by the Chinese giant ByteDance.
Brands are also interested in conducting ad campaigns in the fast-paced mobile app. Thus, we are certain that the demand for short videos will only grow.
Broader Use of Augmented Reality in Product Marketing
When innovative technologies become accessible for regular people, they are instantly being transformed into a new channel for marketing. AR, or augmented reality, is probably the best example. As soon as people become more and more interested in this new feature, so do social media marketing specialists.
One of the main reasons for the AR’s increasing popularity among consumers is the opportunity to considerably modify the surrounding environment to show an absolutely unprecedented perspective. Marketers, on the other hand, are attracted to AR’s unlimited potential in contextual advertisement.
More Small and Medium Influencers, Fewer Big Ones
The era of massive, multi-million subscriber bloggers seems to be vanishing.
In 2021, people got tired of influencers, which were trying to reach the widest possible audience, forgetting about those supporting them from the very beginning. While the numbers of these enormous pages keep growing along with other statistics, followers are losing their trust in these bloggers due to their lack of authenticity.
At the same time, smaller social media opinion leaders maintain their underground reputation, and, as a result, become more attractive for advertisers.
Media Made by People
Facebook and Instagram users like to be reposted by reputable brands. Hence, companies that honestly want to show their love toward their community should definitely share the photos and posts of their followers. The user-generated content trend isn’t new, but it has never been used as much as today. People feel appreciated; marketers can take off some content-generating duties. It’s a win-win.
The Comeback of Live Broadcasts
The Internet had to take some time for development before it became ready to offer convenient options for live broadcasts. We can undoubtedly call 2021 the year of live content as this is the first time in history when we can watch football or eSport matches, our favorite bloggers, or the Super Bowl (and comment on them). An excellent option for marketers to place their ads.
Brand Consciousness and Awareness
It is not enough nowadays to simply produce the best product, as, on social networks, brands must express their support of equality and tolerance and prove these ideas with actions. Every day, people fight for their causes. Thus helping them is the only true way to their hearts.
Engagement through Interaction
While the commonly called “stories” first appeared in Snapchat, temporary content became even more popular after Instagram and Facebook introduced their own versions of it. First, it seemed to be an interesting way to share content, but pretty soon after the initial release, it was clear that it is a great tool for interaction with the audience. Now, using Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, or other social media platforms, you can create polls, quiz contests, and many other great features, using which, you can significantly improve your community’s engagement. Stay tuned as in 2021, even more novelties will be waiting for you.
Further Commercialization of Social Networks
First, we have been buying stuff in retail stores, then, in online stores, and now, finally, we can purchase products directly from a social network mobile application. Making your social activity inseparable from shopping was originally introduced by Instagram. However, there is no doubt the competition won’t stand aside, and we will see many new e-commerce solutions.
Conclusions
Just as in any other year before, social networks are developing and evolving at a highly intensified pace. 2021 is a really promising year for advertisers as they have earned a bunch of completely new tools (more coming), which they will definitely enjoy.
