Next year, nostalgia marketing will be big on social media, messaging will become more “memetic” and conversational marketing will help drive sales on popular platforms.

Those are some of the top takeaways from a new study from Talkwalker, a social media analytics and monitoring platform, and Hubspot, a developer and marketer of software products for inbound marketing, sales and customer service.

The tech pros interviewed 70 social media experts from around the world to get their predictions on top trends in social media marketing in 2021 for an exclusive report, which you can view in full here.

They also put together this handy infographic, which provides a snapshot of the top 10 trends.

Click here for the entire graphic above.

As the graphic indicates, one trend will center on nostalgia. People are sentimental for what they feel were the simpler, happier days before COVID-19. Marketers will look to tap into this with nostalgia-themed social content, which “connects strong positive emotions to your brand,” the report notes. Even before the onset of the coronavirus, nostalgia was a growing trend for both retail and promo.

Marketers also need to be aware that memetic messaging will continue to rise in 2021. Sure, memes can be a fun way to interact with audiences, but there’s a darker side to them too, about which brands must be aware. “They can be used to normalize extreme behavior, like external agencies interfering with elections or other major events,” the report said. “In 2021, you need to be ready to protect your brand from memes.”

70+ industry leaders reveal #SocialMediaTrends2021

Stats, facts, & campaign inspiration, along with major brands exploiting the #TalkwalkerTrends for big wins. Download the Talkwalker & @HubSpot eBook now... https://t.co/PfqHJRpvf3

— Talkwalker (@Talkwalker) October 20, 2020

More than ever, marketing is now a two-way street, the report asserts. As applied to the social media sphere, that means that brands will have to engage in genuine conversations and connections with consumers on social platforms, interacting in a way that builds relationships and providing content (think powerful stories) that’s valuable to audiences. Done correctly, this will ultimately help create sales, but in a more organic way.

Gaming also figures to factor in a more significant manner. Experts quoted in the report believe gaming will be a stronger driving force behind content creation and important to creating great consumer experiences. “In 2021, we should see the [stigma] associated with gaming lift, and brands become more focused on these relevant [gaming] communities,” the report states.