2021

Tired: The Two Most Widely Predicted 2021 Marketing Trends

I have my own thoughts about what 2021 will look like for marketers, but just in case this year also turns out to be unprecedented, I’d rather not share them (I’m 99% sure I predicted last year that Instagram removing likes would be the biggest change to marketing in 2020...lol). 

So instead, let’s take a look at the most common 2021 marketing predictions from experts across the universe internet. 

Social commerce is the new sliced bread

Social media platforms accelerating their e-commerce capabilities was far and away the most popular prediction for 2021. Here’s how it took shape across the board:

Instagram: Facebook’s favorite child could add more TikTok-like live shopping options, one-click purchasing, and new ways for creators to let audiences buy direct.  

Facebook: Many social media marketing experts looked into their crystal balls for 2021 and saw Facebook continuing its focus on Shops, as well as further developing Facebook Pay, in order to further lock in DTCs diversify its revenue streams. 

• Some predict that new e-commerce initiatives—like cross-platform ad campaigns between Instagram and Facebook Messenger—could pop up as FB consolidates Messenger in 2021. 

TikTok: That Walmart live shopping event = a window into TikTok’s 2021. “TikTok needs to find more ways to ensure its top creators get paid, otherwise they'll drift off to other platforms where they can make real money,” wrote Andrew Hutchinson for Social Media Today.  

The quote that sums it all up: Josh Cole, the CMO of Sky Zone, said it best for Adweek, making the point that our ad spend will follow shoppers in 2021: 

“The pandemic-driven spike in ecommerce, and a related impact on advertising budget allocations, are both projected to continue. According to eMarketer, advertising on ecommerce platforms jumped 39% in 2020 and will grow another 30% in 2021, capturing 13% of total U.S. digital ad spend,” wrote Cole. 

Diversity and inclusion are here to stay

The industry’s reckoning with racism made marketers wish their company had stronger diversity and inclusion (D&I) structures in place. Many predict 2021 will grant that wish. 

In the office: 2020 talked the talk so 2021 could walk the walk when it comes to giving all marketers what they need to succeed. 

• “If 2020 was about setting goals, the New Year will be about showing evidence and progress. Agencies and brands will be measured, not just by the new hires they make, but by their ability to retain these employees,” wrote Jeanine Poggi for Ad Age. 

In public: In 2021, more of Gen Z will enter the workforce—which some experts predict will further push brands to take a stand on social issues.

• “Brand marketers will feel compelled and inspired to push their organizations to take meaningful stands on social issues,” wrote Cole of Gen Z.  
• “This mindset will impact a range of initiatives, yielding more programs like the partnership benefitting HBCUs integrated into Peloton,” Cole continued.

My takeaway: Those predicting that D&I efforts will solidify across the marketing industry could be proven wrong come 2022 if the movement loses its steam. Keep educating yourselves and each other about how to be an antiracist to make this one a reality. 

SPONSORED BY SAILTHRU

Customer Profiles Worth Your While

Curbside pickup, buying online, and picking up in-store (otherwise known as BOPIS) have been all the retail rage these days, and they're not going away anytime soon. But if retailers don’t adapt to changes in consumer habits, they might be the ones kicked to the curb.

That’s why Sailthru and Liveclicker have compiled the retail strategies to help your business accommodate changes in consumer behavior—starting with understanding the different click and collect customers. 

They’ve identified four different personas to keep in mind: The New Shopper, The BOPIS Beginner, The Pickup Pro, and The Loyal Customer. 

Mastering these nuances is a worthwhile endeavor. Many of today’s strongest brands, like Target, Best Buy, and The Home Depot, have strong click and collect experiences because they know their BOPIS Beginners from their Pickup Pros.

And with Sailthru and Liveclicker’s guide, you can too. Optimizing your click and collect experience is just a click away. 

2021

Wired: The Most Niche 2021 Marketing Trend Predictions

Usually, I see the same predictions pop up over and over again, on list after list of “20XX Marketing Trends.” But because no one predicted that we’d do our entire jobs from home this year, abandoning our offices in favor of Zoom and sweatpants, industry psychics made wilder, less consistent bets for 2021.

Some of the more unique predictions I saw after a year that proved anything can happen are as follows: 

Agencies: Marketing analytics firm CallRail made an aggressively bold prediction that agencies are going to thrive in 2021, despite the in-housing trend. Read the deets here. 

Influencers: For whatever reason, the SmartBrief 2021 prediction I most agree with didn’t make as many other appearances on the web as I expected—I thought it’d be the top trend by far, but references like this one were few and far between. The publisher foresees influencer marketing solidifying “its position as a key channel for consumer brands.” Same, SmartBrief. 

Interns: Marketing Week predicts “apprenticeships” coming back in 2021 as unemployment levels in our industry remain high due to the pandemic.

• “Apprenticeships provide a new route into the marketing profession and in doing so they widen accessibility to those who might not ordinarily consider marketing as a career. In the middle of a recession, they can also play a part in offering young people a foot in the door,” wrote Marketing Week staff. 

FRENCH PRESS

Marketing tips to help you crush those New Year’s resolutions

SEO: If you’re a search marketer who meant to do an audit at the end of the year but didn’t get to it (niche?), here’s how to complete one while everyone is still hung over from New Year’s Eve. 

Facebook: Find 2021’s ultimate Facebook Stories guide here.

Cals: Check out this 2021 marketing calendar to keep track of holidays both macro and micro. 

Content distro: Content distribution experts from Sales Hacker, Drift, ZoomInfo, G2, CloudTalks, The Predictive Index, Demio, and NetHunt recently shared their best content marketing tips for 2021. 

SPONSORED BY MARKETO

2020 proved that hindsight really is 20/20. Marketo has compiled a cheat sheet of four essential demand generation strategies based on marketing learnings from the last year. Get the tools to push forward, learn how to reconnect with your customers, and make the most of every resource in 2021. Sign up for Marketo’s cheat sheet today. 

RESOLUTIONS

We asked, you answered. On Twitter, the Marketing Brew community shared their New Year’s resolutions for work/career in 2021. Here are a few of my favorites: 

One: “To follow the advice from @ThisIsSethsBlog new book ‘The Practice.’ Do the work, to see creativity as a choice and choose it, for no other reason than it's all I can control and to make things better”—@dustingeddis

Two: “I've moved out of marketing now, but I hope at least some of the responses will talk about mobilising marketing spend to do some good in the world. Serious challenges face us—poverty, hunger, the climate crisis. Time to think about what we can all do to make a difference.”—@OWC93

Three: “Narrow the numbers and metrics that matter down to a maximum of 3 and be able to quote them like the back of my hand, any day of the week!”—@moiraesofsun

AD ANTIQUES

Vintage Ad Browser

A Le Chic Buttons New Year’s ad from 1955—tag yourself, I’m the bird on the right absolutely belting his song.

ICYMI

Catch up on a few Marketing Brew stories you might have missed.

• A Post-2020 Guide to Getting Hired in the Marketing Industry
• How to Get a Marketing Job: Landing a Position at Creative and Media Agencies
• How to Get a Marketing Job: Landing a Position at a Publisher