The evolution of social networks has included new processes in digital marketing strategies. Community managers must keep an eye on news and changes so that organizations do not lose the inclusion of any social media trend by 2021. 

Impact of social isolation on the use of social networks

The isolation caused by the Coronavirus influenced the behavior changes of Internet users. Due to the fact that new search trends were observed, inclinations towards virtual processes, guarantee in virtual purchases and consumer preference in some social networks that came to dethrone others. 

The Director of the Postgraduate Course in Professional Influencer Eva Rodríguez, affirms that the UGC (in Spanish “ user-generated content ”) will grow dramatically because users have a simpler vision of generating their own content with the help of Instagram  and / or TikTok because they have a simple system to create short videos and share it. Since we have been talking about these 2 applications, it is a fact that companies must also adapt to creating entertaining content but with a professional touch. 

In Peru, changes were detected with the Ipsos report , it showed that 13.2 million Peruvians make use of social networks, this projects them to be 78% of the population between 18 to 70 years old. Likewise, the most relevant and most consumed social networks during the quarantine were Facebook with 73%, WhatsApp with 69% and YouTube with 41%. On the other hand, the famous social network TikTok occupied 18% of users on this site, giving space to entertainment and content creation. 

• One study indicated that searches in the health and government categories increased in isolation along with the media and information from other countries ( Consultora Datum Internacional ).
• The navigation and stay time during isolation increased by 2 hours and 49 minutes (Ipsos, 2020). 

New trends in social networks 2021

1. Memes the new means of communication

Memes were born a few years ago and they were taking position in social networks as a means of communication to convey humorous, political, educational messages and more. Some companies have inserted the use of these pieces into their content strategy because they are easy to reach the public and receive immediate response.  

The audience that has the greatest predominance in the evolution of memes are young people from 13 to 35 years old with recurring weekly shares ( Hubspot ). 

For this reason, with the constant use of social networks and the assertive immersion of memes in a context focused on your target audience, they can be the success for the brand page. The use of memes increased in the last 13 months from 19.8 million in August 2019 to more than 24 million in July 2020. There was a growth of 26% with an increase of 28 million in the month of April. 

We take the example of the North American Peruvian Cultural Institute in using a famous meme to inform about registration day. 

2 nostalgia marketing

The nostalgia marketing strategy is used to cause emotions about good memories, feelings of missing good times, and thinking about better times. This led to landing in the context of the pandemic and the most frequent word for what happened was nostalgia. 

-The queries with the keyword related to nostalgia or memories soared from searches of approximately 13 million to 24.4 million, greater than 88%. (Hubspot, 2020). 

It is important to create connection with the audience, remember that content driven by feelings are the graphics with the most success and interaction through comments, reactions and shares. 

We take the BBVA organization as an example in its post published on Instagram with an emotional phrase. 

3. Interactive communities

Groups or communities are becoming more popular day by day, these spaces are created to communicate between users on a common topic, through participation, advice, experiences, interaction publications, answering questions and more. 

For brands, groups on social networks are beneficial spaces for the growth of loyalty, connection with the public in a close and direct way. In addition, groups are spaces that allow the humanization of the brand. 

The image shown was taken from the group Mujeres Courage, a female entrepreneurship group. 

4.Remixes a new trend 

One of the most used trends and with positive results are the remixes or remixes inserted in Instagram and TikTok, which have been a revolution to generate greater visualization. As we mentioned before, it is easier for a user to create short videos showing new challenges or improvising, the same happens with branding and the exhibition of products and services. 

5. Conversational marketing

Digital marketing is focused on generating connections with the audience, now more than ever the community demands that companies show a human side in their processes. This strategy is good for both users and the brand because having a positive response from the target audience generates higher sales and solid relationship building. 

Therefore, we mention that sales went to the background for users, now is when they are interested in information, interactivity and engagement.

6.Environmental content

After isolation, people were more interested and sensitive to environmental issues, searching on these issues or content inclined to care for the environment. Currently, millennials and generation Z are no longer focused on the product but on sustainability. 

Therefore, some brands and others built under this awareness intend to provide experiences to their users with responsible actions with the environment. Even the internal public expects the organizations where they work to have an interest in social, cultural and environmental well-being. 

7.Gaming on social networks

For years, video games have been taking territory in digital social spaces, but thanks to isolation, penetration has been evolutionary and solid because it occurred as a method of distraction. On the other hand, forums, messaging and communities created based on video games by different fans. 

You must understand the benefit of video game players and the new trend that is  generating a buzz on social media. 

8.Generate content related to COVID-19

More than creating content about the misfortunes caused by the virus, this strategy focuses on the generation of content based on 4 keys: community, hygiene, distancing and awareness. Posts focused on this topic are still the main topic of conversations, so creating key messages about it is the right exposure to the post.

The main reason should be to support and promote importance over users since 78% of consumers believe that brands should help them (Hubspot, 2020). 

An advice… 

Always keep in mind that to create content and use social media tools you must put target users first and please what they want to see on your brand’s social media. 

If you use this to your advantage, you will be able to create dialogue, relationship, interaction, brand defense, and recurrence to the page voluntarily. Keep in mind to provide relevant and interesting content with the committed community to increase likes, shares, and comments, therefore, you should focus on not only creating content as a brand but also content that allows you to generate participation.