How is Social Media in 2021?

Over the years, we as digital marketers have been at our jobs to strategize on branding the companies on social media and accrue engagement organically while combatting algorithm updates and learning new features. A lot of changes have come in, and with a unique perspective of the revisions to come, we look at the state of Social Media in 2021.

1. User Engagement:

Users no longer engage how they used on social media during the early stages. Users now are more reliant on relevant content, and their engagement depends on the content’s likability. The reason for these changes is:
- There has been a content overload and increased competition over the years. Seven million businesses use paid advertising on Facebook, and 2 million businesses use paid advertising on Instagram. Organic content has a much smaller window of opportunity to gain traction from an audience who are already bombarded by brand advertisements. This influx of branded content has numbed users.
- No more showing the number of likes on Instagram! Instagram has altered the user's journey by hiding the number of likes to make the playing field common for all players. The number of likes does not matter anymore on Instagram.

2. Followership:

Due to the sheer number of brands on social media, it is infeasible for a user to follow all the brands they use, love, and have an interest in. Followers are powerful. A great number of followers can help consumers trust your brand over your competition. Users are a pivotal part of a brand’s social media. They go through a consideration and discovery process. As a brand, you will need to come up with content that is intuitive for your followers and keep them engaged for a long time. A user can hear about a brand, look it up on social, screenshot a product for later, and carry on. All these paths give very little trackable visibility to the brand in how that user decided to make the purchase – but, social was a part of the decision-making process. The importance and impact go far beyond follower growth. The possibilities are endless, and the follower count is no longer a viable measurement to encompass success in its entirety.

3.Tracking, visibility, and attribution:

Social media, now more crucial than ever, has become an outlet for users to voice their opinion and concerns. Service enquires and issues may surface on social media sites like Facebook and Instagram. Your brand needs customer support ready for such instances and defuses the situation tactically. Proper communication can help reignite customer loyalty. Moreover, positive interactions between a brand and an individual on social media, although not directly traceable, can lead to a purchase.

Conclusion:

The value of organic social media plays within the user journey is not as simple as it was in the early years. The user’s mission has changed over the years, and it is quite different compared to different users. As many brands see engagement or follower growth decrease, we must remember the many invisible values and purposes the organic social presence bears. Users may not take physical action on a post despite sentiment being positive or transactional opportunity high. If you are facing any issues related to digital marketing of your brand, we can offer you a consultation for social media packages pricing!