Our top Social Media trends for 2021

After extensive research at the end of 2020, we put together a variety of predictions for the coming year in a single free resource, but there are a few from the Social Media section that we feel need the extra emphasis of a blog

We expect the types of influencer used by brands to change on social media. With areas like gaming and e-sports taking over, brands will be looking at ways to work with this type of influencer rather than the traditional route of bloggers, fashion YouTubers or reality television stars.

Adam McKinley – Head of Social

Social media has taken a huge step up in the consciousness of many marketers this year and we expect a consequent rise in social media budgets for 2021. Not only are there new selling options
on the way, there is also an argument from experience available that wasn’t there before – brands which took political stands in 2020 include everything from Nike (who have done so before) to Ben & Jerry’s ice cream – and contrary to the ‘go woke go broke’ proclamations, sales of Ben & Jerry’s saw Unilever massively outperform expectations.

Remixing

Its rise in 2020 hasn’t been exactly meteoric, but it has been significant enough to catch the eye of various outlets and earn GoMeta (parent company of a remixing app Koji) a number of mentions in major business outlets – including featuring in Hubspot’s 2021 Social Media Trends report.

Essentially remixing seems to be a corporate take on traditional meme culture – providing a more polished final result than the traditional social media meme, but following the same rules.
The concept insofar as it may apply to 2021 is to provide an audience with a meme template, be that a video, games, AR or any other content type and encouraging users to create their own
interpretations.

Hubspot says the following in their report: “This new creativity will be embraced by brands and social media channels alike.

“Companies will look to provide users with more creative outlets, arming them with templates, tools, and assets to create original content. While more apps, and the larger social platforms, will adapt to meet these demands. And to counteract rising competitors. Offering other outlets for users to create beyond video—expect to see a greater number of games, 3D pics, and even VR and AR user-generated content led by Smartphone advances.

Optimism

Its rise in 2020 hasn’t been exactly meteoric, but it has been significant enough to catch the eye of various outlets and earn GoMeta (parent company of a remixing app Koji) a number of mentions in major business outlets – including featuring in Hubspot’s 2021 Social Media Trends report.

Essentially remixing seems to be a corporate take on traditional meme culture – providing a more polished final result than the traditional social media meme, but following the same rules.

The concept insofar as it may apply to 2021 is to provide an audience with a meme template, be that a video, games, AR or any other content type and encouraging users to create their own interpretations.

Hubspot says the following in their report: “This new creativity will be embraced by brands and social media channels alike. Companies will look to provide users with more creative outlets, arming them with templates, tools, and assets to create original content.

While more apps, and the larger social platforms, will adapt to meet these demands. And to counteract rising competitors. Offering other outlets for users to create beyond video—expect to see a greater number of games, 3D pics, and even VR and AR user-generated content led by Smartphone advances.

Meaningful

Another trend picked up by Hubspot’s report – and mentioned earlier – is the need to connect with consumers where they are on the issues that matter to them. While taking a stand on issues is tricky ground to traverse, it’s something that can work as long as there is sincerity.

Generation Z has had it particularly tough, and has already lived through the most severe recession in a hundred years and is currently going through one even more severe. 

They have had their education, career and lives interrupted by a global pandemic and all the while, as a backdrop, there has been a level of social and political unrest equivalent to that of the 1960s, with mass movements springing up globally around issues of social justice, environmentalism, mental health and more.

In January 2019, Morgan Stanley was predicting a boom time as Gen-Z took its place in the workforce, indicating that they could overcome the economic drag caused by the decreasing productivity and economic activity of the Boomers.

Obviously, that now seems like an exercise in mindless optimism, but it doesn’t change the fact that many brands have to look to Gen Y & Z as the future of their business and that means they’re going to need to understand and cater to what is important to them.

Instagram

Instagram Shopping launched in November 2020 in the UK and it has the potential to be huge.

While Pinterest has offered a shopping experience for some time, Instagram’s active user numbers and its demographic makeup mean that it could be ideal for eCommerce. I have not come across any numbers from the US launch yet, but parent company Facebook are expecting to generate $30Bn from the exercise, which suggests they have reason to believe there will be good adoption.

In truth, for its users, Instagram is already an integral part of the shopping process – and, like Pinterest – the visual nature of the platform makes it an ideal storefront for eCommerce brands. In addition, the relative ease of setup could see small independent businesses add  Instagram as a selling platform in areas that were dominated by Etsy.