Marketing trends to watch out in 2021
Things are moving relatively fast in the marketing world - there’s always the next best tool to allocate tasks or this new trend to increase conversion and while there is a significant diversity of ideas and predictions around the next best thing, there’s always a common theme of how we are all working hard towards a more empathetic and productive future. As marketers, we believe that marketing can be powerful and be used for good - we understand its influence whether it is B2B or B2C, it’s always a human to human type of connection. As people sometimes have a hard time to trust others when it comes to putting their marketing into the hands of other businesses, it is the role of marketers to make them feel at ease and create a positive impact that will build a stronger bond and loyalty between all parties. Even for our industry as a digital marketing agency based in the United Arab Emirates, the consequences of COVID-19 have shifted things dramatically. That being said, here is what 2021 will have in store for us, based on the opinion and studies made by some respectful marketing leaders, and based on our own experience with our partners.
The human to human type of connection we mentioned above is shifting, but not necessarily in a terrible way. Of course there will be significant changes and the “physical” will most probably become “virtual”. We simply need to adjust and make the most of it, improving the tools we use to make this connection smoother on the long-term. We cannot predict if things will go back to “normal” (whatever ‘normal’ means nowadays) and if travelling and events will eventually go back to how it was. But can predict one thing for certain: Virtual Events will become more popular. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you must have noticed a dramatic increase in the number of online meetings and events. This trend literally exploded and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. Some events literally go on for a few days, with different speakers and different themes, allowing viewers to interact and ask questions - it’s truly incredible what humans can put together and display everything through a small screen. All of that also saves a considerable amount of money too but will we ever feel some sort of virtual burnout? Probably - it will never be the same as a real human to human connection. Also, it gets frustrating when one’s internet keeps lagging (which is something 5G will hopefully fix). All these big conferences that used to be held physically, such as university graduation ceremonies, are now all held online (it’s sad in a way, the future generations might not experience this exhilarating moment of their life we’ve all been through before the pandemic happened). Now is the time for companies to become active contributors and bring value to the conversation. This new digital era offers opportunities to companies to get closer to their audience as it’s a relatively costless and quicker alternative to conventional gatherings/events. They have the chance to connect with them on a much deeper and more frequent level than ever before, pushing for transparency and loyalty. Seems easy enough but the bigger challenge here is to also keep the conversation going before and after the event, and keep engaging and build meaningful connections. Discussions and panels are definitely a better option over simple presentations - people want to be more involved as opposed to just looking at a screen as there is a degree of interactivity that companies will need to achieve in 2021 to stay relevant - which brings us to our next point: customer centricity.
Putting the customer at the center of the decision making process will become increasingly important. The only way to make this achievable is by aligning sales with marketing and customer service to use the same voice, touch point and goals to create a winning partnership. While face-to-face relationship building is not currently possible, companies are entering 2021 with the challenge of bringing relationships and shared business goals to the forefront of every opportunity. The turbulent social and political climate of this new year adds to this challenge. An increasing polarized environment ultimately means that companies will now have to walk on eggshells while navigating as it will become more difficult than ever to please the majority and align with customers. The choice of platforms, medium and channels matter now more than ever, and your brand’s marketing decisions can either make or break your company. Here at Mint Stalk, we spend a significant amount of our time researching what is best for our partners based on the current trends and always do our best to offer the most appropriate solution. Typically what a successful digital marketing agency would do.
Of course, artificial intelligence, machine learning and digital marketing investments will continue to grow. According to surveys done by various industry leaders, companies plan to spend 25% more on digital in 2021, which is also just an average as some bigger companies will most probably invest a lot more. For instance, remote-friendly platforms will continue to grow: e-signature, video conferencing, endpoint security, antivirus, and of course telemedicine. All these categories will remain strong and redefine entirely the workplace we thought we knew. Other industries such as event management or hospitality will also have to readjust their activities.
Another trend that will become a prominent one in 2021 is content marketing in driving conversations. This blog post for instance, isn’t necessarily good for people. It might be quite informative yes, but it’s mostly made for Google. The current climate allows for so much more space for discussion on relevant topics that it would be a shame if companies didn’t take the chance to jump on that train now. As we mentioned previously, there’s a need to drive more interaction and strategies centered around customers - now is the chance to do that. As a leading digital marketing agency based in Dubai, this is what we often suggest to our partners. Conversation and conversion can work hand-in-hand in this case. There have been talks about companies drastically reducing their marketing efforts and budget this year. According to experts however, companies that decide to choose this route are ultimately setting themselves up for failure. If you stop engaging with your audience in a consumerism-driven environment, you will quickly disappear. Being conscious of your budget is of course very important, but the pandemic has accelerated new trends in business and unprecedented digital transformation that should have brought about new opportunities for growth. Instead, a lot of businesses have missed the mark by completely shutting down their marketing channels.
Needless to say, 2020 was a year of change. Companies overall will have to constantly adapt to potential challenges and threats that their business will face in the future: automation, another virus, an alien attack, you name it! All the industries without exception have been affected: education, online retail, restaurants etc. Some did better than others but overall, now is the time for companies to brace themselves for what comes next. As a forward-thinking digital marketing agency based in the UAE, we are at the forefront of all this change. As Dubai is the central hub for technological development and digital transformation, we are ready for the next step and we are determined to accompany you through these challenges.
