Hootsuite reveals the findings of its fifth annual report on social media trends.

Based on Hootsuite’s annual survey of 11,189 marketers, five key social media trends for 2021 stood out.

One revealed to be that more than half of all businesses are planning to increase their Instagram budget, and almost half are planning to do the same for Facebook, YouTube, and LinkedIn. Notably, for all the hype of TikTok, it has not increased in importance in the investment stack.

Marketers are smartly following where the user growth is, and Instagram added the greatest number of new users between July and September 2020, posting even stronger growth figures than Facebook. Instagram’s advertising reach grew by 7.1% in the most recent quarter—more than three times Facebook at 2.2%. With overall marketing budgets trimmed in 2021, it’s no surprise that marketers are focusing on familiar favorites, rather than experimenting with newer tactics and platforms.

The analysis also found that for marketers who don’t invest in paid advertising, Twitter and Pinterest are seen as the most effective channels. In particular, Pinterest received high marks for driving bottom-of-funnel conversions. While the data points to what marketers see as the most effective channels, wise marketers will also look for under-priced attention. With a fast-paced year of COVID-19, protests for racial equality, and a US election, Twitter saw a resurgence. It remains one of the top 20 most visited websites in the world, and is often underestimated in the media mix for marketers. Pinterest added new ROI-driven advertising tools and a “Today” tab to keep users engaged. And while retail remains the dominant use case for Pinterest, Hootsuite saw rising use of Pinterest among brands in the education, advertising, and business and professional services industries.

For the rest of the Hootsuite findings click here.