In the fast-paced world of marketing, a lot of moving parts are constantly evolving. Whether it’s by the way marketers launch/promote a product or how consumers react to brand promotions, the relationship between the two is always driven by the need to adapt to changes and technological advances. What triggers change? A good example of this is the COVID-19 pandemic that affected almost all business sectors internationally including the marketing industry.  As the economy was shaken to its core, brands and multinational companies were forced to pivot their quarterly and annual plans to adapt to the negative effects of the pandemic.

A year after COVID hit, marketers are still adjusting to changes, but with more confidence that digital is here to stay.

Below, we dive into the 9 key digital trends that are expected to make noise in 2021:

1. Digital is Business

If Windows and Mac have their own OS or operating system, so is the digital industry. Simply put, digital isn’t a “channel,” it’s the “operating system” of business.

As digital morphs into its own business model, the old silos between “digital marketing” and commerce/ distribution no longer exist for many brands.

Now, one may ask: “How is digitization keeping society and businesses afloat during the pandemic?”

Here are the ways:

* Remote work

* Omnichannel Commerce

* Increase in Digital Content Consumption

* Platformification

* Digital Health Solutions

2. Goodbye Vanity Metrics, Hello Business Results

            As digital marketers, it is crucial to observe only the best practices when servicing any client. When we say best practices, we make sure that analytics-based data becomes the determining factor which drives our planning, strategy and overall marketing direction for a brand.

When all of these steps are secured and executed, ROI will be the name of the game.

Here are the key metrics to look out for:

> Campaign Performance

> Channel Performance

> Business Impact

3. Creativity that Delivers Real Business Results

            When creating marketing materials for a brand, here are the 3 things you need to execute well to ensure good results:

• striking key visual or image
• brief copy
• CLEAR call to action (CTA).

Sprinkle that with a little bit of technical SEO (Search Engine Optimization) wherein you choose a product title using high-ranking keywords prospects actually search for.  

4. The Rise of the Machines

Machines/AI will make more and more of the decisions!

            Facebook ads algorithm will dictate the performance of social media buys from this point forward. As marketers, we continuously ask ourselves: What combination of ad creative + audience will deliver the lowest cost per result?

5. Conversational Commerce

Conversational Commerce aka “c-commerce” is where brands use messaging platforms to engage with their customers and lead them to making a purchase.

In the Philippines, c-commerce is expected to grow 5 to 10 times this year.  Evidently, Filipinos are now learning to embrace and adopt this technology as it combines the ease of

e-commerce and the power of conversing in a physical store through automation & touch of real people.

With the integration of Gcash, Paymaya and other digital payment methods, Filipinos going cashless can further drive c-commerce in the country.

6. The Rise of Shoppertainment

Now more than ever, entertainment in shopping is now important. With the rise of Facebook live selling, Lazada live and other live streaming functionalities available in social media E-commerce platforms, the element of entertainment truly packs a punch in selling a product or service online.

Retailers are merging shopping and entertainment to attract younger generations who are expecting more engaging experiences.

With the video-driven culture, businesses, both big and small, are using live streams to show off their personalities and catalogs.

7. Value-Based Marketing

Positioning your brand as an organization that cares brings in a notable positive impact to consumers and people in general. The pandemic is a perfect example of an unfortunate event where people expect brands to care a lot. This unique expectation has then allowed brands to strengthen their image further by going back to their core.

According to a recent study, the demand for a higher social conscience among corporations is as evident as ever in Gen Z: “43% of 16 to 24s who aren’t aware of what CSR is are willing to pay a premium for a brand that has a positive impact on the environment or society, compared to only 31% of 55–64s.”

8. People are Media

#ReviewsMatter. A brand may have the capability to manufacture/produce the best X product there is in the market, but without positive, assuring reviews from actual users, it will flop. Needless to say, people trust people more than brands.

Trust us, those zero to five star ratings you see in Grab, Lazada, Facebook Online reviews play a crucial role in customer purchase decisions.

9. Every Marketer Needs to be a Digital Entrepreneur

Just like any other industry, it is crucial that the players are familiar with the ins and outs of the playing field. In the case of marketing, every marketer needs to be a digital entrepreneur.  By knowing the process of planning, strategizing down to the executions of every marketing campaign, a good marketer should become practitioners in the digital craft to succeed.

Digital marketing is not magic, it is not just a theory, it is a holistic method that maximizes the utilization of running digital campaigns to reach the ultimate goal of generating sales.

Conclusion

Challenging times such as the COVID-19 pandemic opened new doors of opportunity for marketers to fully-maximize the benefits of promoting a product/service through the utilization of various digital channels and platforms. Brands, on the other hand, need to keep up with the challenge and shift their traditional ways of marketing by keeping in touch and building relationships with their current and potential customers through social media engagements and e-commerce management combined.

Want more helpful tips like this one? Head over to our Blog to know the latest trends and updates on digital marketing!

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