2021 Social Media Trend Toolkit
Social media, like the rest of 2020, was unpredictable. It’s necessary to be adaptable and in-the-know in order to create the best results. That’s why we have gathered our top picks for social media trends in 2021, from content strategy ideas to graphic design elements, in order to give you a head start.
Keeping Up with Video Content
As we have written before, video content is an important part of growing your brand due to its popularity and viral potential. The staggering success of TikTok in the past year has invited many competitors, such as Instagram Reels, to enter the fray. We’ve seen that many brands can be successful on either or both platforms, allowing for a lot of creativity and fun for everyone.
Community lead content
As customers become used to the “polished” look of branded content, many are searching for something more authentic. We’ve implemented more user-generated content this year, as it builds trust with audiences and provides social proof.
User-generated content can be as simple as an Instagram Story, or widespread as creating a trend or meme. Either way, it is a valuable resource for brands to tap into in the next year.
Inclusivity and Accessibility
2020 has been very important for social justice and change. This has caused many people, especially those who belong to Gen Z, to pay closer attention to the brands they support and what they stand for.
It’s important to communicate corporate social responsibility initiatives, as well as showing support for organizations that align with your brand.
In addition, a blog post from Social Media Today on graphic design trends notes authentic representation as an important topic to keep in mind. This involves ditching stereotypes in favor of “authentic, diverse people.”
Furthermore, it’s important to ensure that your content is accessible to as many people as possible. This can include captioning videos, providing image descriptions, and/or offering colorblind-friendly design.
Contextual Shoppable Posts
With product tagging extended across Instagram, Facebook, and even TikTok posts, brands can now connect social and e-commerce with new audiences using content that feels authentic and genuine to each platform.
According to Social Media Today, 70% of Instagram users use the app for product discovery. With the fate of many businesses hanging in the balance as the COVID-19 situation constantly changes, augmented reality filters will be a game-changer for many that will not be able to interact with customers in person.
Cross-platform content
As we mentioned earlier, many people are looking for a more casual tone of voice. This is where meme content comes in. Right now, more than half of 13 to 55-year-olds send memes every week. Creating meme content in-house or reposting user-generated content is a great way to resonate with current audiences, or reach out to new ones.
The opportunities are endless and give brands a chance to be both funny and timely. Not to mention, if it does well, this type of content is widely share-able, enticing users to share your content and organically boost your reach.
Visual Brand Storytelling
Instagram profiles are often a user’s first impression of a brand, even more so than a website or landing page. Later recommends taking a look at profile photos, story highlight covers, and the top 9-12 posts to see if they’re telling a cohesive brand story. If not, this can be a valuable opportunity to invest in for future followers and customers. Outline your top content buckets, and make sure you are touching on each of those consistently at a glance to be sure that at any given time when a new user navigates to your profile they get the full picture.
What’s next?
Thinking about what may happen in the next year can be daunting. If any of these trends have taught us anything, it’s that people want to build connections where they could not, and know that they’re not alone. From all of us at Social Supply, here’s to growth and new beginnings in 2021.
