5 Innovative Marketing Trends to Watch in 2021

Everybody knows 2020 was a tumultuous year worldwide. We all hope that 2021 will be a marked improvement, but the pandemic has dramatically affected and will continue to affect marketing for a while longer. Here’s a roundup of the top 5 marketing trends that are worth keeping an eye on into this new year.

1. Ecommerce Growth

When high streets and shopping centres close for non-essential purposes, people are quick to digitise their shopping habits. Amazon received an increase of 30.1% year-on-year sales growth. Brick-and-mortar businesses that closed during lockdowns often turned all their focus on, or even set up from scratch, their digital storefronts. More people spent more time buying online; 56% of users made a purchase from a retailer that they had never bought from before. Even after lockdowns, people’s concern about the virus rightfully remains and translates into a high percentage of online sales. 

It’s of paramount importance to maintain your ecommerce shop if you have one. Customers are now more accommodating of delays but that should not excuse a late dispatch date; Amazon Prime’s next day delivery is what many businesses will be contending with. Customer service should also be excellent. If customers’ needs are not met, they are more likely to have the time to research alternatives. 

2. More Purchases Through Social Media

It’s not just Amazon and standalone ecommerce stores that people are buying from. Technology constantly seeks to improve convenience in any way possible and ecommerce is no exception. Ecommerce and social media go together exceptionally well, so it’s no surprise that the two are pretty much one and the same now. 

Facebook Marketplace, Instagram Shop, Pinterest Shopping and other social sites are making online shopping even more effortless with their social commerce platforms. With many people utilising social media for product discovery, influencer recommendations and customer reviews, it makes sense for a business to capitalise on a smooth transaction with fewer clicks and without ever leaving the social network. Ecommerce on social networks is still in its younger years, so expect more progression and change in this area and keep a close eye on it. 

3. Continued Digital Events

Social distancing doomed most in-person events for most. To try and recuperate some gains, concerts, stage productions, conventions, conferences, consultations and more made the transition to online exclusive experiences. The vaccine may be here, but it’ll take months to vaccinate most of the population, meaning online events will remain for a significant portion of the year. 

As people are now accustomed to attending digital events, this could be a good time for you to organise your own. Consider arranging webinars, meet ups and even conferences if you can. This will help your organisation keep in close contact with your industry, develop your brand and provide invaluable networking opportunities. Digital events also give you the potential to invite people who couldn’t make it to a physical event you organise due to distance. Your digital attendees list is likely to be much larger with the possibility for people around the globe to tune in to your organisation.

4. More Video Views

One of the main reasons people use the internet is to be entertained, and as you know, video provides an engaging and immersive piece of entertainment. Pre-COVID, online video views were surging in popularity. The pandemic left us all in front of illuminated screens binge-watching things we never thought we’d have the time for. Digital adoption has been supercharged and the video streaming trend is here to stay. Even Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg says he sees “video as a mega-trend.” 

Unsurprisingly, live streaming is excessively popular during the pandemic and won’t disappear any time soon. 56% of those who watched a live stream intend to keep on doing so after the pandemic. It is predicted that internet users will watch 100 minutes of videos online each day this year.

It’s also worth noting that 60% of people prefer watching online videos than live television and in 2022, it is predicted that more than 80% of consumer internet traffic will be due to videos. The future is bright for video. You shouldn’t forget about live streaming either, whether via Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Tik Tok or Twitch. It increased by over 300% between March to August last year. This video medium brings you closer to your customers and offers you advantages like the chance to instantly engage with them through live chat. 

5. Increased Data Privacy and Security

This will alarm many marketers. More people are becoming aware of how their personal data is collected online and how needlessly invasive some companies are becoming. The introductions of EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) mean that companies must practice better data hygiene and ensure data storage remains secure. This means some loss of control over which data cookies can collect and, subsequently, a loss of data that allows businesses to really understand what their consumers want.

The solution is to focus on improving your customers’ trust in you and being as transparent as possible. So much data is collected by companies, many of whom have no intention to use it all. Just holding on to this useless data poses a serious security threat. Undertaking frequent audits of your customers’ data and securely deleting what you won’t use is recommended. Always collect, process and store customer data in the most secure way possible.

For marketers in 2021, there is much to do and many unknowns on our horizon. With so many still in lockdown and spending more of their time online, marketers should strike while the iron remains hot. Capitalise on video, be more wary about the data you collect, whilst being as transparent as possible, and explore new avenues to sell your products. We hope this year is much better than the last for you!