If brands didn’t quite realise the importance of a strong social media presence in growth marketing, then 2020 was sure to explain. With the pandemic and lockdown leading to an increased time spent online, those companies that invested the time and money into a solid social media strategy found themselves reaping the rewards. 

With more time spent online than ever before, how can you ensure you’re gaining a big ‘ol slice of that engagement pie? Successful social media marketing requires keeping up-to-date with all the latest trends and developments in order to exploit as many opportunities as possible. 

As experts in full-service performance growth marketing, we’ve rounded up three sure-fire (and organic) ways to grow your social media presence in 2021. 

Diversify your platforms

This wouldn’t be a blog about social media trends in 2021 if we didn’t acknowledge the huge shake-up of social platforms that has taken place this year.  In recent years, the goliaths of social media such as Facebook and Twitter, have taken the lion’s share of the population. While they are still generally the more established platforms of today, the “new kids on the block” have entered the market and are truly starting to shake things up.

The rise of TikTok has shown that nothing is set in stone. Released in 2016, the short-form video-sharing app very quickly gained momentum, with very marketing prepared for the sudden gain in popularity.  In fact, a 2019 report found that only four percent of social media marketers in the US leveraged the platform to reach consumers. 

Fast-forward to today and brands everywhere are unlocking the incredible potential of the app in their marketing efforts, particularly for engaging with the Gen Z generation, with approximately 3.7 million active users in the UK who engage with the app for an average of 41 minutes a day.  It’s the seventh most active social media app in the world and is set to reach 10 million UK users this year. Not bad for a platform founded just four years ago, whilst the other prominent players have been established for decades.

With other platforms such as the invite-only audio-chat app, Clubhouse, also growing in popularity, it’s time for marketers to freshen things up and pay attention to newer platforms that may have heaps of potential for marketing their brand. 

 

Build your community 

Gaining customers is one thing – but building engaged, active communities adds a whole other level to your marketing.

Turning customers into communities enables you to create a dedicated and loyal band of followers. These are customers who will sing your praises, share your content and buy all your latest products. They’re not only invested in your products but YOU as a brand. 

You need to build a people-first social media strategy that is driven by the voice of your team, your customers, and influencers and thought-leaders in the space. A community that engage with your brand content through likes, comments, and (even better) shares will seriously help you out by amplifying your content and ultimately, increasing sales. 

A few examples of how to foster an online community are to ensure you’re always actively engaging with comments on your social media, getting involved in discussions, starting conversations via Instagram Stories, use stickers to solicit feedback about your brand and products, asking followers what they want to see more of, providing lots of value through your content, using social listening to uncover your audiences pain points and providing solutions to these problems. 

Learn to love your little tribe. Become a source of value, involve them throughout your journey, and excite them. You can be certain they will give you back a thousand times in return.

Own your brand personality

Long gone are the days of cold, corporate copywriting in brand marketing that seeks only to hard sell. Today’s most successful brands with the largest social media followings are those that endeavour to be brave and bold with their brand voice, avoiding sounding like corporate robots and becoming more human.

We only have to look at the  Cuthbert the Caterpillar cake feud that is taking the social media world by storm in recent weeks as a prime example of how brands are becoming braver in their comms and marketing… which for Aldi’s case, is proving to be a complete success in getting people talking.

If you received news that a large corporation in your industry was taking legal action against your brand, what would you do? Most of us would head in a flurry to the HR department, most definitely put a big red X against any public commentary on the matter and just let the people in suits take charge. Some of us may even decide to have a little whimper in the loos while practising the deep relaxation breathing exercises recently discovered on TikTok…

But not Aldi. Oh no. While a trademark infringement isn’t something any individual or brand would like to be accused of, global supermarket chain, Aldi, has given a prime example of how something like this (when done correctly) can be turned into an incredible marketing campaign.

The global supermarket chain (already well known for its hilarious and witty style of social content) hit back with some truly iconic responses to M&S’ threats of legal action, which propelled a whole viral conversation around the Cuthbert the Caterpillar saga and had them completely owning the conversation.

This is not just any court case, this is… #FreeCuthbert

— Aldi Stores UK (@AldiUK) April 15, 2021

What does this show? On social media, your followers are first attracted by your products and services. However, they stick around for your brand personality. Providing authenticity, humour and entertainment, is a surefire way to grow your social media presence in 2021.

Want to learn more about practices to increase your social media presence in 2021? Get in touch with one of the HdE AGENCY team today.