What is changing in Marketing in 2021?
If you’re anything like us, your email and social feeds are probably currently filled to the brim with articles promising to update you on the latest and greatest in marketing.
To save you from reading through all of them to find the gems, we’ve pulled together this list of some of the best trend articles published recently.
What are other marketers saying?
Hub Spot has compiled a detailed report based on surveying 3,400 marketers worldwide, which is worth investing some time in reading. The report covers content marketing, social media, digital advertising, SEO, website strategy, email marketing and more. They have also supplemented the report with additional articles on these topics by some of their topic experts.
NB: If you only have time to click on one link in this review, then read the Hub Spot report.
This article by Outgrow reviews some key statistics from a variety of third party studies around what marketers (mostly in the UK) are doing in terms of content marketing, paid advertising, social media and general marketing. It’s a bit more high level (aka pithy) and links to the original sources in most instances so you can go deeper.
Big Picture Consumer Trends
Google has identified some key consumer behaviour trends for 2021, based on search behaviour and how marketers can respond. These trends include the fact that consumers are seeking greater control of their immediate environment and greater work-life balance and the desire for increased connection.
Fast Company has written an interesting article about how the circular economy will continue to become more mainstream in 2021.
To go even broader, this article in The Conversation summarises the results of over 108 interviews with leading thinkers in all areas, about what they think our world might look like after the coronavirus.
The Focus for Marketers in 2021
In this series of articles, Marketing Week identifies eight key trends, which will impact marketing and marketers, with a particular focus on large companies and big brands, especially FMCG.
These predictions from Google are also thought-provoking and a good short read.
Social Media Marketing
Hootsuite has prepared a detailed report on the trends in social media, based on around 11k interviews conducted in Q3 2020, interviews with dozens of industry specialists and published reports and data from leading sources.
You will need to opt-in here to view the report, as it is embedded on one of the pages. To whet your appetite, here are the five key trends they identify:
- As consumers couldn’t go instore, retailers and others sought to engage customers and create online experiences via social media, with a clear objective of generating sales.
- With the pandemic making people more interested in connecting with each other than brands, sentimental content from brands was mocked and brands discovered they need to be more passive and listen instead of joining the conversation. If brands did try to engage, humourous and original content performed best.
- Baby boomers increased their time online and began to be recognised as a target online, challenging stereotypes for digital marketing strategies.
- Advanced marketers sought to link social profiles to customers on their CRM to improve measurability.
- Companies began to realise how vital being purpose-driven (as opposed to empty promises on social media.
For each trend, Hootsuite provides some data, examples of companies taking action and some suggestions for adapting the trend to your own context.
Local agency Megaphone Marketing also prepared this guide which is full of practical new ideas.
Content Marketing
SEMrush’s State of Content Marketing 2020 study is an excellent, detailed report. As well as surveying 1500 Content Marketers, they’ve also analysed Twitter posts, Google searches and top-performing posts to draw out insights. The style might take you a few pages to get used to, but the findings are quite insightful.
Technology and Automation
Here are two useful articles on marketing technology trends and more specifically marketing automation
Some specific trends to follow:
For some more topical articles, here are a few others you might enjoy:
- This update is on how TikTok is working with brands in Australia and New Zealand to develop content for the platform.
- This explainer on ClubHouse, the newest and hippest in social media sites, is only available to you via an exclusive invitation.
- This article on where we go next in terms of virtual versus face-to-face events
MWI is hoping to be back soon with events to help you stay up-to-date, so make sure you’re on our mailing list to get first call on tickets.
Be sure to share any thoughts with us on these articles and any other trend pieces you’ve been reading.
