Social media trends for 2021

Has anyone else noticed their social media usage creeping up and up lately? I know I have! To say it’s become an integral part of our lives is certainly no understatement.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock or in a treehouse in the middle of nowhere, you’re going to have at least one social media account. At least! Some would like to say that social media has taken over our lives, and even though I might not go that far, I will say it’s a pretty important part of life for both consumers and businesses.

It’s also a highly competitive space - everyone and their nan is on Facebook these days! Which means if you’re in the social media game, you need to have a clear social strategy AND stay up to date on the latest trends.

Here are our top three to watch in 2021...

Social targeting will be more intelligent than ever

There’s a pretty big overlap between recruitment and marketing, especially social media. We already know that 79% of job seekers use social media as part of their search for jobs, and 15% use it exclusively. Social media is no longer a supplemental platform for recruitment - the ability to understand and target both active and passive candidates offers a huge opportunity to organisations in today’s ultra-competitive landscape.

As technology evolves over the coming months, organisations will be able to better understand their audience - where they live, their main hobbies and interests, their core skills - and as a result, make better data-driven decisions to maximise spend on these channels.

Live video will become the norm

I think it’s fair to say that live video experienced a pretty steep rise in 2020. Thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, businesses and individuals alike were forced to get a bit creative, offering all sorts of events via social media as a way to stay connected and keep people entertained and informed during various lockdowns. Well now it’s 2021, people have adapted to life online and this virus isn’t going anywhere fast. So it looks like live video is here to stay!

YouTube Live, Facebook Live, Instagram Live, Twitch, Tik Tok Live, LinkedIn Live - that’s just a handful of the live streaming platforms available to you! And organisations are taking full advantage. Live streaming isn’t just for gaming anymore; live workouts (PE with Joe anyone?), shopping events, customer service support, live Q&As, cooking classes, crafting tutorials and so much more. The possibilities are endless!

Virtual events will become more popular

Virtual events took over in 2020...for obvious reasons! But we’re likely to see them continue on in 2021.Obviously we’re still in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, but with so many new apps, plugins and features available, hosting virtual events has become easier than ever before.

Not only are organisations able to host events at a much lower cost, they have the potential to reach a much larger audience. With the shift to online working that we’ve all experienced in the last 12 months, I predict virtual events will still have a critical role to play in 2021.

There are some pretty clear trends set to dominate social media this year, especially when it comes to social recruitment. Social media is still a dynamic, impactful space that can offer serious value to organisations far and wide. And it will be for years to come.

In other words, there has never been a better time to use social media to shout about your incredible company culture and attract the best talent out there.

Have you got some social media trends to share? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Let’s connect - you can find me on LinkedIn.