Marketing Trends To Match Our Times
Industries have had to adapt and evolve in ways no one would have predicted to accommodate an altered state of a new normal business.
We’ve dusted off our crystal ball in order to see the future trends in Marketing for 2021. No one will deny that our world (and I mean the whole world) has been turned upside down in 2020, and that goes for the tried and true approaches to marketing. The industry has had to adapt and evolve in ways no one would have predicted to accommodate an altered normal.
Marketing trends have always had to keep up with the times, which requires us to move quickly and nimbly to stay ahead of the curve. Perhaps the most challenging year, 2020, as unpredictable as it’s been, has provided us with insights on future trends to acknowledge and implement.
1. Content Reigns True
Our prediction: How you tell your company’s story and position yourself in the market is wholly dependent on strong content that resonates broadly.
With more and more businesses interacting with their employees and their customers remotely, innovative ways to use social channels will be crucial for the near and far future. Content marketing is now and will continue to be an essential tool for attracting and retaining customers. Strong messaging and positioning should be the core of any marketing strategy, and choosing the most appropriate channel to deliver content will be a significant factor in successful execution.
The right content fosters trust and credibility when you make promises that you intend to keep—it’s how you walk the talk. Providing relevant information that describes the benefits customers receive using your products and services goes a long way in stimulating interest. Content marketing offers website analytics, keyword search enhancement that leads to higher search engine rankings, and increased traffic enabling you to nurture leads and increase sales opportunities.
It’s all about creating and promoting the content your target audience requires. There are infinite possibilities for what a single piece of content might look like depending on the number of audiences and buyer personas you serve. There are many content formats to consider, including written copy, video, graphic, audio, and social channels. Many of these content types work in collaboration with other forms. For example, a webinar involves a strategically written script, audio narration, and animated designs or PowerPoint slides to complete the final presentation. Your choice in how you publish, promote, and amplify your content is as important as the content you create.
2. User Generated Content
Our prediction: User experience and satisfaction goes a long way in promoting your products and services. The power of seeing how customers “just like me” have benefited is a powerful tool.
With the increased dependence on digital formats and social networks in the wake of the pandemic and most likely from now on, User Generated Content (UGC) provides an added level of authenticity and relatability that written formats cannot offer. The simple fact is that it is far easier to ingest information in an engaging and compelling video profile or product demonstration than to find the information you seek by consuming and digesting long blocks of written content.
Reflecting real users’ experience and satisfaction with your products and services humanizes the brand and empowers consumers to choose what’s right for them. People want to connect with people like them, who have the same problems to solve and have successfully met those challenges.
3. Social Channel Impact
Our prediction: Over the past year and in the future, there will be an increase in users of social sites like Instagram Live, Facebook Live, Twitter, YouTube and even LinkedIn to enable reaching your target market live in person.
The global crisis we are experiencing has added a greater focus on closing the social distancing gap by providing the opportunity to tune in live. Live video feeds ‘at the moment’ have kept many industries solvent this past year, and given the success of these efforts, it could become a new way to reach audiences in the future. For example, clothing stores have resorted to showing their merchandise in live online events, creating a social environment, and the opportunity for viewers to see products on models while answering questions on the spot. Local small business operators have now captured a global audience with special incentives for viewers to invite their friends and family to join in.
Amid this global economic crisis and uncertainty of what tomorrow brings, people desire three key things —honest information, support, and to know that they are not alone, that there are others to whom they can relate.
It stands to reason all three of these needs can be achieved with high-value content and the appropriate vehicle to share with a broad audience.
Information will always be a commodity today and in the future. Make the most of the information you share and the story you tell for boosting your market presence.
Peter Drucker, a world-renowned management consultant, once said, “The greatest danger in times of turbulence is not the turbulence – it is to act with yesterday’s logic.” What 2020 has taught us is that we can’t rely on how we use to market our brands, but instead need to adapt to an ever-changing environment. Yes, individual marketing initiatives are tried and true, no matter what is going on in the marketplace. Paying attention to the market in general and your customers specifically allow you to adjust tactics as necessary.
Go where the people are. NobleRock Creative can help you implement and sustain these elements in your marketing plan
