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Podcast Show Notes
I’ve researched what the top social media planning sites are predicting as the 2021 trends and sharing what I believe to be the most relevant to you as a personal brand. I’m going to dive into content marketing and how you can use social media in 2021 to increase brand awareness and generate more high-quality leads based on the predicted social media trends.
2020 in review
I know many people are ready to jump into 2021 after the year we’ve just had… but before you do that be sure to take note and journal all the GOOD that came out of this year.
You’ve come farther and grown stronger than you probably ever know you were capable of… between unexpected work conditions, childcare, schooling, illnesses, and postponed gatherings and vacations.
You are still here and you are still watering the magic that’s inside of you. I know that because you are reading this article today.
As for my family in 2020
As for my family.
While 2020 caused many unexpected burdens, it produced an abundance of blessings and new beginnings for our family as we checked off huge career milestones and personal goals.
My husband Bradley took his first position as a Division I head men’s basketball coach for Southeast Missouri State University, aka SEMO – Go Redhawks! Our family moved from Manhattan, Kansas, to Cape Girardeau, Missouri.
And I sold my direct sales business of eight years and opened CORE Brand Marketing Group to help online business owners generate high-quality leads and increase sales conversions by applying an automated simplistic sales process.
Content Marketing in 2021
This leads me to this podcast and it’s 63rd episode and celebrating it’s one year in existence. So thank you for trusting in me as you tune in every week for branding-bites that hopefully inspire you to take action on moving your business forward.
So with my Simplistic Sales Process in mind in this episode, I’m going to dive into content marketing and how you can use social media in 2021 to increase brand awareness and generate more high-quality leads based on the predicted social media trends.
I’ve researched what the top social media planning sites are predicting as the 2021 trends and sharing what I believe to be the most relevant to you as a personal brand.
These 6 social media trends are exactly what my team and I will be focusing on this coming year as well.
1. “Save for Later” CTA on Carousal IG Posts
With 1 in 5 posts being shared on Instagram being carousels and doubling from 2019 to 2020, multi-post content has been the preferred posting style lately. Carousel posts are a way that you can share multiple photos or videos in one post to your Instagram grid.
This type of post is great for…
- before and after posts
- to promote a catalog of products you sell
- share trending tips and advice
- feature customer stories and testimonials
And in 2021, they aren’t going anywhere. But, as great as it is to share value-packed content with your audience, not everyone has the time to digest all that info when they’re scrolling social media. So that’s why the ‘save for later’ call to action will increase.
By encouraging users to save it to their private Instagram Collection to read later, you’re extending their engagement with your content. It also marks a shift towards ‘saves’ and ‘shares’ being key markers for engagement, as well as just ‘likes and follows.’ Plus, you’re telling a visual story without overwhelming your feed.
2. Brand Recognition with an emphasis on Hand Drawn Elements in Your Graphics
Color is often a misunderstood and underutilized element when it comes to creating brand recognition. As a matter of fact, 80% of brands are recognized by color alone. We’re wired to connect with visuals before we read anything. So whether you are posting to Instagram or Facebook, it’s important to always have intention behind your visuals while using the same color theme. I suggest using 3 colors in your feed to keep it cohesive and recognizable.
From text and icons to lines and shapes, hand-drawn elements are a great way to add extra visual interest to your social media posts. With brands looking for creative new ways to stand out, it’s expected to see this trend explode in 2021. With a simple search in Elements on Canva for ‘Hand drawn,’ you can create your own style and brand recognition for your posts.
>> Ep 26: 3 Ways To Create A More Impactful Brand Online
3. Checklist Posts on Instagram
Again 2021 is all about finding creative new ways to share knowledge and influence with your audience.
The checklist-style post is the perfect way to do just that. The concept is simple: choose a topic you want to educate your audience on. Then, provide them with a checklist — whether it’s steps to follow or more of a ‘toolkit’ style post. Either way – the result is another super shareable and savable piece of content they can’t resist sharing and digesting. Inside Canva’s design templates, a simple search for “checklist” will pull up many layout ideas!
4. Short Form Video Content
There’s no doubt video is where content is headed. And with Instagram Reels predicted to be in direct competition to TikTok this coming year – it’s necessary to step up your video game. These short format content clips made for entertaining, educating, and creating are really into serving businesses and brands these days.
So if you’re still creating ‘pointing at words’ videos, you’ll need to step up your quality in 2021 with retro-style vignettes, cinematic transition, and text overlays. Plus, Instagram Reels content is pushed to all Instagram users, not just to those that follow you.
5. Animated Memes
These entertaining clips will continue to be a favorite form of content; in 2021, look to see a gif embedded inside a frame and paired with a text caption above it. With memes and gifs now searchable in Canva in the Giphy app, you have no excuse to not use them! This creates a powerful post that’s likely to stand out in your feed — plus, video content always performs better than a stationary image.
Here’s an example of a GIF embedded inside a graphic post with text caption on top. Save as an MP4 to post to IG feed.
6. Post Stories Content on Every Platform
Stories are an excellent example of how social media and the way we consume content is shifting. Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Youtube all now have added stories to their platform. So my advice is to focus on one main story channel like Instagram and learn how to repurpose the content across multiple channels.
PIN THIS IMAGE!
Recap
So there you have it! Focus on these 6 social media trends of 2021 to increase brand awareness and generate more high-quality leads.
- “Save for Later” CTA on Carousal IG Posts
- Brand Recognition with an emphasis on Hand Drawn Elements in Your Graphics
- Checklist Posts on Instagram
- Short Form Video Content
- Animated Memes
- Post Stories Content on Every Platform
Whichever trend you decide to focus on in 2021 – remember if you are solely using social media to try to grow your business it’s going to be very hard for you. Being consistent and showing up is only part of the sales process. I prefer to not spend hours on social media – so by utilizing a very strategic plan I can schedule all my posts and stories and hop on the app a few times a day to engage then get off. By having my Call To Actions set up to capture leads which automatically move them into my sales process I allow myself so much left overtime to do other things outside my business.
If this sounds like a strategy you want to start to implement into your business visit stayinyourlandbrand.com where I break down for you the steps needed to build your own automated simplistic sales process.
Oh, and if you want to learn something from 2020 – the best times to post on Instagram are Wednesday at 10 am and 8 pm across the globe.
Whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you:
- Build a Continuous Flow of New Clients Using This Simple Profit Pipeline™ – HERE!
- Turn Your Chaos Into Clarity in Just 90 Minutes with this One Call – HERE!
- Obtain the Support System You Need Inside Our Coaching Group – HERE!
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