Digital marketing trends dominating summer 2021

Check in with your customers

During the pandemic, brands communicated with prospects and customers in different ways. Be it staying silent, communicating like normal as if nothing had happened or addressing certain issues that affected their target audience. As restrictions are eased brands need to find ways to reconnect with prospects and customers, show you care! This can include; questionnaires, surveys, and one-to-one feedback that generate direct responses so that you can grasp an understanding on how the pandemic is affecting your customers and what experience they want, need, and expect.

Play On 'FOMO'

As everything opens up again the FOMO affect is back (fear-of-missing-out). Whether it be a product or service, people don’t like missing out what is 'in'. A clever brand will use loss aversion to their advantage and exploit it to invigorate marketing campaigns and make customers feel like they need to connect with your brand.

Conversational Marketing

Modern marketing is more conversational, as people want it that way, so brands are reacting, facilitating a one-to-one real-time conversation and connection between brands and customers. In fact, 82% of consumers demand an “immediate” response if they have a query. Now is the time to adopt a feedback-driven model that promotes higher engagement and greater loyalty - and enhances user experience!

Personalisation

If you want to stand out for the remainder of 2021, you need to personalise your marketing - content, products, emails and more. 63% of consumers are highly annoyed with generic advertising blasts. 80% say they are more likely to do business with a company if it offers personalised experiences.

The power of personalisation can be best exemplified by the likes of Netflix and Amazon, with their tailored recommended products and film titles. Also, Starbucks have created a gamified mobile app that picks up on data from customers’ (check) purchase history and locations to customise drinks encouraging further use in the rewards system. Cadbury’s have helped to personalise our chocolate preferences, matching Dairy Milk flavours with users based on data from their Facebook profiles - generating a 65% click-through rate and a 33.6% conversion rate, proving that the personal touch works.

Video Marketing

If you haven’t embraced it already then now is the time. Video marketing is one of the most important marketing trends of the moment and is expected to grow in years to come. 70% of consumers say that they have shared a brand’s video. 72% of businesses say that video has improved their conversion rate. 52% of consumers say that watching product videos makes them more confident in online purchase decisions. It is the best way for customers to learn more about your brand.

Social Commerce & Shoppable Posts

With e-commerce and social media both growing at staggering rates, it’s no surprise that brands are using the two in tandem, to maximise sales opportunities. Not only have we started to see more Instagram adverts pop up (which has proven to be a negative influence for all those shopaholics!) but they also allow an Instagram checkout, enabling users to complete purchases via Instagram. E-commerce brands hope this will reduce the risk that customers will abandon their purchase because they have to switch apps or sign into an unknown store.

Growth of Purpose-Driven Marketing

During the pandemic, this had proven to be an avenue for brands to reach out to people with their messages, especially during uncertain times. People now want clarity in terms of what brands stand for and whether they make a difference in the world. This means genuinely connecting with customers through something that they believe in and through a common purpose and cause. This can include promoting environmental issues, racial issues, gender equality etc. In turn, consumers are more likely to support that brand if they believe it’s having a positive impact on the world.