Digital Marketing Changes and Tips for 2021: Instagram and Facebook
Technologies are constantly evolving as we speak. There was a time when we had Orkut, which now is history. I am pretty sure people only remember Orkut vaguely now. After Orkut, the biggest hit was facebook which, surprisingly still is.
Multiple platforms like Instagram, slack, Flickr, Tumblr also came into play but the big giants in the social media industry remain facebook and second, Instagram. There is common thinking that Facebook is more in use by the millennials, while Instagram is more of a gen z social media tool.
According to Facebook’s most recent statistics report, Facebook currently has 2.7 billion monthly users (MAUs) on the other hand 1 billion monthly active users access the Instagram app globally report.
Due to the covid-19 pandemic, the numbers went high and will go even higher going forward which is why it is the best opportunity for business owners to keep up with the digital marketing changes in Instagram and Facebook.
Instagram and Facebook Tips for 2021
As the years change, so do circumstances and therefore the trends as well. Due to the covid-19 pandemic, a lot of digital trends evolved and became bigger while the others died down. Below we have mentioned a few tips of digital marketing changes that you need to follow religiously.
1. Search Engine Optimization
The algorithm for search engine optimization of Instagram has been updated. In this update, Instagram has changed its algorithm in such a way that the posts are shuffled in a way that the content is made more relatable to the users.
Instagram previously used to work with hashtags but with the changing time, Instagram realized people are using the platform to search keywords as well. This is why, now you can search for hashtags, keywords, and specific content on Instagram.
So the tip for you is when you upload content on Instagram or Facebook, use proper description, keywords, bio, relevant hashtags, etc so the Instagram you categorize your post accordingly so it is easy for Instagram to categorize your post. As a result, it is easy for Instagram and Facebook users to find your content on such a big data platform.
There are many digital marketing services provided by freelancers or marketing agencies that can help you with your SEO techniques on Facebook and Instagram. So if you think you don’t have the skills you can hire professionals to do it for you.
2. Video Content is Trending
Be it Facebook or Instagram, video content is getting the most engagement across these social media platforms. Given the covid-19 pandemic, statistic reports that video content was the most used tool in marketing strategies by different brands.
Let us back up our claim with a few statistics:
- 60% of businesses are using videos in their marketing strategies.
- 36% of the marketers are using video once a week.
- 94% of the digital marketers will continue using video content in their marketing strategies.
Another important factor that you need to consider when making video content is, that people tend to view a 15-second video more compared to a 30-second video. Why is that? Because of the increasing amount of content on social media, the attention span of users is getting smaller.
Even with the 15-second video if you are not able to attract your audience in the first three to five seconds, your content may just get scrolled over. So while video content is playing an important role in grabbing the audience and getting the lead, it's all the more important to create useful and attractive video content.
We also see that videos with texts and captions are trending, so make use of this knowledge and make your videos with text and transcriptions.
3. The human element is still an important part of Facebook and Instagram
Have you ever called some company and a computer answers your phone? And then it is just a series of press one for this option or press five for this option etc. This can get very frustrating for many of us. BoA is one annoying example of this.
The same goes for social media. You must include a human element in your customer service on Facebook and Instagram. This means that keep the conversation organic rather than computerized.
Let me give you an example, given the covid-19 pandemic many of us are doing our groceries or other shopping online, which means it's essential that when these customers reach out to your business for assistance, you have a conversation with them instead of having the computer answer them.
4. Live Videos, Chats, and Sessions
Instagram and Facebook seeing the rise in demand for video content, added in features of doing live videos. With the help of this video, you can connect with your customers by talking to them, telling them about yourself and your brand.
This live session encourages participants to ask a question during the live video, which means you can connect with your customers at a personal level.
So you can you live sessions, IGTVs, etc to not only connect with your audience but also your colleagues and sponsors, etc.
5. Countdown and Giftcard Sticker on Instagram
Instagram has introduced this feature of the countdown that you can use to announce a big day of your business, for e.g a big black Friday sale or a Christmas sale, etc. With this countdown sticker, the countdown begins in Instagram stories creates a big hype about your event.
Another feature that Instagram introduced is a gift sticker. The business account will upload this sticker on their story, customers will click on this gift sticker to avail discounts.
Conclusion
Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, etc have changed how businesses operate and are working constantly. Technology is constantly evolving for a better customer experience. The best for businesses is to keep themselves aware of all these new trends that we mentioned above and take their businesses to the peak of success.
