Let’s face it, after 2020 we’re all a little unsure on how 2021 will pan out and exactly where to focus our energy. While the COVID-19 climate is uncertain, what is certain in the year ahead is that some businesses will prosper, some will potter along and some will perish.
The digital landscape is evolving so rapidly that it can be challenging to keep up with ever changing marketing strategy and tactics.
Whether you’re a CEO, business development director or a communications manager, it may be worth considering the following Top 10 2021 marketing trends when crafting your brand story.
- Visual communications, whether it’s graphic design, photography or video content, are vital to your success. According to the Visual Teaching Alliance:
• The brain can see images that last for just 13 milliseconds
• Our eyes can register 36,000 visual messages per hour
• 90% of information transmitted to the brain is visual, and
• Visuals are processed 60,000X faster in the brain than text.
- As the saying goes, stand for something or fall for nothing. Let’s face it there is a lot of bad stuff happening in the world, so brands with a conscience and clear purpose are getting noticed in cluttered marketplaces. Brands are increasingly sharing their purpose with stakeholders because it resonates. Until quite recently, marketers focused on Business to Business (B2B) or Business to Consumer (B2B) communications, while today it demands a more direct Human to Human (H2H) approach.
- Video content remains king. According to Cisco’s Annual Internet Report, video content is predicted to amount to a whopping 82 per cent of all internet traffic and is increasingly at the forefront of digital strategy for established brands.
- Content marketing remains the foundation of a great Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) strategy. Therefore, in order for a brand to rank well in Google search, brands need a considered and consistent approach to written, visual and video content across the website and related digital media.
- A website with fast speeds, useful links, and well-written succinct content is likely to rank better than any SEO trends.
- Social media is ever changing – Facebook remains popular with women and 65+ while the Instagram, Snapchat, Spotify and Tik Tok audiences grow amongst young people. Be discerning with your marketing budget and be sure to understand and target the right social media platform for your audience. Invest and anchor your communications in your website which is your home base, because social media platforms are customer touch points that will come and go and you are effectively renting off their land.
- Due to the fast pace of everyday life, users are increasingly online in the evening which means brands can interact with customers via a Chatbot. At the most basic level, a chatbot is a computer program that simulates and processes human conversation (either written or spoken), allowing humans to interact with digital devices as if they were communicating with a real person. Big brands are investing in Artificial Intelligence (AI) in order to improve the customer experience, journey and conversions.
- Personalised email marketing and messaging via instant messaging apps are increasingly being adopted. There are 1.3 billion active monthly users on Facebook Messenger, sending more than 10 billion messages every month and there are 1.6 billion WhatsApp active users, sending over 55 billion messages every day. There are ripe opportunities for big brands seeking the attention of mass markets.
- Brands can now leverage data insights to get a better understanding of customer behaviours than ever before. The practice of omnichannel marketing across multiple platforms, including email, apps, social media, and website blogs enables brands to offer a better user experience by connecting with customers via more digital touchpoints.
- The popularity of Siri, Google and Alexa is growing globally. According to Microsoft, more than one quarter of the global online population is using the voice search feature on their mobile devices. This means we will see more consumer brands optimising content for voice search.
During 2020, there was are a clear shift to simpler and clearer language and the Conquest Ink team expects a growing brand focus towards purpose, personalisation and connection from a written and visual perspective.
Customers are seeking brands that are less focused on commercial transactions and more focused on about a positive experiences and uplifting emotion. In 2021, we welcome the opportunity to creating and growing brands with purpose.
