This post may contain affiliate links. Read the full disclosure here.
Around this time, even in the best of years, I start geeking out over marketing trends and strategic planning for the upcoming year. And yo, this year is hardly the best of anything. As you’re laying out your microbusiness initiatives that can be utilized on a shoestring budget, consider including these four marketing trends in 2021.
Marketing Trends for 2021 #1: Brand Activism
Once upon a time, companies strived to remain neutral on what was going on in the world. It made sense. Whenever people disagree, there will be two sides. The minute a business chooses either side, there is a risk of alienating the prospects and customers on the other side of the issue. So, the safe bet was to take no stand.
But, we saw in 2020 that not acknowledging current affairs and burying your head in the sand can be more detrimental to your microbusiness than taking a stand. Consumers have more choices than ever, and they are less tolerant of companies who refuse to acknowledge what is happening in the world. Consumers want to use their spending power to support the causes that are important to them.
Incorporating brand activism into your overall marketing strategy doesn’t mean taking a stand on every issue but connecting your business with the causes and issues aligned with your mission and your ideal client.
It doesn’t mean you have to boycott, picket, or make a big stink about something. It can be as simple as identifying a cause that’s important to you and finding a way to support that cause. That support can be financial, such a donating a portion of sales to a nonprofit, donating your time, or highlighting them on your website.
Brand activism is taking a stand and actively working to make your community better and is the one of the top marketing trends for 2021.
#2: Social Commerce
Once upon a time, social media was a tool in your marketing toolbox, but not necessarily part of your sales engine. You’d post products on social networks and hope visitors would click through to your sales engine.
That’s so 2019.
With the introduction of Facebook Shops, Instagram Shops and Pinterest catalogs/shopping ads, you can conduct an entire sales transaction on social media.
Social commerce creates a streamlined experience for the consumer, so she’s not jumping from site to site, page to page, to make a purchase. Simplicity and ease is the name of the game.
More than 50% of web traffic happens on mobile devices. Think about your personal online shopping experience, especially on mobile. How many clicks does it take before you give up? Imagine cutting the entire transaction down to a few clicks and boom the transaction is complete.
Marketing Trends for 2021 #3: User-Generated Content
User-Generated Content {UGC} is one of my favorite marketing trends for 2021.
UGC is any content that your customers create to share their experience with your service or product. It could be a review, testimonial, photos, or videos of them using your product or service.
These pieces of content typically outperform other types of marketing content because they are deemed more trustworthy.
Let’s say I told you right this second how excellent my latest course is. You may or may not believe me because it’s my job to talk about my latest offering like it’s the greatest thing since sliced bread. It’s how I make money, so even if the product were a steaming pile of poo, I’d still say it was awesome. You’re no dummy, and you know that since I’m financially invested in you buying this course, my word only goes so far.
Now, if my client Betty writes a testimonial about how that course changed her life, gave her a puppy, made her a bazillion dollars, and let her retire 10-years early, you might believe that the product is, in fact, the greatest thing since sliced bread.
Because Betty is not incentivized to sell the course and doesn’t benefit from sharing her experience, she is instantly more trustworthy than me. It’s not her job, so if she said it, it must be true. Whether you know Betty or not, you trust her more than you do me.
Getting UGC is not hard. You simply have to ask and make it easy for your customers to provide it. Start asking for photos/videos and testimonials/reviews in your follow-up process, and you’ll have a bank of content to use in no time.
#4: Live Video
Livestreaming video is the final marketing trend for 2021. It was big for 2020, and it’s only going to continue to grow in the upcoming year.
Overall, consumers love video. Check out some of these statistics from Biteable:
- 54% of consumers said they want more video content this year than last year.
- 66% of consumers prefer watching a video to learn about a product over reading about it.
- 84% of people say they’ve been convinced to buy a product or a service by watching a video.
- 90% of consumers claim a video will help them make a purchasing decision.
- Facebook reports that they get more than 8 billion video views daily.
- By 2021, over 80% of all traffic on the internet will consist of video.
Video is where it’s at. And livestreaming video is the most accessible and most engaging type of video.
There are no barriers to entry to implement a livestreaming strategy. With just your phone, you can livestream right now on Facebook, Instagram, or YouTube. And, with livestreaming, you can genuinely interact and engage with your audience in real-time.
As a shoestring marketer, you can incorporate all of these trends into your 2021 plans for free-fifty-free. Holla!
Which trend will you start with?