These were the social media milestones in 2021

• #Influencer
• #Social Media

What Instagram, TikTok & Co have in store for us this year

On our blog, we inform our readers every month about developments on all social media platforms and classify them. Whether it’s social media, online or influencer marketing, we reveal the advantages they bring. A lot has happened in the industry in 2021, and the platforms have adapted to these changes accordingly. In this post, we tell you which milestones there were on social media in 2021.

Instagram changes 2021

Instagram has probably seen the most changes of all platforms this year. If you want to read through all of them in detail, feel free to click through our social media news on our blog. However, we have the most important milestones for you once again here.

Branded content

Instagram is known for the fact that creators cooperate with companies or brands and advertise their products or services. The fact that this must be clearly marked is probably clear to everyone today at the latest. However, branded content must be distinguished from this.

This is a form of advertising labeling in which, for example, a creator posts content on Instagram and openly indicates with the sticker “Branded Content” that it has been remunerated. However, this content should not be confused with social ads.

The fact that branded content can now also be stated on Instagram continues to contribute to making the advertising market in social media more transparent and thus professionalizing influencer marketing.

Caption stickers and translation of stories

Influencer marketing campaigns are primarily implemented in Instagram Stories. In order to make them even more appealing to consumers, it is now possible to have the Stories automatically translated and to insert a caption sticker that makes it even easier to create subtitles.

Co-author function

A particularly big milestone was the introduction of the co-author function on Instagram. This makes it possible for two profiles to post the same video or photo on their profiles at the same time. This has the advantage that double reach can be generated.

Especially for still smaller profiles, this offers a good opportunity to get attention. Also in the context of influencer marketing, this is a nice way of implementation between creator and company.

Link stickers… for everyone!

In 2021, the popular swipe-up function was replaced by the Link Sticker. This can now be placed anywhere within the sequence, just like other story stickers. It then leads to a new website with a single click.

Previously, this function was only available to verified profiles or creators with at least 10,000 followers. In the last quarter of the year, Instagram surprised and delighted everyone by making the function available to all users of the platform. Especially for nano- and micro-influencers and companies, this offers a great opportunity to link to external links such as blog posts and thus generate more reach.

Posting via Desktop

Everyone who works in social media marketing has probably been happy about this introduction. From now on, you can upload posts to your account not only from your smartphone, but also from your desktop.

This makes working on social media much easier. Story planning is now also possible with Facebook Business Suite.

Eliminate Likes

It was announced (or even threatened) for a long time, now it is reality. The Likes under the own postings can now be deactivated. However, this is not a must and can be used voluntarily by all users. According to Instagram, the goal is to reduce the pressure to perform on social media and to avoid comparing oneself too much with other people based on likes.

Reels

The rise of the Reels feature, which was launched in 2020, is probably a milestone in itself. However, alongside this, the maximum duration of these has also been increased to 60 seconds. In addition, it is now also possible to place social ads via the reels, which means a huge step forward in terms of social media and influencer marketing. In line with this, insights are now also available, which marketers could previously only view for feed posts.

TikTok Changes 2021

Similar to Reels, the usage of TikTok can probably be called a milestone in its own right. It speaks for itself that the app has overtaken the giant YouTube in individual usage time. The boom of TikTok shows once again how important moving images have become in 2021 and how relevant they will remain in the coming year.

The platform is also becoming increasingly attractive for creators and influencer marketing. Similar to Instagram, users can now be verified using the blue tick. The prerequisite for this is that they meet certain criteria. On TikTok, the blue tick indicates that a profile is particularly authentic and approachable.

Another milestone on TikTok was probably the video pins. These allow users to pin up to 3 videos at the top of their profile, which ensures that they are always displayed directly. This also ensures that these videos generate a lot of reach and attention. Whether pinning also influences the algorithm is not yet clear at this point. However, it is clear that it is particularly suitable for advertising videos so that they receive additional attention.

What happened on the other platforms?

With Instagram, TikTok and also the Reels, we have summarized the most relevant milestones for you. Of course, there are also other milestones to talk about. The Clubhouse app in particular should not go unmentioned.

At the beginning of the year, there was probably no other topic in marketing and on social media than the new audio app, which conquered hearts faster than any other app before it. With Clubhouse, invited users could open audio rooms in which they could then talk to other people about specific topics.

Especially in influencer marketing, this app was very quickly very relevant and experts informed about the latest trends and developments. As quickly as Clubhouse came, the app was gone again. The audio platform was ultimately unable to establish itself. Nevertheless, we are curious to see how the topic of audio will develop in 2022.

Conclusion 2021

Social media platforms have brought us an enormous number of changes in 2021 that have significantly shaped the industry. We’re excited to see what else happens in 2022. If you’d like more details on each milestone, feel free to check out our Social Media News January-December or wait patiently for our e-book next week, where we’ll shed more light on them. If you can’t wait, head over to our Instagram account (@lookfamed) and check out the latest IGTV from our social media expert Katharina.