The last year and a half, 2019-2020, can be viewed as either a wonderful year for social media or a terrible year for social media depending on how you look at it. 2021 is following a similar experience, but things are hopefully on the upswing for those who thought last year was horrible. When looking back at 2020 and how social media played an important role in all of our lives, we have learned many important lessons from a business perspective. We have now rolled those lessons into 2021 and are watching what content dominates more on social media now because of people being at home and online more than ever before. So what content has been working best and how can you incorporate them with your business?
Remixing Content
This is content that is not new, but just remixed, or re-created, in your own way. A trendy thing for when people were stuck inside was to give someone else’s video a try and share it with their friends. From social media challenges, to workout trends, remixing any video gives the user the ability to put their own spin on already existing content. You don’t always have to invent the wheel. Just reinvent it!
Businesses can join in on hot social media trends, especially if they make sense and are do-able. Restaurants can add their spin to trending food posts, create their own remix of the recipe. DIY trends are also big and can be popular with any kind of business that deals with the home. From trendy fixer upper projects to upcycling, using your own products to showcase the remix is a way to get your brand out there more.
Nostalgia Marketing
Just like it says, it is looking back at a past time to reminisce about “the good ol’ days.” Hashtags like #TBT, #ThrowBackThursday, and #FlashBackFriday are still popular and bring in big numbers when searching it. When posting a nostalgic memory of something, it can bring back powerful emotions and spark conversations. This ties in nicely with brands, especially those who have been around for many years. Take a walk through the past with your brand and showcase old items, things that are old but still used to this day, things that your brand doesn’t have anymore, images of your location from back in the day, and so on. There are so many ideas that can come out of this trend because it allows people to just forget about the now.
Reveal the Human Side of Your Brand
If anything positive came out of the past year+, it is that consumers realized more about the people behind a brand. They are so important. We knew that – duh – but did everyone else? Big businesses closed, little businesses closed, and brands struggled to survive, which meant the people who work for those businesses and brands lost their employment. When brands struggle to survive, that means jobs are struggling to survive. It goes hand-in-hand.
Revealing the human side of your business allows for brands to build better, more open and caring relationships with their customers. Connecting through conversational posts, engaging in social issues, and personalizing communication efforts helps to remind consumers that hey, there really are real people who work for your brand and they matter too.
Get more of your brand’s human side on social media to highlight your team. Showcase who they are, what they do, and so on. This may even help on the hiring front too when people realize that these people are happy doing what they do, potentially wanting others to feel the same way at your company.
What is Old Might Be New Again
Life was very busy for many prior to the sudden halt of everything. The slow down allowed people to really figure out what marketing efforts they appreciated most. Before, consumers may not have had time to read a newsletter, but now they do. Or they didn’t have time to listen to a podcast, but now they do.
As a business, now is a great time to see what is really working for you and what hasn’t worked in a long time and decide where to make changes or increase attention. Social media can help make these decisions, especially if you are connected to your audience. Take the time to see if you are still where your customers are as well. If your consumers are those who listen to podcasts more now than ever, it might be time to seek out advertising options on podcasts that resonate with your target audience. Share podcasts that you make or ones that inspire your brand on your channels. Or if they are reading your newsletters more, put more focus and effort into those, encouraging followers to sign up for them. If they don’t know you have one, you can’t blame them for not signing up. If something isn’t working, it is OK to let it go. It might be something that you come back to later and see if it will work at a better time.
Give New Things a Try
Social media is ever changing. It can be wonderful or terrible for brands, depending on the situation. Use social media to your benefit as much as you can and do your best to connect with your users, customers, and potential clients on a level that they haven’t connected with yet. Just because something works for one brand doesn’t mean it will work for everyone. Trial and error is the best method, as long as you give it your all.