Ten Trends of Social Media

Recently, Talkwalker and Hubspot worked together and interview 70 specialists and front-line professionals. The main content of the interview is about their forecast of the trends of social media marketing in the coming year. And we summarized the trends as follow:

10. New UGC Mode—Remix 

As we know, the contents generated by the users are not fresh to the audiences, what are fresh are the ways that the contents are produced, and the ways that the contents are released. Remix is a way that creators use the existing ideas, models and designs to reproduce their works. It helps the users to express their individualities and ideas. Remix is now quite popular in TikTok, Koji and Instagram Reels. The year 2021 will bring forth more opportunities for remix videos, as the popular brands will attract more users to participate in the creation.

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9. “4 Cs” in the Context of Epidemic

The impact of Covid-19 will last for years, even it is estimated to subside in the next year. It will be hard for the consumers to forget the shadow of the epidemic, and obviously, the brands need to adjust their marketing strategies based on consumers’ attitude. Content creation in the context of epidemic should follow the principles of “4 Cs”: “Community”, “Contactless”, “Cleanliness” and “Compassion”. The “4 Cs” will be the main features of the big brands’ marketing strategies.

8. Trend of Social Media Meme

Forget about emoji, and clean up the gifs you have saved! The most popular communication mode at the moment is meme. Meme is now widely spread via internet, and has become a funny way to blend in a new social group. However, meme is not always lovely and positive. Like the other communication mode, meme could be used to manipulate people’s mind normalize some extreme behaviors. For example, meme could be used to intervene elections. In the coming 2021, brands need to protect themselves from the impact of meme.

7. Nostalgia Marketing

People tend to look back to 2019, thinking that it was much better than 2020. Good memories will initiate positive emotions, that’s the reason why nostalgia marketing works so well. It can attach the brands with positive emotions, and cultivate consumers’ positive attitude towards the brands. In period of fluctuation and depression, nostalgia marketing will be more common, since consumers like to look back to the beautiful past to divert their attention from the suffering reality.

6. More Conversations with Consumers

Marketing is a “two-way street”. The brands should not just release their brand information and wait for a positive result. To the opposite, they establish a relationship with the consumers through conversations, which is the true way to increase sales.

The outbreak of Covid-19 has made the point even more important at the moment. Facing the consumers, selling products is not as important as before. The key factors to motivate consumers and to promote their loyalty are information, interaction and attention to social issues.

5. Social Gaming = Game Social

Due to the normalization of lockdown policy, people begin to choose online games for amusement. As a result, gaming communities come into being, and gradually become mature. The communities focus on different groups of game players. We start to realize the reason why people may be obsessed with games and the value of games in real life. The brands are paying more and more attention to gaming communities, and we will probably see the popular games becoming the focus of brand marketing.

4. Old Marketing Strategies in New Markets

Some trends may pop up only for once, while others repeat to appear to the public for times. And the rule also applies to marketing, as we sometimes see the marketing strategies used in the past appear in the public again, especially during the fluctuated period. The reason is simple: marketing practitioners give up the controversial ideas, and choose to use the ideas that have verified in the past. In 2021, brands will go back to simple marketing strategies, and we will see a new booming of the old-fashion marketing style.

3. Social Media Giants Adapt to New Normal

Looking back to the history of social media development, we can see some media exaggerating the demise of one social platform, or bragging the booming of another one. As a result, we tried to analyze the development of the main social media platform at the moment. And we made a conclusion that those platforms still maintain their key places in 2021 and even in the coming few years. They will probably develop new functions for themselves to meet different trends in the future. Therefore, their key places will not be replaced in the coming few years.

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2. The Growth of Fake News in Social Media

From the highly beautified blogs in Instagram to the fake posts in Twitter, social media have always been the platforms that blurs the line between fact and fiction. In the context of epidemic, the issue of fake news attracts more attention of people. The society is facing uncertainties, which become the hotbed of fake news. And fake news may cause people to make wrong decisions that may have great influence on their life. In 2021, brands and social media will emphasize on the truth to avoid fake news.

1. Audience with Social Conscious will bring an impact

This will be the most important trend in 2021. In 2020, we can see the influence of the generation with social awareness (as well as Generation Alpha) towards brands, politics and society. And in 2021, the brands have to participate more in the social issues like mental health, inclusiveness and justice. Otherwise, they will lose their importance in the society and become out-of-date.

Essential Trend of 2021: “Customer Is the King”

The key to succeed in brand marketing in 2021 is customer. The saying “Customer is the king” seems to be out-of-fashion, but it’s true and important when it comes to brand marketing. The only way for the brands to survive in the fierce competition is to understand their customers, including their motivations and their needs, and to make marketing strategies based their understanding. Let’s take action! To talk with customers and turn it into elements for brand success.