MARKETING TRENDS FOR 2021

This just might be the one 2021 marketing trend piece you read that won’t mention voice search marketing. Sorry, I can’t get there when most of my time is spent yelling  “Alexa, music off!” or—to answer a question from my daughter—“Siri, how old is Santa Claus?” 

Santa is roughly 1,748 years old, by the way. Quite the jolly old bird, indeed. 

Anyway, let’s get to the marketing trends of 2021. Honestly, anything with 2021 instead of 2020 is exciting enough on its own.

DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION

This shouldn’t ever be a trend. It should be simply how we conduct our daily lives. But I’m putting this here—as #1—because it’s an area more companies need to embrace. And guess what? It’s simply good business, as well. VAB took a look at hundreds of advertising campaigns across 50 brands and found that those tied to diversity and inclusion drove more business success. Nike’s  “DREAM CRAZY,” which debuted in 2018, is still generating success and record-breaking sales into 2020. D&I has to be a core part of your brand. Your business operation. Your marketing. Your daily life.

D&I includes making sure your digital properties—especially your website—are accessible to everyone. Established by the World Wide Web Consortium, WEB CONTENT ACCESSIBILITY GUIDELINES provide a roadmap for how to make your website more accessible to all. At Dixon Schwabl, our web developers use software that can quickly diagnose what you need to get done to meet guidelines. Chances are, your site has at least 20 errors.

PIVOT QUICKLY

If COVID has taught businesses anything, it’s the importance of being able to pivot quickly. 

MATTRESS FIRM is one company that  “pretended to be omnichannel” but was really siloed in its marketing. Because of COVID, the company was forced to fully integrate its ecommerce with its marketing plans in just 2-3 months, instead of the 2-3 years it had planned on. That gave Mattress Firm the ability to measure more than just how advertising impacts foot traffic to its stores.

Then there’s the  “splash” that Nathan Apodaca—420doggface208 on TikTok—created WHEN HE FILMED HIMSELF enjoying Ocean Spray while riding a longboard down the road to Fleetwood Mac’s Dreams. In response (and in short order), Ocean Spray gave him a BRAND-NEW TRUCK full of cran-raspberry flavored Ocean Spray juice. Then MICK FLEETWOOD even joined the party!

Even TikTok quickly turned around a TV spot that aired during the NBA finals and is running during Major League Baseball playoffs—in addition to a number of other media placements. 

Capitalize on the moment. 

VIRTUAL EVENTS

Musical artists like Fleetwood Mac have had to stop their tours this year and conduct virtual concerts instead. Same goes for marketers. In 2020, the number of organizations planning virtual events has DOUBLED. According to Intrado, 78% of marketing leaders plan to increase their budgets for virtual events. Looking for the keys to planning your next virtual event? We have the resources:

- WEBINAR: USING VIRTUAL EVENTS TO KEEP CONNECTED

- CASE STUDY: MCC GOLD STAR GALA

- CONNECT WITH OUR VIRTUAL EVENTS TEAM

IT-MARKETING BOND

I mean, I got along with Director of IT Randy Zajonczoski right away when I realized he drove the same green car Frank Drebin does in the Naked Gun movies. But if your IT department isn’t regularly communicating with your marketing department, it’s time that bond gets forged. Some questions you should be asking:

- What technology are we currently using in our marketing technology (martech) stack?

- What gaps are we creating with our marketing campaigns that we need to fix by further unifying the technology we’re using?

- Is there technology we need to add?

- How do we govern the operations of all of our marketing technologies to ensure they align, are efficient and drive growth?

According to Salesforce, 77% of marketers share common goals and metrics with sales teams. You need your marketing to bridge across all parts of your business—from IT to sales right on up to the C Suite. It’s why we have a marketing automation team at Dixon Schwabl that can align your marketing and business systems, like your marketing software with your CRM.

[Check out our MARKETO-SALESFORCE INTEGRATION GUIDE.]

For the remaining four marketing trends of 2021, check out my blog at Dixon Schwabl.