8 Digital Marketing Trends for 2021
We always look forward to the annual reports that summarise how social media has changed and developed over the year. This year, everything feels VERY different!
Basically, everything has changed. With all of the monumental events of 2020, we’ve all been forced to interact and communicate in different ways. But what does that actually mean for marketers?
If you don’t have time to read all 35 (rather brilliant) pages of the Falcon.io 2021 Digital Marketing Trends don’t worry – we’ve summarised it for you here.
“Social media has grown at an average rate of 12.5% year-over-year since 2015”
1. There’s value in building online communities.
If you were in any doubt before, lockdowns have proved that we need our audiences online to stay in touch. It’s worth investing time and effort in growing your online networks so you don’t find yourself stranded when you can’t meet up with people in real life.
2. Taking a public stance on controversial issues
If it genuinely fits with your brand values, taking a stance on controversial issues can benefit your culture, employee morale and gain the respect of a wider audience. Jumping on the bandwagon because something is trending isn’t cool though and people can see through it.
“75% of Millenials would agree that it’s important for brands to give back to society.”
3. Raw, unfiltered, fleeting content is overtaking picture-perfect posts.
It’s all about the Stories and Fleets. Their limited lifespan keep people coming back because they only last for 24 hours. (But whether we should really be cashing in on FOMO is another issue for another time). 70% of people who visit Instagram daily view Stories. So it’s not just about the grid anymore, but a blended approach to publishing.
4. Augmented reality
AR is being used to elevate the customer experience through more realistic virtual shopping.
“Augmented reality bridges the gap between the real-world and the digital world, and gives brands the opportunity to explore controversial commerce through compelling storytelling. If brands aren’t exploring AR activations now, then they might miss a huge opportunity.”
5. Data privacy becomes increasingly important to us all.
Let’s all keep an eye on how social networks treat our data this year – 76% of us aren’t happy with it. The Cambridge Analytica scandal has opened a can of worms for Facebook (rightly so) and we want to see social networks taking our data seriously.
6. People want and engage more with personalised ads – well 80% of us do.
While brands can run very cost-effective campaigns using networks’ machine learning and hyper-targeting, personalised ads could become an issue if we’d rather our data wasn’t used in this way. Ads have actually become less trusted in 2020… so there’s another obstacle there. (Our opinion is it’s essential to build trust alongside any paid campaigns as we become more discerning about what content we engage with).
7. Use more video: vertical, shoppable, 360, animated, Stories, Boomerang, timelapse… all of it!
Get creative and watch the engagement fly in. Apparently, we will watch an average of 100 minutes per day watching video in 2021. (Wow) Video has always been a great way to get messages across and also to get people’s attention on social. As the options for video become greater, think about how you can incorporate different video formats into your social media content plan.
8. Social media is the new face of PR (wasn’t it already?)
With influencers, ambassadors, opinion leaders and amplified word of mouth all contributing to our social proof, social PR is where it’s at. We help all of our clients to develop social objectives that take into account their reputation, marketing position and PR opportunities. Social can play a big part in how people perceive our brands and our credibility!