In marketing, the concept of trend has several meanings. A trend is the main tendency of something. The recent tendencies on social networks stem from the global situation in the world: a pandemic, a decrease in the purchasing power of users,
SMM trends in 2021 are a sharp transition from offline business to online. A large number of small and medium-sized businesses are urgently entering online. The big players have been there for a long time, and now they need to find the best place to buy Instagram followers. As a result, competition for the target audience’s attention among companies increased.
And now brands need to make even more effort to win that attention and love with their content.
Another meaning of the word trend is the current direction. Therefore, let’s talk about what content will be relevant, what you need to focus on if you will stay ahead of the competition and be in trend. All the trends that will be discussed were relevant in 2020 and 2019, but now it has grown into a necessity in order to establish a strong connection with the target audience.
Trend # 1 – Brand Mission
The company’s mission comes to the fore. A brand comes to social media for more than just selling. A brand should have a mission. And it must overlap with global problems in the modern world: environmental protection, rational consumption, the path to an inclusive society, raising the level of education, tolerance, body positivity, the fight against violence. Companies voice their position, draw attention to problems, help find a way to a solution, and thereby increase their brand value.
How to reflect the mission on social networks:
- Add mission information to your Instagram profile and Facebook pages;
- Emphasize a mission in publications.
Trend # 2 – Brand Values And Customer Values Should Match
In accordance with the mission, a brand should have values. Social media is the best way to talk about them and find accomplices. The values of the brand and the target audience have to match. We need to talk about values, focus on creating content. This will strengthen the connection with the target audience and make the brand “Own” for the user.
Separation into friends and foes is a psychological technique. When it is necessary to choose between several brands, the user will prefer the one who shares his values, to the one who belongs to him.
How to reflect this in publications:
Collaborate with social projects, organizations for the protection of animals (environment), charitable foundations.
Trend # 3 – Sincerity, Honesty
Window dressing, narcissism, cheap provocations in the content — users are tired of such content in recent years. Sincerity, honesty, empathy are needed in 2021. The brand should broadcast: “I am the same as you, I am open, I am ready to speak honestly not only about my victories and awards, but also about difficulties, problems and failures.”
How to implement this in content:
- Arrange live broadcasts with subscribers, answer their questions.
- Publish posts about the people behind the brand, their stories, and the company’s brand’s inner life.
Trend # 4 – Create User-Generated Content
This type of content includes testimonials, recommendations, comments, the user experience of your product, stories about how the product helped solve the problem, product reviews, and any type of content that users create for the brand.
What is the use of it, why does the brand need it?
User-generated content is trusted. This type of content not only increases the reach, mentions, and visibility of the brand, it is essentially selling content, which is the basis for making decisions for potential customers.
Therefore, a brand should motivate, encourage the creation of this type of content, and focus the attention of the target audience on it. Take a look, here are our reviews, here are reviews, here are our clients.
How to reflect this in the content:
- Reposts of publications, Stories, in which users tell about you and mark your brand;
- Create a category in your content plan: customers about us, customer reviews.
Trend # 5 – Advertising
One more trend is the reallocation of resources from content creation to its promotion. Brands need to make good use of their marketing budgets.
Make content and not advertise it, i.e., just posting is almost useless. Organic reach is declining more and more every year. Therefore, let’s make fewer posts but better ones and launch them into ads. This is the only way potential customers can see them.
What if there are no funds for expensive content? Don’t have the budget to shoot a professional video or create awesome animation? What then to publish?
In addition to 1 image, focus on carousels (this is both cheaper and one of the most engaging formats on Instagram), go live, and, of course, post Instagram Stories.
Anti Trends
There are a few anti-trends, to which we can say a big “No” 2021:
- Gray methods for recruiting subscribers such as bots and global giveaways. This method will not help attract the target audience to your profile, but it definitely harms your account. It would be great if Facebook in the New Year created an advertising target – followers on Instagram. Let brands and bloggers have a paid, legal tool for recruiting subscribers.
- Provocations and scandalous marketing. Social media marketing needs more kindness and positiveness in 2021. Let’s leave bold provocations until better times.
- Advertising to an audience of all people 18-65+. An ad campaign should have a strategy, a well-defined target audience, and a highly personalized ad.
Brand promotion on social media is a part of an overall marketing strategy, and social media marketing is an internet marketing tool. This is one of the tools, but not the only one. And it will show the best results in combination with others, such as SEO, contextual advertising, email marketing.
And this requires not only budgets but also knowledge. In the coming years, there will be a general trend towards increasing social media marketing specialists and marketers who help the brands grow.
Add Comment