Summer is just around the corner, and the media world is slowly winding down for vacation. Planning to catch up on this spring's highlights and refresh your memory before fall kicks in? Let’s make it easy for you. In this post, we’ve rounded up spring’s top articles, trends, news, and insights from the team at DigiView. Enjoy the read—and have a great summer!
Digital Behavior:
Usage, Trends, and InsightsFacebook IQ’s 2021 Topics and Trends ReportWe kicked off the year by breaking down “The 2021 Topics and Trends report by Facebook IQ”—a look into what was trending across Facebook and Instagram. Packed with data from Europe, North America, Asia, and Latin America, we highlighted which trends took off in 2020 and which ones to watch in 2021 across four areas: Education & Activism, Lifestyle, Tech, and Leisure. Read the full post here.
E-commerce Boomed in 2020: The User Insights You Need to KnowOnline shopping surged last year, expanding into tons of new categories. In February, we shared the latest social shopping stats and practical tips for online retailers, drawing from sources like “The 2020 Facebook Christmas Package” and Influencer Marketing Hub. Read the article here.
DigiView Recap:
Think Forward 2021 – The Social Reset In March, we reviewed We Are Social’s annual trends report, which breaks down ever-evolving online habits and explores how brands can help shape them. The report was compiled by their global expert team across 15 offices. Read the article here.
DigiView Recap: Digital 2021, the Global Overview In April, we shared a quick cheat sheet for platform usage based on We Are Social & Hootsuite’s annual “Digital 2021” report—a deep dive mapping out the digital landscape. Read the article here.
Get Started with Social Media
Ready to make social media a real part of your marketing plan, but not sure where to start? This spring, we rolled out quick guides for the biggest channels to help you launch your ads with confidence:
YouTube Ads: Guide and Best Practices
Snapchat Ads: Step-by-Step
LinkedIn Ads: A Beginner's Guide
Getting Started with Twitter Ads
Getting Started with Pinterest Ads
Advertising on Facebook and Instagram
Everything About TikTok: The Fastest Growing App
On top of these, we also created a complete guide to social ad placements.
News and Trends: Platform by Platform
Facebook and Instagram
Facebook leads the pack with 2.7 billion users, followed by Instagram with 1 billion monthly active users. Advertising here gives you unbeatable reach and targeted data to connect with the right people.
Here’s what we covered for Facebook and Instagram this spring:
Facebook Analytics is sunsetting, making way for Meta Business Suite, Ads Manager, and Events Manager. We broke down what these tools mean for you.
Read the article here.Facebook introduced dynamic ads for streaming services to help platforms highlight their libraries to the right audiences worldwide. We explored how the format works. Read the article here.
Instagram started testing ads in Reels, piloting in Italy, Brazil, Germany, and Australia before rolling them out more widely. Learn how they work in our post. Read the article here.
Instagram launched a digital magazine called “Instagram Insider,” packed with trends and inspiration for anyone who loves the Explore tab. Read the article here.
Is everything on Instagram controlled by the algorithm? We cleared up the mystery in our post: 9 ways to work with Instagram's algorithm in 2021. Read the article here.
With social shopping on the rise, Shopify expanded its checkout tools on Facebook and Instagram. We took a closer look in this post.
LinkedIn now counts over 260 million active monthly users and more than 760 million members across 200 countries, according to Kinsa. It's the go-to place for B2B brands and professional networking. On average, members spend 17 minutes a day on the platform, and 40 million people look for jobs here every month.
Our top LinkedIn update this spring:
LinkedIn Live streams jumped over 400% this past year. To match that momentum, they rolled out features to boost organic posts and drive event attendance with Event Ads. Read the article here.
TikTok
TikTok has exploded since its 2016 launch. After merging with Musical.ly in 2018, it consistently topped app store charts and now boasts over 1 billion active users.
What we shared about TikTok this spring:
TikTok launched Lead Generation ads to help brands easily find new customers and capture leads directly in the app. Read the article here.
Sound and music effects drive TikTok's creative engine. The platform introduced 6 new audio features to give creators more flexibility. Read the article here.
TikTok began beta-testing a mobile-first recruitment tool with select brands, aimed squarely at Gen Z job seekers. Read the article here.
The app also rolled out the TikTok Video Editor, making it faster and more budget-friendly for advertisers to produce great video ads. Read the article here.
YouTube
As the world’s second-largest search engine, YouTube offers massive reach. Video continues to dominate user engagement, and mobile video is set to make up over 80% of all web traffic by 2022.
Our YouTube update this spring:
YouTube tested “YouTube Shorts”—their take on short vertical video—launching first to creators in India and the US. Read the article here.
Snapchat
Snapchat lets users share snaps with fun filters, text, and make video calls. Launched in 2011, it’s now used daily by 238 million people globally, according to Hootsuite. Active users check the app over 30 times a day, and 82% are under 34. Bonus: Hootsuite found that 60% of Snapchatters are spontaneous shoppers.
With over 442 million users worldwide, Pinterest is a goldmine for brand growth. 48% of users use search specifically to shop, making it the perfect place to reach ready-to-buy audiences.
Our Pinterest feature this spring:
Pinterest searches showed life beyond the pandemic. Home projects trended big, alongside dreams of travel and get-togethers. We took a closer look at what people were searching for. Read the article here.
Other Trends
The talk of the spring was Clubhouse, the audio app that took off like wildfire, hitting 12.7 million downloads in year one. Originally iOS-only, it finally launched on Android too.
Social audio is booming, opening up fresh marketing avenues. We covered this in our articles: “The Social Audio Trend: 5 Formats to Watch” and “Audio Heats Up: Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn Race to Compete.” Is audio here to stay?
Dispo made waves in 2020 as a nostalgic photo app that mimics disposable cameras. We explored the buzz in our post: Dispo – Just hype, or the next Instagram?
Insights from Team DigiView
DigiView’s Head of Performance, Ellen Lidbrink, shared her top 7 paid social tips for e-commerce brands.
“E-commerce exploded in 2020 alongside rapid social media growth. With competition stiffer than ever, online stores need a rock-solid strategy to connect with both current and future customers.”
Ellen also highlighted the untapped power of Twitter and Pinterest. While Facebook and Instagram are obvious go-tos, these channels offer huge, often-overlooked value for your media mix.
Digital Strategist Sofia Vinsa brought her B2B expertise to the table, outlining “5 Mistakes B2B Companies Make with Paid Social,” diving into the common roadblocks teams face.
Andreas Bengtsson, CEO of DigiView, shared 7 reasons your team should embrace social selling—focusing on genuine, relationship-driven sales with decision-makers. It’s all about the people behind the brand.
David Andersson, Performance Marketer, wrote a practical beginner's guide to the technical side of ad tracking. Good data is what turns good campaigns into great ones, and David covered the essential setup steps you shouldn't skip.
Totte Annerbrink, Art Director, shared 7 keys to making content that actually converts. Reaching the right crowd is half the battle—what you say and show them makes all the difference.
Thank You!
We hope you enjoyed the recap and found some useful takeaways from digital marketing in 2021 so far. Need a hand with your strategy? We’re always here to help.
Have a wonderful summer from all of us at DigiView! See you in the fall with more trends, tips, and insights. Don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss an update!