Social media is constantly evolving, and after the pandemic in 2020, many brands quickly learned how social media can be a lifeline between their business and their customers.
With a 10% increase in social media in the past year, your business has more opportunity than ever before to connect with your ideal audiences. No matter what platform you use, your company can gain a lot through social media in 2021.
If you’re not sure where to start this year, follow these projected trends for social media success.
Act On Your Values
What we learned in 2020 is that brands have to quickly and transparently communicate their values with their audience. Customers expect brands to stand up for what’s right and take real action on current events. Communicating your brand values is good but taking action is better.
And of course, share your plan on social media to spread the word. One example of taking action includes Airbnb sharing their plan to provide short-term housing during the pandemic.
Quality Is Better Than Quantity
Typically, your brand posts a certain amount of times every week. In 2021, your audience cares less about how much you post and more about the content you’re posting.
Instead of posting generalized content, spend the time to create in-depth posts. Examples of this can include:
- Sharing behind the scenes content
- Filming videos instead of writing text posts
- Sharing customer reviews and images
Although it sounds like more work, you’re just refocusing your time on a smaller number of detailed posts. In doing so, you are showing customers you truly care about them and their feedback. This technique can help improve follower engagement.
Shorter, Helpful Content
In recent years, it’s obvious customers prefer shorter content. But, how do you make high quality content while keeping it short?
Your goal shouldn’t be trimming your word count, you should be focusing on streamlining the message of your posts, and quick actionable tips people can use. TikTok content is a great example of this method and success.
By using this trend, you can improve your content’s shareability and engagement rates.
Social Commerce
With more and more people browsing social media, your company needs to be selling its products on social media. Social commerce generated $22 billion in 2019 in the United States alone.
Instead of relying on your landing pages, use Instagram and Facebook’s social commerce features. With built in payment processing, social commerce removes a lot of friction in the sales process which can boost your sales and create fewer headaches.
Interactive Content
Instagram Live, Facebook Live and more are great methods to share your content in front of a live audience. These live events have become more popular due to the shift from in-person events to virtual. Since in-person events are still risky in most areas, many brands have put their webinars and conferences online. Instead of investing in expensive software, many brands just used social media.
If your budget is tight, use interactive, real-time features like live social media to reach your audience.
2020 was a dark time, but it brought so much innovation to the world of advertising. When customers rely on social media for connection, your business needs to be the first thing they see. If you follow these trends, your business can take advantage of the recent surge in social activity.