14 Jan DIGITAL TRENDS FOR 2021
-Digital Trends for 2021-
2020 has taught us many things, one of which is that online and digital version of anything is here to stay. Due to COVID-19 pandemic, even the elementary schools and business have turned into online and a long-distance version for safety concerns. Even parents who have very restricted screen time for their children have had to accept this new ‘normal’. Therefore, it’s important for business owners to have a digital marketing strategy based on the rising or new trends for the new year. They have to adapt to these trends and establish a strong relation with their audience.
Here are some digital trends that will help you to shape your strategy in 2021!
Live Streaming Is Not Just A Phase
2020 has been the year of live streaming. Suddenly, we have started to receive live stream notifications from brands, celebrities, influencers and unfortunately our relatives… Instagram has been one of the most used platforms to live stream. Not only Instagram but also usual live streaming platforms like Twitch has also experienced a boost. According to the Twitch Tracker, in December a total of 1,875,753,102 hours spent watching a live stream, and with a 90% increase, it has reached to 6.9 million monthly streamers.
Well, this situation is not unique to 2020 and the new habits brought by the global pandemic. Based on statistics, live streaming will be the among the first choices of brands and users in 2021 as well.
Video Content Is the Way to Go
Video content is one of the most convenient and user-friendly forms of content. Every day more and more users prefer to watch content over reading it regardless of the purpose of the content. According to a study conducted by Cisco, 82% of online content will be in the form of video content by 2022.
Now is the perfect time to start creating video content whether in short versions preferred on Instagram or TikTok or long ones on YouTube. If your main target audience is generally made up by Instagram users, Reels, the new trend of Instagram is a perfect feature to master at. You can have influencers collaborations or even user-generated content for a Reels.
Consumers Love Ephemeral Contents
Ephemeral contents can only be available for 24 hours and disappear afterwards. Instagram, Facebook or nowadays Twitter stories are examples of ephemeral contents as well as Snapchat stories. According to Hootsuite report, 64% of respondents have either implemented Instagram stories into their marketing strategy or plan to do so within the next 12 months.
Ephemeral contents have grown 15 times faster than feed-based sharing in 2018 and they will continue to do so. People enjoy and prefer the convenience brought by the stories. Additionally, with the ‘swipe up’ culture people tend to visit the targeted webpages and shop more.
(https://hootsuite.com/pages/social-media-trends-report-2019)
Invest in Social Media Customer Services
Let’s admit, no one wants to call customer services. It’s the last resort to use for most of us. The transition for using social media as customer services channels has started by most brands as they have realized that their customers are trying to reach out to them. Nowadays, most brands provide customer services in social media including airways, tech companies and cosmetic brands.
Compared to traditional customer services channels, social media customer services are much more convenient and faster. In addition to these, customers feel more special and tend to trust the brands more. Of course, once a customer and a brand start communicating through the comments, brands should always keep in mind that other customers will also read the comments and participate in the discussion.
The User-Generated Content Will Continue to Grow
User-generated content is not something novel, but it will be more popular in 2021, especially because brands cannot realise their big-budgeted usual campaigns due to COVID-19 safety concerns. So, user-generated content is a win-win for most brands. Well, firstly basically they don’t need to have enormous budgets, they get to interact with their target audience, they get to promote their products/services and they have social media engagements.
User-generated content is also preferred more by the customers as it makes the products/services more tangible in their eyes and they get to chance to participate in a brand’s feed/campaign. This form of content is a great way to establish brand loyalty and customer interaction.
These are among the most dominant and prevailing marketing trends for 2021, yet of course, they are not the only ones and they can be adjusted based on the brand and its goals. Brands can leverage these trends to their advantage.
To have more detailed information regarding a strategy based on these trends and more, you can contact IDA Media!
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