Social Media Trends for Business 2021

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Nicole Cruz

January 2, 2021

Type:

MVP
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Category:

Social Media

Engaging in social media is a digital marketing strategy that is here to stay. Social media marketing is continually evolving. Many brands and businesses are looking for ways to utilize social media as part of their marketing strategies, as these action plans often hold promising returns. 75% of corporate and small businesses engaging in social media report more significant sales than those who stick to conventional methods.

Woman's hands holding a mobile phone

However, it can sometimes be challenging to understand what users want. You can be trying to post consistently, even researching high-traffic times, or experimenting with sponsored posts to no avail. What gets your target audience’s attention these days? Are there specific ways on how to get more customers on social media? In this post, we will be exploring the top social media trends for business in 2021.

Top Social Media Trends For Business in 2021

Use video content to generate engagement‍

Videos on social media created a buzz over recent years. For example, in Instagram’s “Explore” section, you would often find videos that often produce high amounts of viewership because people want to watch bite-sized, engaging content from creators.

To utilize this, you can either create your informational videos, find people who can endorse you using various video platforms. Many social media platforms are now emphasizing video recently, such as Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest.

To maximize your social media using video content, you can try the following:‍

  1. Incorporate short-form videos: People want to know more, but they want it fast. Offer videos not exceeding more than a minute but should be highly engaging and jam-packed with useful or entertaining content.
  2. Live video: Having scheduled live videos are great for service or consultancy-related businesses. You can have a live question and answer segment or a portion where you share actionable advice to your viewers. Additionally, live videos are also a great way to check-in with your audience, letting them know that their voice matters.

Connecting with influencers to build organic user trust‍

Although creating sponsored posts on social media is vital for brands, another indispensable strategy is to reach the organic market using social media influencers. Studies revealed that 71% of users would purchase products or services based on referrals in social media. The power of user-generated content continues to grow as it is perceived as more authentic than regular advertisements.

To get started in having an effective social media strategy involving influencers, you can start by offering free products or compensation to people who have a reach to your target audience. You can ask these influencers to provide you with high-quality Instagram reels, shared blog posts, video content, or any other form of deliverables that you think will catch attention. Regularly reaching out and investing in social media influencers is key to spreading brand awareness.

Consistently post social media stories‍

There’s something with social media stories that keep people hooked. When following businesses or brands, they want to know about the latest products or promotions you are offering. Not everyone will be scrolling through their feeds, so placing a social media story related to your post will help spread your message across.

Some options in creating stories as part of your marketing plan are:

  1. Video stories: Aside from your regular video posts, you can also place videos in your stories. Many platforms such as Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram can connect several stories if you have a longer video length.
  2. Adding hashtags: Stories are now searchable through hashtags. For example, Youtube has created a content suggestion strategy to find suggested stories with related hashtags. When posting stories, don’t forget to add two to three hashtags to make your content more searchable.
  3. Boomerangs: Those back-and-forth videos may seem informal for some, but they get the attention of social media users. Boomerangs are used to emphasize a point, add filters, effects, music, or anything interesting in your stories.

Utilize social commerce‍

Hands holding a mobile phone with a purchase screen

An old notion is to assume that social media is a place to connect rather than to sell. Thanks to several improvements, you don’t have to bombard your audience to visit your links continuously--they can shop on the social media platform itself! From options such as Facebook Marketplace, Instagram Shop Tab, or even icons on Youtube that allows you to add creator merchandise, it is possible to streamline your offers directly on social media.

Many social media sponsored posts also offer a button that links directly to your product pages. Alternatively, you can even handle transactions via social media messaging, making the experience more personal for the user. Having an e-commerce website but still creating offers for potential shoppers through social commerce will be extremely powerful to widen your reach.

Establish a socially conscious brand‍

Younger audiences, particularly those who hang out on niche platforms such as TikTok and Instagram, like to support businesses that positively impact social impact. Supporting local workers, having environmental-friendly practices, and donating to related charities can help your business become aligned with audiences who value social issues they want to change.

Some suggestions to help in socially conscious branding are:

  1. Creating posts highlighting your eco-friendly processes: You can create photo carousels of how you source supplies for your business. Some users would want to know these details, which help you make a lasting positive impression while going for an important cause.
  2. Offering a portion of your sales to a related charity: When promoting offers on social media, you can include content that states that you donate a percentage of your proceeds to a charity you support.
  3. Collaborate with eco-friendly influencers: You can invest in influencers who promote eco-friendly products to reach a new target audience. Reminding them to add messages of your business creating a social impact can also go a long way.

Find time for conversational marketing‍

Real Customer service person

One of the latest social media trends you will notice is the hunger for authenticity. Many users are tired of ‘canned’ advertising messages and would much rather prefer real connections with brands and businesses.

Like the real world, you will most likely purchase from a friendly and enthusiastic seller to share their offers. To translate this in the digital sphere, you need to invest time or outsource customer services. Encourage direct messages within social media platforms if your target audience wants to know more about your products and services.

Establish social media authority‍

In many instances, it is vital to provide value first before trying to create social media offers. People get hooked on brands and businesses that give free value, such as useful information, entertainment, or digital freebies. By consistently giving no-cost value to your audience, the more they will see you as a brand of authority in your niche.

To do this, you can create social media content on the following themes:

  1. Tip carousels: You can create a list of quick tips related to your niche using carousel posts such as on Instagram or Facebook. Don’t forget to add hashtags to these posts to widen your reach.
  2. Valuable quotations: There’s nothing more engaging than relatable quotes. Quotes that inspire or positively provoke people to take action can spread easily and may even be reposted by your audience.
  3. Featuring personalities: You can also create collaborative content with personalities that resonate with your brand. Doing this shows you have a strong network and presence within your business specialty.
Group of people using social media

The power of social media marketing could not be emphasized more in the coming years and beyond. With these tips, you can get a better hold of your target audience. Not only will these social media trends for business in 2021 be useful in the coming year, but they will also prove to be valuable strategies that you can apply going forward.

Whether your business is trying to build a social media presence or gain better search engine placement through optimization, you can enhance your efforts with listing builder software. With Listing Builder, you can update your business information in one place, and then push the changes out to hundreds of directories, listing sites, and search engines from one dashboard.

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