As 2020 draws to a close it’s fair to say it’s been a year like no other. Thankfully, our line of business was not too badly affected by the pandemic that has held the world hostage. Others, however, were not so lucky.

Businesses had to adapt to survive, and there were plenty of fantastic examples of this. Zoom became a verb almost overnight. Remote working took a huge step forward and will perhaps become the norm.

Digital infrastructure is the key to survival. Businesses that took the time to invest in their website, blog and social media marketing saw a pay-off. With a new strain here in the UK, there’s no sign of Coronavirus abating in the immediate future.

We take a look at 4 social media trends to adopt in 2021 to be successful.

 

4 Social Media trends to Adopt in 2021

 

Live Streaming

Live streaming can be used in a number of ways. From product demonstrations to live Q&A’s. Connecting with your audience shows them the human element behind your business. But you can also be innovative with this.

One of our clients already had the digital infrastructure in place, but with some quick thinking, they changed the way they operated in the pandemic.

Eastbourne Auctions were already providing online bidding to customers through the Easy Live Auction platform. This meant that while physical businesses had to close their doors to the public, buyers could still go to auction. Eastbourne Auctions are a forward-thinking auctioneer. They realise the power of social media and utilised this time to go live!

Whenever a sale took place, Eastbourne Auctions utilised both Facebook Live and Instagram Live to reach greater audiences. Coupled with the sharing of these feeds into selling groups across the country and they exploded their reach.

This method was successful for a couple of reasons.

  1. People were bored at home during lockdowns and this provided them something interesting to watch.
  2. It introduced auctions to a younger audience.
  3. Hits to their website increased whenever a sale was shared live to selling groups.

We had been in discussions to start live streaming of sales with EB Auctions for a while, but this pandemic was the perfect excuse to just trial it.

Stories

Managing multiple pages for businesses, we have seen the drastic decline in Facebook page reach over the last few years. This is why adopting this social media trend will be key.

In 2021 businesses will be turning towards video content and stories to survive. if your business isn’t already investing content into Live streams and IGTV then now’s the time to start investigating these mediums.

Twitter jumped on the story bandwagon last month, rolling out fleets, which are similar to FB and IG stories. Your social media strategy is likely to need some adjustment to remain successful and relevant in 2021. To stay current, you need to try new things, monitor success and replicate.

Interactive Content

Ensure your social media is interactive in 2021. By this we mean engage customers, ask for their opinions, thoughts, advice and more. This can be done through polls, stories, live question and answer sessions. You need to keep your finger on the pulse and be responsive at all times.

Creating content will be easier than ever if you adopt this social media trend in 2021. Ask your customers what they would like to see more of, ask them what their pain points are, ask them if they have advice or tips.  If you are not already, ask for reviews.

User-Generated Content

User-generated content is the next big social media trend. Reviews are part of this, but also try browsing social media for content of people using your product or service. Ask customers to create this content and give them a unique hashtag to use. This way you can find and use this content on your channels quickly and easily. This raw and genuine content helps others trust your brand.

Companies utilising user-generated content can cut down their own content creation time and increase trust among followers almost instantly.

Social media allows your business to maintain a presence online, to connect with followers and potential customers and to demonstrate authority. The world is changing, if home working becomes the norm, then many businesses will not survive.

Infrastructures have been built to service offices and business districts. Now is the time to adapt, innovate and lead.