In this article, you will be able to assimilate some of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on social media trends. We are approaching halfway through 2021. The COVID-19 outbreak has engulfed the world and, social distancing and work from home have become a new normal. Different digital media platforms have become powerful tools for communication. As social platforms introduce new features and algorithms very often, it is vital to keep an eye on these digital transformations.
How will the whole world look like for marketers post-COVID19? Let’s look at the top 6 social media trends for 2021 that marketers need to be aware of for their marketing strategies.
1. Live Streaming Will Remain Widely Acceptable
Amid COVID-19, people adapted to remote and social distancing. Face-to-face meetings turned into online-meeting on Zoom or Google Meet, whereas live conferences transformed into live streams. According to a recent Sprout-Social-Index, 40% of consumers want to see more live videos from brands. As a marketer, it is evident that live streaming should be part of your marketing content strategy. Our team members created Social Media Content Planner-2021 to transform and make your content planning easier.
2. Story-Telling is still a Huge Blockbuster
Although stories have been a prominent part of digital media in previous years, they will not be going away anytime soon.
Human attention span has gone down drastically from 12 to 5 seconds. The good news is that stories are a great way to override the decreasing attention span or engagement. The first step in story-telling is to figure out an idea that you’d like to share. After finalizing an idea for a story, you need to develop a systematic plan to implement it. 52% of videos as stories outperform image as stories on both tap forward and exit rates.
3. Virtual Reality as an Essential Future Social Media Trends
Wait, what is Virtual Reality?
It is a virtual world that allows people to connect with others and play games. While being physically apart, people seek more ways of interaction in these unprecedented times. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has previously said he wants to connect a billion people in virtual reality. Facebook acquired the Oculus VR Platform and tried to give a more meaningful way of connecting virtually.
4. Augmented Reality as New Normal
Unlike Virtual Reality, Augmented reality doesn’t need any special hardware other than a smartphone. This benefit of AR makes it more popular than VR. Due to the unexpected shutdown of retail stores, marketers induced to adopt AR in their marketing strategy. The most noteworthy examples are to virtually try on sunglasses and makeup that are typically only available in-store.
Three years ago, Google I/O had launched Live View and AR Navigation at scale. With powerful AI advancements, Google I/O has announced five new updates to make navigation easier. Snapchat launched updates on machine-learning models and Local Lenses in June. TikTok and Pinterest are competing with Facebook and Instagram to rolling out AR advertising and try-on features.
5. E-Commerce: A Game-Changer
E-Commerce is amongst the top trends in 2021 that has become the game-changer for B2C and B2B companies. There is a massive impact on in-person and foot traffic for small businesses due to the coronavirus outbreak. Many businesses pilot new strategies to increase their digital presence. The statistics prove that 81 % of shoppers search digital channels before buying a product and get influenced in their purchase decisions. The buyer’s journey shortens and simplifies by adding social media storefronts. This time is the best to capitalise on e-commerce in 2021.
6. Four Cs of Content Marketing Post-Covid19
You must have heard the phrase that content is the king. When asked what is Content Marketing? Most of us would only relate it with blogs, Facebook, Linked In, Twitter, YouTube Video content. But the year 2021 has been a roller-coaster for the whole world. Covid-19 has changed traditional content marketing. Brands have to be aware of changing consumer behaviors and industrial demand. According to a recent study done by Talkwalker and Hubspot, the future of content marketing will be shaped by “Four Cs” COVID-19 Content: community, contactless, cleanliness, compassion. While industries are facing unprecedented challenges, there is an opportunity to ponder how we change content marketing strategy to thrive in the future.
Make sure you incorporate these social media trends while pivoting your marketing plan. Not sure how could you leverage them in your marketing strategy? iVIPANAN Digital Marketing Services can help you with your marketing efforts and manage your digital media presence.
