As we prepare to wave goodbye to 2020, many marketers are looking to the coming year and considering strategies to help them break into the consciousness of the Japanese market using social media.

With this particular area of digital marketing being subject to continual change, let's take a look at evolving or emerging trends we can expect to see within the social media sphere in 2021.

Homegrown micro-influencers

Influencer marketing is nothing new, but homegrown micro-influencers operating on social media have a far better understanding of the Japanese culture and are therefore in a much stronger position to build up advocacy and engage the target market. 

Expect to see some new faces cropping up with relatively small followings at first as this new type of influencer offers a far more personalised content offering than their overseas counterparts.

User-generated content

Brands putting their customers and social media followers front and centre in 2021 can expect to see healthy dividends and plenty of buzz surrounding their products and services.

From competitions to images and reviews being deployed as part of an overall content strategy, user-generated content doesn't just give you something to post, it invites potential customers to get closer to your brand and feel part of the bigger picture.

Visuals go live

The better the visuals, the better the engagement. Knowing how to make your social media channels pop is something that all businesses need to do to stay relevant and interesting, but now the focus is firmly on live video streams as a real-time way of ramping up the personal connection with viewers.

Most people do not feel comfortable when they become aware that they are being advertised to, so opening up a live video stream for launches is a softer way to advertise your latest offerings and gives your chosen channel a new medium of content to engage with.

Stay current

Staying on top of any external factors that may impact your brand is essential if you want to remain relevant in your market. You'll need to keep your finger firmly on the pulse of what's going on in Japan every day of the week.

Sure, scheduling social media content in advance is a great way of keeping your channels filled with fresh content, but just make sure that you stay current and ready to adapt to any unforeseen changes quickly.

SOCIAL MEDIA TRENDS, SOCIAL MEDIA JAPAN, DIGITAL MARKETING