Top 5 trends in Social Media and Influencer Marketing | February 2021

Can we all take a moment to talk about how time is flying by? It feels like it was only yesterday that we were celebrating the arrival of a new year, and here we are heading already to the last month of Q1.

Moving at a similar pace is the social sphere: February was a busy month for social media and influencer marketing. If you are having a hard time keeping up, don’t worry, we’ve got you covered! Read on and make sure you stay on top of all the most important and exciting news of the month.

1. TikTok Encourages The Creation Of Educational Content On The Platform

Photo Credits: Seeker via Shorty Awards

As younger audiences continue to bloom on TikTok, the video platform developed the Creative Learning Fund, a $50 million initiative dedicated to supporting creators who produce educational content as well as providing resources for young learners, with the focus on remote or ‘at home’ students.

As part of this programme, TikTok is partnering with Group Nine Media’s science brand, Seeker, “to bring [remote students] pieces of information that they might not be learning in a sit-down science class”, revolving around topics such as environmental issues, conservation, space and health. 

Gen-Z has increasingly been the focus of brands’ marketing efforts, so it only makes sense that they adapt their strategies and content in order to reach this unique audience.

2. The Future Is Now: Pinterest’s New Augmented Reality Try-On Tools

The race for platforms to integrate ecommerce with social is on. Pinterest is not falling behind and it’s adopting innovative and technological tools to enhance its user experience.

Early last year, Pinterest launched its lipstick ‘Try on’ Pins with selected brands. The platform is expanding the possibilities for this AR overlay feature, which is now available for eyeshadow products as well. With new shoppable Pins showcasing products from Lancome, Urban Decay, and NYX Cosmetics, the try-on eyeshadows are available in more than 4,000 shoppable shades! These tools allow users to test out variations of make-up products within the same experience.

Photo credits: Pinterest

These new AR tools are evolving at an interesting moment and their future will likely be shaped by the ever rising digital and social media regulations. The most recent one was created by the British Advertising Standard Authority (ASA), which has developed a new rule that disallows the use of filters in social media ads for beauty products if these filters lead to misleading product effects. 

This new regulation surged as a response to the #filterdrop campaign started by the make-up artist and model Sasha Pallari in July 2020, who called for the compulsory disclosure of filtered beauty sponsored content.

3. Instagram Moves To Avoid Content Repurposing 

With so many content creation options Instagram offers (Feed, Stories, IGTV, Reels, Livestreams, etc.), it’s common for users to repurpose the same content for different formats. 

The platform, however, is focused on maximizing performance on each format and in order to do so it is testing out removing the option to share Feed posts on Stories in “select countries”. 

Photo Credits: Social Media Today

Reinforcing its attempt to make users adjust to each content format, Instagram announced that its algorithm won’t promote Reels with a TikTok watermark. The platform is committed to encouraging its users to post original content, avoiding repurposing in any way.

4. More Legislation On Tech Giants Expected

In the wake of the riot at Washington's Capitol, we have been seeing an ongoing debate as to what exactly should be allowed on social media. Facebook especially has been in the center of the discussion, and is being called out to “take action on combating hate groups and online hate and harassment, ideologically motivated violent extremism and terrorist organizations" by Canadian Minister Steven Guilbeault.

Facebook, however, responded by throwing the ball to the government. According to Kevin Chan, global director and head of public policy for Facebook Canada, the Parliament should clarify what kinds of content aren't allowed to be shared as the platform already removed content considered illegal in Canada, including hate speech.

The debate has also gotten to the attention of The United Nations Chief, António Guterres, who called for global rules to regulate powerful social media companies like Twitter and Facebook. He believes that some matters are not for a handful of companies to decide, such as closing former president Trump’s Twitter account. He indicates a mechanism needs to be created “in which there is a regulatory framework with rules that allow for that to be done in line with the law.”

5. YouTube Is Testing A New Feature: “Clips”

To make it easier for creators to capture short segments of content and share small moments from videos or streams, ultimately enhancing the experience for its viewers, YouTube announced that it is testing a new clipping feature called Clips. 

With Clips, users can select a 5-60 second portion of a creator’s content, and share it with others across platforms, much like Twitch’s clipping feature. For now, only a small group of gaming creators are able to use it, and as YouTube continues to test, implement feedback, and update it, this new feature should be rolled out to the public.

Photo Credits: YouTube

Do you want to leverage the latest social media and influencer marketing trends in your marketing efforts? Check out our previous work and