2021 SOCIAL MEDIA TRENDS: ADAPTATION
Last year has shown to rock the social media landscape. 2021 has brought unexpected changes that your business can use to its advantage. Over the next few weeks, we are going to dive into social media trends that your business should consider implementing. Some of the trends we will share with you may be foreign, while others you may have seen but with a new twist. Follow along with us as we make recommendations for your business digital strategy that will make your brand relevant this year.
Last month, we covered the marketing strategies of remixing, memetic, nostalgic, and conversational. This week, we are focusing on how your business brand and social media marketing should adapt to the changes large platforms are moving towards. In 2021, the dominant social media platforms of today will continue to be just as significant as they were in the past. Nowhere in sight do we see “dying” platforms as we experienced with MySpace. Because of their adaptations, their significance is unlikely to drop in the coming years. We recommend you take a page from their playbook and adapt your social media strategy as well.
Analysis of Social Media Platforms
Currently, the three biggest social media platforms include Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Hubspot shares that despite differences in audiences, demographics, and users, these channels hold similar positions in consumers’ minds, and it’s extremely unlikely they will lose that dominance. Hubspot adds that these platforms have the size and capabilities to adapt quickly to changing trends and consumer habits. Releasing new features helps large social media platforms react to trends, giving your business the opportunity to do the same.
Go All-In and Adapt
If you haven’t already gone all-in with social media platforms, especially using the new features they release, then you’re not using this free marketing tool to its full potential. The channels are growing in numbers and in reaching audiences. Your business needs to be a part of that.
Use What Fits Your Brand Best
It is tempting to use all the platforms under the sun for your marketing strategy because it is free. Resist this and instead find platforms that fit your brand best. Find where your target audience spends most of their social media time and place all your efforts there. If your audience has a larger spectrum of demographics, a safe place to push your marketing efforts would be in Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. These large platforms are the main places that large and broad audiences spend their time.
Adapt Along With Platforms
Study the platforms your business uses. If you become an expert at the features available, you’ll be able to use them more effectively. The strategy doesn’t stop at becoming familiarized with it; it comes from reviewing what features your audience engages more with on each platform. It may be difficult to adjust the strategy you’re used to, but it’s about being the most effective. Don’t place efforts in an Instagram post if your audience is mainly spending their time on Instagram stories.
Channel Monitoring
Channel monitoring helps if your audience is changing. According to Hubspot, “these analytics will give you vital consumer insights, which can help influence your content ideation and planning. While native analytics give you an overview of each channel, a complete channel monitoring solution makes the process much simpler.”
Paid Social Media Monitoring
Monitor paid social media if you are investing in it. Paid and organic social media are effective when they are aligned in your marketing strategy. Both should be included in campaign strategies. Monitoring provides data of what is and isn’t working, which then can provide adjustment recommendations for the campaign, social media strategy, and other marketing efforts.
Future of Social Media Platforms Adaptation
Hubspot states that you can “expect to see these major platforms continue to dominate the landscape, even encapsulating more elements into their structure (such as Facebook’s acquisition of GIPHY). Though things are unsettled now, they will remain a vital element of every marketing strategy, especially earned and paid marketing.”
Bottom Line
In 2021, large social media platforms will continue to have a grip on the social media market, adapting to new trends and implementing new features. Because of this, we highly recommend using these strong marketing outlets and adapting as they change. For your business success, adapting your business’s social media strategy to these social media platforms is a wise move for 2021.
