News & Insights

2021 Marketing Trends

2020 brought forth a whirlwind of emotions and unexpected experiences. However, we have entered a new year and we now have new things to look forward to. 2021 is particularly going to be a unique year for marketing, and one of the best things that 2020 taught us was to be prepared for anything. This will be a transitional year in many ways as we hopefully come out of the pandemic and enter a new normal. Here’s a summary of what you can expect this year in marketing.

Purpose Driven Brands

The summer of 2020 ignited a renewed surge for racial justice in this country and put tremendous pressure on companies to make a “change.” We’ve seen many brands step up and take action towards increased social responsibility. Some created programs to help racial equality in their own organizations and others started funds to support Black businesses and equality efforts. Overall, consumers are looking for brands that have purpose behind them. It is not just enough to “sell” anymore. Consumers want the brands they support to support the same issues they do. Companies have advantages that the average person doesn’t; such as influence, capital and reach. A brand that utilizes those resources to tackle an issue builds a strong connection with a consumer that shares similar views.

A brand shouldn’t support something as a business tactic. Consumers can smell a phony from miles away. A major part of becoming a purpose driven brand is authenticity. Each step you take needs to be out of an effort to help, rather than out of self-interest. This year more than ever, consumers are going to pay close attention to the brands they buy from. It’s on you, as the company, to transition authentically, as needed.

Easy to Consume Content

One trend that has been steadily growing over the past years is content that is easy to consume. This type of content comes in many forms; such as short videos, infographics and podcasts. They are all are easy to read, watch or listen and can be consumed nearly anywhere. Short videos are more prominent then ever since the rise of Tik Tok and other similar platforms. Google has even added these platform’s videos onto its video carousel that appears during a search. Infographics are effective ways to engage an audience by displaying the information you want to convey in a fun and interactive way. Last, podcasts have become one of the most popular forms of content. There’s even a war at hand… a podcast war that is. Companies from Spotify, Apple, and Amazon are fighting to become THE podcast platform. Each of these have one thing on common, they allow you to deliver the information you want to consumers… most of which have small attention spans.

Point of view of women looking down at feet with her phone in her hand and headphones plugged in.

Virtual Events

Virtual events have existed in the past but never like this. 2020 made the digital word our reality. This was always going to happen; this past year just accelerated it. Now that virtual events are here to stay, you must know how to use them properly. These events can be extremely useful for your business by allowing your consumers to connect with you in a more personal way. There’s a lot that goes into setting up and hosting a virtual event.

This year is going to look very different, so it’s important that you continuously listen for new trends that will emerge. We’re sure there’ll be many that we never saw coming. The SRB team is hopeful that 2021 will treats us better than 2020. Oh, and by the way…Happy New Year!