Things to Look Out for on Social Media in 2021
As we started the year in yet another lockdown, social media continues to provide users with entertainment, communication and business needs. Empathy, Creativity and Connectivity will ignite purpose-driven experiences.
We know that brighter days are coming, and as we look ahead to a shiny new year, we’re sharing some of the top social media predictions for Social Media Marketing in 2021 to look out for.
eCommerce will be a major focus for Facebook this year and it’s thought nearly three out of every ten business plans either already have a social commerce plan or are planning to implement one in the next 12 months. We’ve already seen the first stages with the introduction of Shops on Facebook and Instagram and expect to see further development of Facebook Pay (currently only available in the US), which facilitates on-platform payments, making it easier for people to buy products on Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger. We’ll be providing further updates on Facebook Pay once it hits the UK.
As mentioned previously, we’ve already seen a messaging merger between Instagram and Facebook, but it doesn’t stop there! The merging trend will shape up as it broadens towards WhatsApp. This will not only give a boost to communications but give marketers more areas to explore and expand their advertising campaigns across all the leading social platforms.
In our September updates video, we brought you news that Facebook’s wearable AR Glasses would likely be available this year, whilst there’s no confirmed date for them hitting retail stores, expect them to arrive in the second half of this year.
With all major entertainment venues closed to contain the spread of coronavirus, many users are turning towards VR to fill the void.
Although costly, VR devices may see a reduction in price as well as Facebook and other tech giants make more accessible options for the general public…watch this space!
Twitter is seeing a resurgence this year and remains one of the top 20 most visited websites for 2021!
The platform remains largely unchanged over the years, however in 2020 it did introduce options to compete with rivals such as Instagram and Facebook. Last year they gave us ‘Fleets’ their version of Stories and we can expect Twitter to roll out new updates as the feature becomes more popular.
Audio Spaces, a unique audio-meet up feature is also high on Twitter’s list of new features. According to reports, it would be similar to audio tweets but with a fun twist!
The platform has also been looking to expand its potential for engagement by providing users with more recommendations of topics to follow in the feeds as opposed to profiles. We wouldn’t be surprised if Twitter took this a step further and added Topic spaces, where it will collect all relevant tweets on a specific topic into a dedicated page or section in the app.
For 2021, Instagram leads the charge in marketing spend, followed by Facebook, YouTube, Linkedin and Twitter. Instagram added the greatest number of new users between July and September 2020; posting even stronger growth figures than Facebook, and Marketers are smartly following where the user growth is.
Last year Instagram introduced several new features that make shopping easier from the platform. We can’t help but feel that it’s starting to move away from its original roots – as a photography app – to become more reliant on online shopping. Expect shopping to be a big thing this year on Instagram and we predict future development of tools and features to make shopping seamless.
Instagram’s answer to TikTok – Reels is poised to pick up momentum in 2021 as well as a bunch of new features to go with its increase in popularity!
For Instagram Stories, a top trend for retailers will be the use of Stories to create virtual showrooms and bring back some of the fun into the buying process.
We’ll see more brands hosting Q&A sessions through stories and sharing content that can help bring an informative yet social element back into the buying process.
The network popular with the business community saw record levels of engagement in 2020, making Live Events its forte by integrating several in-app live streaming functionalities. Expect to see more of those in 2021, as the debate continues as to when physical live events will be able to take place again.
LinkedIn Stories remains nothing major, however we predict that the platform will add live-streaming into its Stories tool to spice up content.
Across All Platforms:
We’ll see a growth in user generated content on social media to inspire, trust and provide confidence, whilst people are unable to tangibly handle a product or service. Whilst we don’t have the impulse moments at the checkout anymore (where people grab something spontaneously off the shelf) recommendations from trusted creators can become that source of inspiration through social media.
Look out for the rise of the meme! Memes usage and mentions rose 26% from August 2019 to July 2020 and are expected to trend in 2021!
Social media videos are here to stay and video content, no matter what the platform or format, will make it big in 2021, with Instagram among the platforms that have announced new measures to help brands boost revenue from videos...you heard it here first!
So, to round off we’re glad to see the back of 2020, however some wisdom that we’ve taken from this tough year is to always be prepared!
These are just some expectations we’re anticipating from our favourite social media channels, however as time evolves so do the platforms. You can keep up to date with new updates on our social media channels, make sure you’re following our pages!
