Unexpected Digital Marketing Trends for 2021
By: Dana Kachan
Tags: Digital Marketing, Marketing Strategies, Marketing, Business, Brand Strategy

Unexpected Digital Marketing Trends for 2021

These anticipations toward the future of digital marketing can help businesses get ready for the new market rules in the upcoming year. Dana Kachan Dec 28, 2020·5 min read

Photo by Anthony DELANOIX via Unsplash

We might expect that 2021 will bring business trends related to compassion amidst the coronavirus pandemic and the accompanying recession. And yes, maybe. However, in this article, we’re going to consider something different. The trends above are more about stone-hard patience, business resilience, flexibility, and required changes that will help succeed in 2021.

Here we talk about respect to customers, business cartoons, customer socializing, rethought influencer marketing, and other digital marketing trends for your inspiration. Without further ado, let’s take a look at them.

Respect, Not “Love” for Customers Is All That Matters

Photo by Jabari Timothy via Unsplash

Flexibility and resilience are top priorities

By saying “love,” we mean sweet advertising talkings and brands’ promises to deliver all the best to their buyers. The world is now staying on the verge of making the huge jump from the convenient and usual into new, frightening, and prospective. The coronavirus made us rethink our values and understand that flexibility and resilience are top priorities required to survive in the post-pandemic world. However, not everyone is thinking in this way…

Many people aren’t ready

Many people aren’t ready. Customer irritation increasingly arises because they are forced to waiting for their purchases too long due to disrupted logistics chains during the lockdown. The inbox of customer support representatives is overflowed with the customers’ queries about the changes in the company’s usual processes.

Overall psychological tension is more frequently expressed in the negative comments under the brand’s posts on social media. These are just several examples of what’s happening in the business behind the scenes.

Understanding and help

In these conditions, companies need to realize that the priorities have switched from the promises about being the best for their customers to just being honest with them. Respect for customers is all that will matter.

Companies should maintain a continuous dialog with their customers on social media through regular updates on changes in usual processes and operations. Keeping people timely informed about the changes is one of the brand’s respect for its buyers. Customer support is gaining even greater importance. Trends like AI-powered proactive live chats, self-service customer platforms, brand’s social profiles created specifically for customer service, and other innovative customer experience trends will be very actual.

Animation in B2B. Cartoons Will Drive The Business World

Animation by Vladislav Olshevsky for Fireart Studio

Although businesses worldwide used to apply advertising as the most effective means of promotion, things have changed. In 2021, we expect to see the rise of animated video marketing in B2B. Today, many experts say it is the most powerful tool for audience engagement, loyalty, and brand awareness. It allows multiplying conversions and achieving even better results than with advertisement in the past years.

Companies from different industries use animated explainer videos to communicate the brand’s ideas to a target audience, describe complicated business processes and concepts, educate customers on how to use a particular product or service, train employees, etc. As many brands start realizing the benefits of using animated videos in B2B, we will see business cartoons on social media, corporate websites, and web advertising even more often.

Digital Design as The Identifier of The Brand’s Quality

Design by Nathan Riley for green chameleon

Today, many people identify whether the company is trustworthy, considering a set of factors, including previous customer reviews, content, and Design. The last one plays a crucial role in the digital business presence. Great website design, mobile app design, or design of marketing materials adds credibility to the company and significantly contributes to a brand reputation.

In the contemporary world, business-driven digital product design is often perceived as the identifier of the company’s authoritativeness and quality of its products (or services). As a digital marketer, you should keep it in mind when creating a visual part of content and advertising since you’re directly affecting the customer’s first impression of the company.

Customer Socialization Amidst The Lockdown

Photo by Zac Ong via Unsplash

The lockdown has become part of our reality, unfortunately. While most people stay at home, the need for online socializing is increasingly growing. We have missed offline communication and human-to-human interaction. Regardless of the industry and business specifics, modern customers seek a way to socialize even when they do online shopping or interact with their favorite brands online.

In these conditions, brand community marketing is gaining momentum. So, I recommend paying particular attention to building an online community around the company on social media, forums, self-service customer portals, etc. Encouraging followers to interact with each other and your company is a great practice that will help you address the customer’s urgent need for socialization.

Brand Executives as Media Influencers

Photo by Carlos Arthur M.R. via Unsplash

Influencer marketing is a widespread marketing practice that allows brands to connect with their target audience personally. In 2021, we will witness the growing popularity of the new brunch of influencer marketing — “executive influencer marketing” or personal branding, in other words.

We anticipate that many businesses will build relationships with their customers by introducing their executives, top managers, and leaders as niche experts. Today, influencers are those who produce experience-based content for the community that trusts them and rely on their opinions. Usually, the influencer knows the field inside out, is always aware of all the latest trends, and can provide valuable advice on it.

The influencer is someone trustworthy, impactful, and whose opinion matters to many. Brand leaders perfectly align into this category and may act as the brand’s own influencers to set close relationships with a target audience.

The Future Is Rushing to Us. Is Your Marketing Ready to Meet It?

Although the future is almost unpredictable these digital trends are very likely to be on the rise in 2021. Your business is the direct reflection of yourself as an entrepreneur, your readiness to accept the new, flexibility to changes, and resilience to challenges. Hopefully, these business predictions will inspire you to amplify these abilities and make your business even more successful in 2021.