Getting ahead in social media can be as simple as understanding what will dominate in the future. Having to figure out how your business can remain relevant and how to stay ahead of the competition, consider these six social media trends that will dominate 2021. We have advanced decades into the future, and it’s not what you thought it would be, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get ahead of it or at least understand its direction.
Businesses have switched from answering the phone to answering social media queries because answering the phone is inherently less efficient. If you successfully answer your customers’ questions easily and provide the correct answer, you will gain significant trust and credibility, which will improve the chances of generating business. This proactive approach is a massive advantage in the online and offline world when making clients happy.
What are the social media trends for 2021?
After a full year of Covid-19 lockdown, the South African Social Media Landscape 2021 study presents the most in-depth portrayal yet of the pandemic’s effects on online behaviour.
Accordingly to the SA Social Media Landscape conducted by Arthur Goldstuck MD of World Wide Works and Ornico, South Africans, like everyone else around the world, have had to develop new ways of keeping connected while being separated. As a result, there has been an increase in both online access and social media usage. According to the Digital 2021 research from “We Are Social” and Hootsuite, 64% of South African adults, used the Internet at the start of 2021, totalling 38,19 million users. While this was only a 1.7-million increase over the previous year, emphasizing that this year’s data collection process was different. Previous approaches were likely returning unreasonably high numbers, and the base from which we saw this growth was probably lower than the 36,54-million level projected for 2020.
The recently announced figures of active mobile data users in South Africa are more than the total population. It was barely sixteen months ago that the Covid-19 pandemic initiated the most significant evolution of human behaviour in modern times.
It’s clear how the pandemic has driven digital change. Social media usage, e-commerce, streaming content and video games all showed significant growth during Global 2020 – 2021.
By January 2021, the number of internet users reached 4.66 billion people. It’s faster growth than the previous year – 316 million, which is an increase of 7.3%. In addition, 4.2 Billion of these people are social media users, which grew 13% compared to the previous year.
The disruptions caused by the recent pandemic showed how people turned to digital entertainment and communication channels due to the lack of normal life. Social media is constantly evolving, and there are specific trends that will continue to rise and fall over the next few years.
Here are some trends to watch out for: Social media is becoming more visual – We’re going to see more images, videos, live-streaming on social media, and less text-heavy posts.
What images and videos dominate will depend on your audience’s interests. People are increasingly consuming stories and pictures.
Social media is consolidating power – With more people spending time on social media, brands are becoming more consolidated in their positions in the feeds. Social media is becoming more like a limited run television network with more choices for consumers. With more time in the day and more sources of competition, brands are becoming more aware of which influencers are connecting their brand with a specific audience and deciding whether or not an influencer aligns with their brand. People want a direct relationship with influencers. – According to the 2020 Deloitte Social Media Values & Impact Report, 94% of people preferred authentic relationships with influencers over manufactured relationships.
How can you use these Social Media trends to your advantage?
The trick to using new trends to your advantage is to embrace the change. The digital landscape is constantly changing and adapting to recent trends. To stay ahead of the curve, you need to keep up with what’s new and figure out how to make it work for your brand.
Caring about what people think of your brand or posting memes is a short-term strategy. Social media platforms are constantly evolving, leading to new trends that may not be the most unique or desired for your business but still make sense for the future. Let trend-hoppers know the trends that make sense for you or your clients to expand your social media reach.
- Trends that matter: Bringing value through community or compliance
- Trends that matter: Alternative or niche products or services
- Compass Boxes: Showcase your travel style with the perfect gift. A compass box is an unusual gift idea, but one that keeps showing up.
How can you adapt your business to stay ahead of the competition?
When it comes to your business, it’s essential to constantly adapt to current events and stay ahead of the competition. Stay up to date on the happenings of your industry and what’s happening in society. Analyze trends early on and adjust or remove products and services that aren’t working. Having a sense of direction and knowing what to do can allow your business to thrive and endure any changes present in our world.
Many thought that SaaS would take a backseat in the cloud computing era, but it quickly became apparent. Despite its peaks and valleys of competition, cloud computing is still a significant focus in 2021. Chatbots become dominating, and assisting with customer relations, and improve sales and increase lead quality.
Public and private sectors are gravitating toward remote and virtual work. Companies can use remote work to provide a happier work environment for their employees with flexible hours, flexible working conditions, and limited travel. In addition, as technology progresses and becomes more accessible, companies are seeing the potential for remote work to give them their best chance at achieving their main goal in this new world.
More people spend time engaging with social media due to the endless options for what and who they can be connected to. The mobile application has been vital in paving the way for social media usage throughout the world.
Why is it important to experiment with new forms of social media?
You’ll never know what works and what doesn’t until you try it. Experimenting with new forms of social media is something every entrepreneur should do because you’ll never know what works until you try it.
As a marketer, entrepreneur or business owner, it’s easy to develop tunnel vision. You’ve got a lot on your plate, and there are only so many hours in the day to get it all done. As a result, you bury your head in the sand and concentrate on what you know, especially when it comes to social media marketing. However, if you’re looking for some new social media ideas or just want to change things up, we’ve got you covered.
Here are the most important things you can take away from social media experiments, as well as how to conduct your low-risk, low-budget experiments to enhance your outcomes.
Experimental Framework
It’s critical to build a loose framework for what you want to achieve before beginning your own experiments.
Social media experiments aren’t always accurate or scientific. Many elements are outside your control, such as organic reach, which is frequently controlled by specific social media algorithms. But that doesn’t rule out the possibility of obtaining beneficial social media results and insights.
What would you or your team like to accomplish with your experiments? How will we know whether or not the investigation was a success? Finally, there are a few straightforward data points from which to choose!
- Increase impressions or reach
- Increase your engagement rate
- Website traffic from Social Media
- Leads from social media
Messaging and Copy Testing
Depending on the social media platform, testing your messaging and copy is one of the easiest things. However, if you’re messaging and copy yield the same outcomes, it’s time to try something new.
Here are some simple suggestions for writing appealing copy that will increase your reach and engagement:
- Change your tone of voice
- Experiment with the length of your copy
- Ask questions
- Conduct a pole
- Try Facebook Live
- Use emojis
- Share interesting information
- Use Humour; everyone is so severe, liven it up a bit
Plan ahead
Algorithm changes and new eye-tracking technology can take their toll on your social media strategy in the blink of an eye. So be sure you understand what types of posts your audience prefers and schedule them in advance.
Conclusion:
If you’re not using social media or think it’s time for a change, now is the time to start experimenting and see what works best for your business.
Social media makes building a relational relationship more straightforward, allowing you to double as a learned educator and potential human resource. Social audiences increase scrutiny, making you appear authentic by default. Your followers, especially those who comment, are not blindly loyal.
Read next article “Will Digital Marketing Replace Traditional Marketing?
