A year full of surprises, difficulties and challenges is coming to an end. It was the digital world that kept us connected to our loved ones, the news, our work environment and the world at large. Social media is the first environment in which we see real changes happening in real time that define a huge part of our digital lifestyle.
AstroLabs’ digital marketing team, like many other marketers around the world, had to immediately adapt client strategies to the new conditions for the best possible digital communication. Through experiments, research, case studies, analysis and personal experiences, we have prepared a list of trends that we expect to play the leading role in Social Media during 2021!
Social Commerce will continue to rise
Product promotion through Social Media is an integral part of the promotional activities used by brands in recent years, but in 2020 we have seen Facebook & Instagram shops establish themselves as one of the main sales channels and essentially function as “mini websites”.
The immediacy of the Shop Tab now found on Instagram (read more about it here) makes discovering new online stores an easy and enjoyable browsing experience that influences and will continue to play an important role in how the public’s online consumption habits are shaped!
The next level of User-Generated Content (UGC)
TikTok was undoubtedly in the spotlight because of the immediacy of its videos, the spontaneity of its trends and how accessible and easy it is to create content.
Remixing is defined as User-Generated Content (i.e. user-generated content such as videos, photos & memes) that uses already existing templates, formats etc. and the user uses it to express what they want. At TikTok we saw many such “challenges” which are not only used by users but also by brands. So in 2021, remixing will play an even more important role in companies’ social media content as audiences in a post-covid era identify much more directly with actions that they could seemingly have made themselves with their mobile phones.
Finally, it is very interesting since the technical limitations are the same for everyone (you don’t need a professional photo/video studio) but what really stands out is the creativity and timeliness of the content.
Dialogue as Marketing
The public is no longer just looking for the best prices on products and services on social media, there are many alternative ways to search for prices and that is no longer their main interest.
Instead, they emphasize on brands that are constantly trying through their social media actions to talk to the public, interact with them and take a stand on key issues, showing the social & corporate responsibility of these companies.
The public can easily detect when a business is “authentic” in its communication and when a brand invests in it, the result is always public trust in it.
Customer service through Social Media
This year found several online stores unable to respond to customer calls in a timely manner due to the transfer of almost all traffic from physical to electronic. However, the public doesn’t always want to go to the trouble of filling out emails to ask if a product is available, for example, so they prefer to send a message to a company’s social media page.
A decent custom service in social media through a combined series of automated responses and communication with a representative, creates a positive impression to the customer that his needs are at the heart of the brand and he will know in the future that communication with this brand does not have to be a “hassle”. It simply sends a social media message!
Online Events as part of our Digital life
Even when the time comes in the future when we can again have the opportunity to attend live events, concerts, conferences etc., online & virtual events are here to stay.
Online events are clearly more accessible and open to new audiences that may not have attended otherwise but brands organizing them need to look a step further than just preparing a zoom call. Streams, interactive conferences, participation with online games, AR environment (or augmented reality, the technology used in mobile devices to “enrich” the image with digital elements) are just some of the creative elements that can be used within online events to gain audience interest and participation, at a much lower cost than organizing a large physical event.
As we slowly enter 2021, new developments will continue to shape the digital landscape. Those brands that adapt their strategy to the new online normal and aim to create real relationships with an audience that is always online will not only achieve the goals they set, but also create an image that customers will value. Names and prices may be forgotten over time, but positive experiences remain.
