Everybody already knows that social media has gone from entertainment to a must-have marketing item for every brand. By 2020, consumers are used to communicating with everyone online and are unlikely to give up Internet communication with brands in social networks and instant messengers. This means that users will become closer to the business than before, and therefore it will be necessary to work with them more carefully: aggressive promotion will give way to polite communication and sincere attention to the needs of the client. So, what will work on social media and what you should forget?
Storytelling, long warm-ups and stories
At first, people fell in love with long reads, then they gave up the posts. Experts say the love for stories will only grow in 2021. True, it will be more and more difficult to keep the user’s attention: you will have to use the techniques of drama and gamification.
Stories are all about sincerity and quick response. The abundance of goods and services made the audience more discerning and finicky. Head-to-head sales no longer work. Hence, “warm-ups” appeared – a gradual, unobtrusive formation of a need for a product before announcing a product or service. The more expensive the product, the longer it takes to warm up. This is not a trend, but a qualitatively new approach to sales on Instagram, capable of monetising even a microblog.
Obsessive, feigned and thought-out to the smallest detail warm-ups remain in the past, along with the obsolescent era of fake information business. Openness, sincerity and imperfections are in trend.
New sincerity and commercialised closeness
Drama alone in 2021 will not be enough: after each episode of the series, an autograph session and a conversation with the director is now needed. To “sell” the next piece of content or brand product, it is important to experience the same events with consumers, communicate closely and in a quality manner.
The notorious “naturalness” in presentation and visualisation is becoming even more in demand: instead of 3D visualisations, users are waiting for UGC, and instead of a well-thought-out tape – a nice, but not tortured photo sequence.
The “behind the scenes” will acquire great importance: it will be more interesting for people to follow the internal cuisine of companies as never before. It is important to acquaint the audience with the company’s employees, its traditions and other internal content, although it is also impossible to get carried away with this, so as not to accidentally return to the era of the birth of commerce on Instagram.
Reality à la TikTok
No, this is not another story about the fact that everyone should switch to TikTok. And not even about how much TikTok has changed the digital world. On the contrary, we have changed so much that TikTok appeared. It offered us a format that we all secretly dreamed of: funny, exciting, useful videos lasting from 6 seconds to 1 minute. They have everything at once: text, a beautiful picture, and content.
Other social networks do not try to imitate TikTok but simply adopt its positive experience. This is how Reels appeared on Instagram, for example.
The fact that the short video format has become popular does not mean that the future of SMM is only in TikTok. This is just a reason to think about what content should be like bright, not burdensome, fast and dynamic. Easy to create, easy to watch.
Bad news: what looks simple and funny often requires complex production.
The good news: if you have a great team, you can “cut” working content without a budget at all.
Influencers
Bloggers are cool, and they still sell, but … We’re all dead tired of bloggers. Bazaarvoice surveyed users from Germany, Great Britain and France and got the following conclusions:
47% of users are dissatisfied with the same type of content;
23% noted a deterioration in the quality of advertising campaigns from influencers;
62% agreed that blogging content “distorts the idea of real-life”;
almost 50% support stricter rules for influencers.
Subscribers expect liveliness and depth from bloggers, and the authorities expect submission to the letter of the law. This is the second trend in influence marketing – taxation of advertising publications, stricter control over the content of campaigns.
Where there is no naturalness and trust, but there are penalties and additional payments, the brand will be uncomfortable. Companies will start turning to microbloggers even more actively – communication with them today is much easier and more accessible than with venerable influencers.
Solving global problems
Last but not least. Experts from Uberbrand claim that 2020 has become a turning point in terms of covering and solving the global problems of humanity. Communication on the topic of coronavirus, ecology, animal welfare and other issues is not a distinctive feature of some companies, but a must-have for absolutely everyone who wants to find followers among social media users.
In addition, the time has come to become attentive to mental and social issues: to become more inclusive and tolerant, to address the topic of mental health more often. Users expect understanding and compassion from companies.
Conclusion
Social networks have already become a part of our lives, and their importance in marketing and promotion is no longer denied. However, it is not enough to just be present on social networks. It is important to follow the needs and desires of your clients and audience. Follow trends and work in accordance with them.
