Marketing in 2021 – The 2020 marketing pivot and what’s to come in 2021

2020 has been a 12 months for embracing chaos — for entrepreneurs and companies alike. Although we confronted many challenges, there’s a silver lining bringing us all nearer collectively. As entrepreneurs, we discovered to pivot together with customers in the face of chaos, adapting to new purchasing and search behaviors that got here to outline the 12 months. While some traits have been brief-lived (like digital cocktail hours) others have caught and proceed to make an affect. So, what’s subsequent? While we don’t have a crystal ball, understanding 2020 offers us a good suggestion of the place we’re headed as we plan for 2021.  

A shift in TV

It’s no shock — streaming programming continued to rise as audiences stayed residence extra this 12 months. Consumers continued to lower the wire, escaping to streaming gadgets like Smart TVs and Rokus. According to Nielsen scores, The Mandalorian collection alone – obtainable solely on streaming gadgets – generated 47.6 million hours of watch time in the course of the first three weeks of its premiere! This wasn’t only a one-off, both. A March report predicted that media consumption was anticipated to rise 60% in 2020, and this pattern was carried out all year long with file-breaking numbers in many markets. This was additionally the 12 months that Neilsen revealed that their scores system would now separate conventional and streaming scores, signaling a shift in promoting away from the tv-first mannequin we’ve seen in the previous. For companies with a powerful digital technique, this enhance represents a big alternative to join to new audiences that will beforehand have been tough to attain.

Shopping from the consolation of residence

When customers wanted a break from The Mandalorian, audiences continued to scroll on their gadgets for retail remedy. In specific, Gen Z and Millennials, who’ve overtaken BabyBoomers as the biggest inhabitants section, are keen to spend. According to BCG, Millennials are anticipated to enhance spending by 10% in the subsequent 5 years, whereas Gen Z will enhance by over 70%. In 2020, each generations flocked to know-how, the place e-commerce has grown to fulfill shopper wants for take-out, bathroom paper, how-to movies, purchasing, and extra. Technology adopted, with many social media channels launching new options, reminiscent of Facebook Shop Live or IG looking for a seamless “click on to purchase” purchasing expertise. 

Searching for solutions

The search was on as individuals seemed to Google for solutions throughout this 12 months of unknowns. According to Google, a few of the prime trending searches in 2020 included “how to lower males’s hair at residence” or “how to make a masks with out stitching.” Each search reveals the wants and the uncertainties of customers. As entrepreneurs, this search information is a treasure of worth. Search not solely reveals sentiment but additionally signifies areas the place customers’ wants aren’t being met (hi there market alternatives!) You may be certain to see loads of males’s self-styling merchandise this 12 months.

Honest and relatable social media content material 

Don’t go chasing algorithms— bear in mind your story. In this 12 months of social distancing and keep-at-residence quarantine,  the necessity to join to others was fulfilled on-line by means of social media, which supplied a voice for a lot of to talk with the skin world. One of the largest platforms for brand spanking new voices this 12 months was TikTok, which emerged as essentially the most downloaded app of the 12 months for customers between 18 and 24. However, irrespective of the channel, the message was the identical — honesty and transparency. “We’re in this collectively” might as properly have been the tagline of the 12 months, signifying the connection that all of us craved whereas staying aside.

People purchase from individuals

In truth, a latest examine by Allison+Partners discovered that 58% of entrepreneurs imagine that humanizing a model will lead to greater gross sales. For many companies, bodily doorways have been closed, giving social media and YouTube the proper platform to talk with their viewers. The voices of manufacturers confirmed up for his or her clients with behind the scenes appears to be like at their struggles and tales in a humanistic approach. This honesty usually led to stronger buyer belief and gross sales. It confirmed that companies have been nonetheless there for his or her communities — close to and far. 

The Rise of the Influencer

Many companies additionally seemed to their audiences to give trustworthy suggestions on their services or products by means of influencer marketing campaigns. In our personal yard, Dunkin Donuts used Nano Influencers (accounts with just one,000 to 10,000 followers) to attain a extra genuine viewers. The influencers’ objective — to produce excessive engagement charges by specializing in being life like and relatable to the viewers to promote Dunkin Donuts. The outcomes proved sturdy, with 21,975 likes and a 5.2% engagement price. This consumer-generated content material gave an trustworthy take a look at how customers actually really feel about manufacturers. Meanwhile, Maine’s iconic L.L.Bean took to the outside, that includes model ambassadors as influencers by particularly hiring #LLBeancollege students that showcased their L.L.Bean adventures on social media all year long. While the outcomes of this marketing campaign haven’t been finalized, we anticipate comparable success to the Dunkin Donuts marketing campaign.

Though the marketing panorama might have modified in 2020, the long run appears to be like vibrant in 2021 for companies and audiences. The profit of those traits to companies is the comfort to pivot alongside viewers behaviors. Both digital promoting and paid social media supply a comparatively cheap spend with a excessive ROI, that may be modified virtually immediately. For audiences, these platforms supply a approach to join and share their experiences. We’ll preserve pivoting into 2021, listening to customers, persevering with to join them to companies, and discover the solutions to what’s to come in 2021. 

Does your small business have questions on how to pivot this 12 months? We’d love to hear from you.