This time last year, when looking at the biggest marketing trends for 2020, who would have predicted the ‘crazy-Covid-world’ that we now live in? With the last 12 months dominated by numerous lockdowns, social and business restrictions, and the confusion of Brexit, let’s take a look at how marketing trends will shape and enhance your business in 2021.
Social Media & Interactive Content
Whilst it remains important not to put all of your marketing eggs in one basket, it’s also vital we consider the current climate. According to the Office for National Statistics, a staggering 38% of the UK are able to work from home during lockdown due to the Coronavirus pandemic. The Opinions and Lifestyle Survey, carried out in November 2020, also showed that 59% of Londoners were able to log in from home.
According to Smart Insights and research by Global WebIndex, social media users are now spending an average of 2 hours and 24 minutes per day multi-networking across an average of 8 social networks and messaging apps. A report by DataReportal look sat changes in social media usage during the COVID-19 lockdown. Most notably, was a monumental increase in online and digital activities by users.
What does this mean for your business, you maybe asking?… Well, get social and get sharing! With over 3.6 billion people using social media worldwide, now is undoubtedly the time to take advantage of your audiences’ social habits (or lack of them at the moment!)
Right now, your priorities need to be interacting, with your audience, differentiating your brand, and creating effective and engaging stories, with interesting content that encourages your audience to participate and share with their friends and followers.
Take a look at one of our favourite engaging social media posts:
User generated content
Now you’ve seen just how social media traffic has increased, why not use is to leverage the power of user-generated content to drive traffic and increase conversions for your business?
User-generated content (UGC) has become an important part of the content marketing strategy in the current era, where customers are ready to rave about your products or services online. UGC refers to the content that is created by the users of a brand, rather than the brand itself and it can be anything from comments, reviews, and images to social media posts.
According to the Nielsen Consumer TrustIndex, 92% of consumers trust organic, user-generated content more than they trust traditional advertising. This is because brands don’t pay for UGC, it is unbiased and created by users because they like the offerings of a business. User generated content is perceived as more authentic and honest.
Virtual Events
Whilst events and face to face meetings are currently on hold due to the Coronavirus pandemic, there’s anew trend in town…yes you guessed it! Zoom and its distant cousin Google Meets. These platforms have seen strong growth, with Zoom's most recent figures suggesting the platform has 300 million daily meeting participants, compared to just 10 million inDecember 2019. Google Meet's figures, meanwhile, hover around a cool 100million participants a day.
Whilst virtual events are key during the pandemic, it’s likely there’s due to be a rise in hybrid events in the longer term, which offer in-person and virtual experiences, enabling you to reach a wider audience. But the million-dollar question is, how will marketers keep both audiences engaged? This will of course, depend on the objective, audience, and platform, however, we feel it’s important to have a reason for your audience to join you either virtually or in person, rather than opting to watch an online version of your event at a later date.
With over 96% of households in Great Britain having access to the internet, and the entire nation in lockdown, why is hosting a virtual event so imperative for your business?
1) It’s less expensive
On average, it’s 75% cheaper to host a virtual event as you’ll save on staff, venue, travel costs, and so much more. The only thing you need to worry about is your online subscription!
2) More flexible
Because it’s virtual, not only will you save yourself some time with the planning and set up, but you can also make it as flexible as you like, at a time to suit you and your audience. There’s also no travel time and certainly no need to get dolled up to join in from the luxury of your own home!
3) Global Reach
With virtual events, it’s easy to increase your reach and audience! You can easily promote your event by sharing the link to your website and social media channels. People from across the world can join instantly without thinking about travel.
Personalisation
If you want to stand out in 2021, you need to personalise your marketing – and that means personalised content, products, emails and more. Why? We hear you ask…
Well, according to SmarterHQ, 72% of consumers say they now only engage with marketing messages that are personalised and tailored to their interests. But don’t forget - whilst personalisation helps you stand out from the crowd, data and security is just as important to consumers.
Take a look at our favourite examples of personalised marketing:
· EasyJet launched a data-driven email campaign that uses customers’ travel history with the airline to build personalised stories, which then suggests where they might like to travel next. About 12.5 million unique emails have been sent, which had a 25% higher click-through rate than non-personalised emails.
· Cadbury created a personalised video campaign that matches a Dairy Milk flavour with users based on data from their Facebook profile, including age, interest and location. The campaign generated a 65% click-through rate and a 33.6% conversion rate, proving that the personal touch works.
· Starbucks used a gamified mobile app that drew on data, such as purchase history and location to get as personal as possible; allowing people to customise their drinks, and encourage further use with its rewards system – which skyrocketed their revenue to $2.56 billion.
Nano influencers
Nano-influencers — are Instagram users who have between 1,000 and 5,000 followers. Their accounts aren either glamorous, polished, and photos are neither posed nor retouched with dozens of filters.
Why it’s ideal to work with a nano-influencer:
1) They have closer relationships with their audience
Nano-influencers have stronger connections with their audience. They have usually established a good dialogue with them and one-on-one communication, which is much more intimate and engaging.
2) Their engagement rate is much higher
Engagement rate has a huge impact on reach, the higher the rate, the more an influencer’s followers will see a sponsored post.
3) People trust small influencers more
A nano-influencer is almost considered a friend by most of their followers and we tend to trust our friends more than someone who is unknown, or potentially being paid big bucks to advertise a brand.
4) Nano-influencers are more relevant for your brand
Most nano-influencers tend to make their content more niche and category-specific. This is why the use of nano-influencers allows brands to reach different segments and better position their products.
5) Nano-influencers are more cost-effective
More often than not, they don’t receive too many requests from brands and as a result are more than happy to talk about you in exchange for your product or service.
We’ve always believed that the key to successful marketing is about staying on top of current trends. While there is no perfect strategy, especially during such a turbulent period, we believe that you will watch your business grow more than ever by applying the tactics above. If you are interested in outsourcing some or all of your marketing activity or would like to discuss your requirements further, please get in touch at hello@creativepod.net
