Pandemic Diaries: Social Media Trends 2021

From the perspective of online marketing managers, 2021 will be a fascinating, innovative, but also the controversial year in many ways. While social distancing is still prevalent in the real world, people are increasingly coming together in social networks. Users have an average of 8.5 social media accounts and are online for 144 minutes a day. The number of users worldwide increased by 453 million from October 2019 to October 2020.

The 4 Cs of social media content

And of course, a lot online also revolves around COVID-19 and its effects. Therefore it is essential in marketing – also in the coming years – to align the content to the four Cs:

• Community
• Contactless
• Cleanliness (hygiene)
• Compassion

Those who know their customers well can use the relevant topics to build on what moves them every day. Use the four Cs to expand the connection to your community and to place your key message embedded in the much-discussed topics. But be careful: intrusive and clumsily placed advertising messages do not work, especially in times of pandemics. Be sensitive to it.

The most popular networks worldwide are Facebook and Instagram, followed in Germany by Xing and Linkedin’s career portals. The content consumes shared and commented on there, especially on the move. While each network also follows its own rules, overarching trends are emerging for 2021 and the coming years – from memes to social gaming to vertical video.

Also, Read {Mobile Marketing Trends}

Do you memes yet?

GIFs and emojis were yesterday. Memes are today. They are especially famous with the younger generation: more than half of 13- to 35-year-olds send memes every week. 

Linking your brand messages with memes can help you reach a wider audience and go viral with your content. It can also help share memes generated by other users via your channels if they suit you and already have a high reach.

But be careful: Check carefully whether the memes – whether created yourself or shared – really say what you want. If not, it can quickly lead to a “shit storm” on social media. Another critical issue related to memes is misinformation that can affect the way people think. It would help if you, therefore, used image recognition to check whether and where your brand uses memes.

Useful sources to find memes or get inspiration from:

• Reddit
• 9GAG
• Pinterest
• Quick memes
• KnowYourMeme

With social gaming to the next level

You have indeed already invited to play a game together on Facebook and Co. Social games such as village life or quiz duels have experienced an upswing, especially in times of pandemics, as has the entire gaming industry. In Germany alone, the number of people who describe themselves as gamers rose by 32 per cent to 41.2 million between August 2019 and July 2020.

As a result, numerous communities have developed that can also represent a new target group for you. Please become part of these communities in the social networks and learn to understand them.

If possible, place your branded content there or link your content with your inactive game ideas. Own social games can, in turn, offer a platform for other companies’ advertising messages and thus generate a new source of income.

Social games are beneficial in customer loyalty: those who have fun like to get in touch with you and your brand. And reward systems and competitions in particular bind users to the company in the long term.

Read {Social Media For Your Marketing}

9:16: Everything from the proper perspective

In the meantime, the vertical format has become indispensable in social networks when it comes to videos. One speaks of vertical video. Why the 9:16 design is so popular there is obvious: Most smartphone users hold the device upright. Anyone who produces vertical videos is no longer regarded as unprofessional but as user-oriented.

Networks like Tik Tok have relied on this format from the start. Facebook and Instagram have now switched to this perspective. YouTube also offers functions in 9:16, and Google Photos also only creates videos in portrait format.

Sure, not everything is optimistic about this trend. Our field of vision is generally more horizontally aligned, and vertical videos must therefore be designed entirely differently. Important: Rethink every social media channel and tailor your video to the respective target group and function.

Use, for example, interactive stickers, surveys and call-to-actions in your videos on Facebook and Instagram. The vertical alignment usually offers enough space for this. Optimize the videos in these channels so that they view without sound. Subtitles can also be helpful.

The following applies to videos on social media: They do not have to create in a highly professional manner. Instead, they must appear emotional and empathetic and stimulate the user to interact.

Tools for the easy creation of such videos are, for example:

• Lumens5
• Animoto
• Shakr
• InShot
• Split video
• Mojo

There are more video tips in our compact course visual content for social media.

Social First: With the right concept to the goal

The trends already mentioned clearly show that the corona pandemic has not harmed the social media industry. On the contrary, the accelerated digitization, as a result, offers numerous new possibilities, target groups and ideas. But what remains the same: Nothing works without a strategy.

So if you are active or want to become involved in social media, you should think carefully about what goals you are pursuing and how you can achieve them. Post on it has not worked for a long time.

From the multitude of platforms, you should also pick a few on which you can best reach your target group and are best in harmony with your company. You cannot be successful on all platforms, from Tik Tok to Twitter.

Basically, integrate social media firmly into the communication concept and think about social first more often.