A Year of Social Media – The Social Emotion Trend Report 2021Read the Social Emotion Trend Report now to discover how social media culture has changed over the past year and which social media marketing trends to expect in 2021! 

During the first wave in the spring, “social distancing” in particular led to a reduction in our social contacts and a shift in our social behavior. But even during the second lockdown in the winter of 2020, we also had to rediscover Cyber Week, Black Friday, and Christmas shopping in the marketing landscape.

The motto: Be creative, think positively, and find alternatives and new solutions. Making sacrifices, rethinking, and making the best of it: The past year challenged us in both our personal and professional lives! We had to find new solutions time and again for various situations, as previous approaches or activities were no longer possible.

Social media played a significant role in solving problems within the realm of digitalization. Flexibility, agility, and the immediate adaptation of social media marketing strategies in response to changing circumstances defined 2020 and will continue to grow in importance in the future.

From our morning stand-up meetings via video call, through our daily work routine in the home office, all the way to client meetings. Especially in our professional lives, we’ve discovered the benefits of digitalization and new technologies.

But we’ve also become more digital in our personal lives. We’ve discovered social media as a place where we can unwind from our workday. We can even continue to nurture our social relationships there.

For social media marketing trends, this has meant that target-audience-specific content has become increasingly important. Users want to be understood in their personal situations. They expect to be engaged with personalized social media content. We are digitizing our social behavior and discovering social media as a place for #StayTogether! We have also observed that community and “being there for one another” have become increasingly important. This trend has also extended to the connection between users and companies.

These trends will primarily help you improve your customer relationships. Consequently, you should optimize and intensify your community management efforts! The measures and changes of the past year have greatly increased the appeal of social media not only as a social network but also as a shopping channel! Not only was there a noticeable increase in social media usage as a social network last year, but social shopping also experienced a huge surge! Current social media marketing and commerce trends as an attractive solution!

Since in-person retail was (and remains) only limitedly available, we looked for an alternative to our traditional Christmas window-shopping stroll—and found it on Instagram! While we drew inspiration primarily from personalized content when it came to 2021 social media marketing trends, we were able to add products to our cart right away in the Instagram Shop—and didn’t even have to leave the platform to do so.

Given the social media marketing trends for 2021, social shopping via Instagram is very likely to experience tremendous growth. This will also lead to significant changes in our purchasing behavior. Be sure to take advantage of this opportunity and give your followers the chance to shop for your products on Instagram and Facebook!

With advancing digitalization and new technical possibilities, an increase in social media consumption always seemed very plausible. But at the same time, the unique circumstances of 2020 also had a significant influence on the rapid development of new social media marketing trends! Digital formats such as social shopping and social commerce, among others, have accelerated this enormously!

2020 brings new media formats and platforms to the world of social media! In addition to the new Instagram Shops, TikTok has also increasingly captivated us! Even Instagram had to follow suit and launched #InstagramReels!  Thus, we see here, on the one hand, the general rise in social media consumption. On the other hand, however, we also see a shift in user behavior.

The growing popularity of video content—and especially fast-paced content like Reels, snackable clips, and the like—has paved the way for a new content format to increasingly dominate the social media landscape. Emotional brand stories and video content are now what users expect in light of evolving social media marketing trends!

What better way to tell emotional and moving stories than with short video clips or #InstagramStories? (By the way, LinkedIn Stories are now available too!)

When it comes to social media marketing trends, you can position stories and evoke emotions in users so much more effectively with moving video and image content. This will help bring your brand to life! Take your followers along on your brand experience with Instagram Stories & Reels!

In 2021, users are becoming more nostalgic and love reminiscing about the good old days! That’s why you should align your content with current social media marketing trends in the coming year. This was evident, for example, during the American #FriendsGiving or the Festival of Love. Alongside all the technical innovations, users also want to revive the traditions they know and love. 

For this reason, content can certainly draw a bit on nostalgia and a longing for the past. This allows you to give your target audience a sense of security and a comforting feeling of “home”! Highlight a brand’s authenticity in social media marketing in 2021.

With the help of influencers, companies not only have the opportunity to bring their brand and its message even closer to their target audience, but also the chance to boost and solidify their goals. Learn more in a separate article on the evolution of influencer marketing in 2021!

Continuous learning and optimization of your own social media marketing strategy will be essential in light of current trends in 2021! This is the only way you can keep pace with the digital transformation and stay one step ahead of your competitors. Focus on the character of your brand and the goals you want to achieve.

Furthermore, a custom-tailored, dynamic, and continuously adaptable social media marketing strategy will be more important than ever in 2021! Because there’s much more to social media than just “posting pictures.”

 

However, a solid social media marketing strategy also requires the right budget (which doesn’t always have to be the same amount!!). This is the only way to make the most of today’s digital marketing opportunities and give yourself a chance to stand out among the competition.

Advanced options for strategic advertising via social media are ultimately complemented by active campaign management.  Pull the right levers and discover the social media marketing trends of 2021. Make 2021 your social media year and achieve your goals! Digitalization, Social Commerce & Customer Lifetime Value: The Focus of Social Media Marketing in 2021! With our brief overview of current trends, we aim to help you set the right course for 2021. Focus above all on new digital formats and social commerce! Optimizing customer relationship management for an even higher customer lifetime value is equally important!

This will be a key indicator of your social media success! But it will also reflect your overall progress toward achieving your goals in the coming year. We can’t wait to kick off 2021 together with you and the most effective marketing strategies yet! Are you in?

We hope you had a good and positive start to the new year 2021! We’d also like to take this opportunity to thank our partners once again for their loyalty and trust over the past year!

We look forward to tackling the trends in social media marketing in 2021 with you, sharing unique brands and emotional brand stories with great target audiences and communities, and successfully achieving your goals for 2021 together!  

Above all, stay healthy & HAPPY SOCIAL MEDIA YEAR!

Your Social Emotion Team