Social shopping augmented reality, influencer marketing and more – our social media trends 2021 forecast a rapid development in the direction of mobile lead generation and more robust integration of social channels.
Social media is still in the fast lane in 2021. Several billions of users move on platforms such as Facebook, Instagram or YouTube. The influence of social media is not limited to the entertaining area. There are many possibilities for companies to generate attention from the target group.
If you want to position your brand positively, you should keep the needs of potential customers in mind. In the future, customers want quick interactions and creative content to try out. But above all, convenience plays an essential role when purchasing products. Therefore, all trends have an impact on the UX in the respective social networks.
Social Media Trends With Micro-Influencers
Social media platforms such as YouTube, Facebook or Instagram are very suitable for companies that want to convey their brand to a specific target group. Therefore, the implementation of supporting your marketing strategies with micro-influencers is not only represented in the content marketing trends 2021.
They are mainly characterized by close contact and regular communication with the followers. Influencers who have fewer subscribers enable entrepreneurs to communicate their brand and achieve higher interaction rates authentically. But how can you find suitable micro-influencers for your company?
- With the help of the search function of social media channels: Here, the search field can be used for specific keywords related to the product or the company. The #hashtag on Instagram is a great way to find the ideal influencer.
- Through communities or social groups: Mentions in comments can also be helpful. The frequency of the marking is crucial.
- Using the company’s page in social networks: keep an eye out for above-average active users, e.g. super fans on Facebook, who regularly comment on posts or like certain products.
- Using analysis tools: Tools such as Buzzsumo, FollowerWonk or Influma can be used to research brand ambassadors. These analyze and evaluate data from social networks.
Tip:
Before entrepreneurs start looking, they should define marketing goals, possible functions of the influencer and the groups of people of interest for the brand in advance.
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Convenient Shopping On Social Media
Shopify offers small to medium-sized retailers an infrastructure to start or expand their online shops. From creating the shop to selling and marketing products to managing orders, shipping and inventory: with this software, companies can provide customers with a practical and convenient shopping experience. Above all, however, can sell products directly via social media. The decisive advantage is that you can reach followers and thus win new customers.
- Simplified payment methods through Shopify Payment or a wide range of external payment services such as Apple Pay, PayPal, Amazon Pay
- Online presence through the integration of all sales channels in one place. Social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook or Pinterest can strengthen brand awareness and sales.
- Provision of buy buttons that display and update all necessary information when purchasing a product. They enable payments without being redirected to an external website. These can be added in posts.
The transformation of social media into online shops has been building up for several years and will not stop in 2021. According to Shopify Inc., over a million merchants started their business on the e-commerce platform. In general, Shopify can see an increase in total revenue every quarter. For example, revenue increased 45% in the third quarter of 2019.
Those who place advertisements via social media should offer those interested in products the opportunity to carry out transactions at the push of a button. In the future, social media should continue to be included for a faster shopping experience because important customer data can be pre-filled during the ordering process. Because the customer journey is becoming faster: the customer sees the product and wants to buy it immediately and efficiently.
The Insta-Stories Revolution
Video seeding remains relevant for marketing strategies in the social media trends 2021. Especially with Instagram, short, entertaining stories are indispensable for companies to reach young users on their smartphones.
The majority of all users use Instagram stories. Even public broadcasters like Tagesschau or other television programs make use of it. In this way, target groups can be picked up where they spend most of their time.
Vertical video formats, such as those found in stories, will continue to play a significant role in the future and will replace the news feed. There are two reasons:
- Uninteresting content can be skipped more intuitively.
- In the news feed, the user scrolls from top to bottom with his thumb and “has to” look at every content presented. In Stories, on the other hand, users can navigate to new content by natural tapping or swiping movements from left to right.
- Communication in social networks thrives on ephemeral content.
- There is a crucial psychological trick behind time-limited content: Due to the short availability, potential customers tend to buy products immediately. Ephemeral content also causes people to check stories for updates for fear of missing out constantly.
In contrast to evergreen content, temporary content is ideal to use for offers or updates of products.
Tip:
Stories will increasingly change the way users interact. Retailers should pay attention to dialogue options in the stories and use them creatively.
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Will AR Be A Must-Have For Social Media In The Future?
Pokémon showed the way: computer-animated fantasy creatures are incorporated into the actual game environment and expand it. AR is not only indispensable in the gaming society to offer players a vast gaming experience. In social media, too, the technology through photo filters is considered a fun factor.
Snapchat is a pioneer in merging AR and social media. The app lets users create their 3D bitmojis and incorporate them into the immediate environment. The filters, which can be expanded with animal or facial features, are also used in the real world. In the future, the founders of Snapchat even want to make the Lens Studio tool accessible to retailers and developers.
- Create your AR lenses and AR videos that users can use to try out the branded product before purchasing. This leads to a better user experience and more engagement.
- In connection with the creation of your lenses, Snapchat provides “Shoppable AR”. You enable users to make purchases more efficiently with a Shop Now button directly in the app.
- AR experience means more brand awareness for your company. This results in a greater reach because of the more creative the filters or videos, the greater the divisibility among users.
- With Lens Studio, you can not only build and manage your follower community but also have an overview of demographic data, statistics and viral reach.
The other leading social platforms, such as Instagram and Facebook, also use AR technologies to allow companies to make their brand more relevant.
The 5G network, which is due to come in 2021, is welcome for AR content. With the introduction of 5G, AR will become more relevant in the future, and more data-intensive applications will benefit. Smartphones, in particular, will have faster-charging speeds, larger capacities, higher resolutions and 360-degree videos. Properties play a central role in augmented reality.
Automated Interaction Is Essential.
Since smartphone users will be more concerned with a convenient shopping experience in the future, artificial intelligence should not be missing from social media trends. The speech-to-text technologies help Chatbots to interact directly with users. Based on natural language inputs and outputs, they can hold conversations via social media apps.
Chatbots are essential, especially in Facebook Messenger, for initial contact and thus for lead generation. Automated messages are sent to users so that their needs can be addressed immediately. What does the use of chatbots on social media mean for your company?
- Fast and direct communication with potential customers
- Recognize customer needs and wishes through automated questions and make suggestions
- Opportunity to offer a convenient user experience by having chatbots automatically lead potential customers to relevant pages or FAQs
Tip:
Chatbots should not be used exclusively for customer communication. They are suitable for the first touchpoint in the customer journey. Therefore, entrepreneurs should make sure that interactions are both automated and with natural contact persons.
Ephemeral, creative marketing at the centre of the social media trends 2021
If you haven’t adjusted your marketing strategies for social media channels yet, you should do it for 2021. Especially when it comes to building a brand and a reach, the social media trends indicate that new technologies such as chatbots and AR should be used on social platforms.
In this way, you attract more attention to your product and accelerate a user’s purchase decision. Another essential aspect in the future will be the simplified purchasing process, in which products can be purchased directly in the apps.