Quite a year the one we’ve had this 2020! It’s clear that it’s been a year of hurdles, endurances, and change. Wildfires, killer wasps, declassified UFO videos from the Pentagon, presidential elections, Covid19… The US (and our beloved Miami 305 scene) has surely been kept busy! We certainly have gone through a lot and most likely will need to adapt to a near future where digital will be more relevant than ever. The question is: Are you ready up to it?
The digital marketing scene will definitely become a fiercer battlefield. In a future with more businesses and brands going digital, one can only expect to encounter higher competition, costs and disputes for achieving that valuable lead or potential customer you’re going after. Regardless if everything comes back to normal later on, we should adapt to this new scenario in a way that we’re set up not just to survive, but to thrive.
This means that we should all, regardless of our expertise and industry, be flexible and able to swiftly adapt to changes. As many services and organizations are going digital, and having identified some trends among some of our customers’ industries, we’ve pretty much have some ideas as to where we’re going and how we should be dealing with our digital marketing services this upcoming year. Here’s what we’ve found and how we should be approaching each strategy.
An Increase in Social Media Usage
People will be spending more time than ever on their screens. And not just because of Zoom meetings, but because they’ll want to connect with others as their worlds go more digital. With everything going on along with social distancing, people are turning more to social media to either connect with their friends and family, or to have a small getaway moment from their four wall confinements. According to The New York Times, there was a usage spike of 27% for platforms on Facebook and over 40% Instagram (Instagram Live), along with an increase of about 15% for teen favorite TikTok. This trend may very well last until everything goes back to normal and people may go out and interact safely.
The Explosion of TikTok
Yes, yes, yes… We know it’s under attack by the Trump administration. But like it or not, TikTok has seen incredible growth over the past few months, fueled mainly due to the lockup and luring in Gen Z and Millennials alike. With over 300 million app installs, TikTok has quickly become a force of nature on the social media environment, and definitely a place to be if you’re looking to target the young demographics (If they manage to come out alive eventually).
But why has it become so popular? Maybe it’s the strong appeal for fluid short video format it employs to deliver content, or the fact that people see it as the “new trendy thing”. Or, it could perhaps be its complex and intuitive algorithm that “learns” user preference and keeps him/her locked to the screen as it fluidly delivers attractive content over and over again, improving itself as it gathers data points from them.
Whatever reason it may be, if it manages to survive and a deal is finally struck between Oracle and Walmart, brands will without a doubt need to establish presence (If they still haven’t already) in order to jump in the trend and become relevant on the already vibrant playing field.
AI and Programmatic Will Continue Making a Difference
AI tools and automation has upped the competitiveness on the digital marketing field (and many other industries as well), as they take away the guesswork and provide a more detailed and computational powered data analysis. This enables marketers come up with better strategies and better decision making when trying to execute a campaign.
All this is achieved thanks to machine learning, which fuels campaigns and increase ROI by creating more effective customer touch points, doing so at incredible speeds by automating processes that were once dependent on humans. Whether it’s for ad buying or real time bidding, influencer identification for targeting engagement, fake follower detection and for identifying the most profitable pathway for any required outcome, AI enables large data and adapts itself based on real time input to deliver powerful solutions for customers and marketers alike.
The marketing field is constantly evolving, where professionals are now required to use and understand such leveraging and powerful tools. No, marketers aren’t going anywhere (for now) as machines do not possess the human element that makes us unique and that makes us connect and make instant “click” with one another through empathy, storytelling, or any other feeling that we’d like to inspire or transmit. But hey, these tools are becoming more and more sophisticated with every passing day, and 2021 may very well bring more surprises up its sleeve.
Watch Out For Cancel Culture!
Cancel culture is, put simply, being targeted for boycott and socially shamed by siding with, or even staying clear, from political, social or even religious points of view, ideas, endorsements and opinions.
You might be living in a digital bubble if you did not hear about Facebook’s problems when it did not take action against so called “hate spreading messages”, or Goya’s struggle against democrats after it openly backed Trump for the upcoming election (And later got the first ever White House Oval Office Ad in history). Cancel culture usually gets you support from one side, and hate and boycott from the other. In a world that increasingly requires brands and organizations to side with X or Y point of view, you want to make sure you’re on the right end of this social media trend (or, if possible, stay clear and avoid), as consequences can be truly devastating for business if you’re not careful enough. A lack of audits on your marketing campaign automations, review gaps on marketing processes and a lack of personal touch to listen and understand your target audience will bring economic disaster from which it may be difficult to recover. Getting digital marketing as a service can really help, and our team at Suncode Miami can help with that.
2021 will certainly bring more complex challenges to the playing field, and staying proactive listening for the latest turmoil will be of the upmost importance. So the next time you search for “digital marketing companies near me” or “digital marketing agency near me”, make sure they’re aware with everything going on with this rising trend. Constant audits, listening to your audience and staying clear when possible will be crucial to navigate whatever the raging seas bring your way.
Native Advertising
If you’re a fan of James Bond’s movies, you’ll notice there’s always a fancy watch and a fast ride associated with every film. The latest film features an incredible Aston Martin DBS Superleggera and a V8 Saloon, along with a fancy Omega Seamaster Diver 300m. This is what’s called native advertising, where brands bypass the intruding nature of conventional advertising.
This practice is not anything new, as it’s been used by years by marketers. However, increasing competition for consumer attention and as more and more companies fight for a piece of market share, we are now bombarded by an endless amount of advertising, which is a huge turn off for your target audience and lead to scenarios where almost half of consumers actively seek for ways to block them entirely.
This is what makes native advertising so powerful. They’re discrete, they can’t be skipped of avoided and can transmit a powerful message by being endorsed, wore or used by a celebrity or influencer. This is definitely a trend that many brands are looking for to increase either awareness or even consideration to move products and services down the shopping cart and into their target audiences.
A higher inclination towards video consumption
While this is also something that has been gaining traction these past few years, platforms such as Youtube, TikTok and Twitch will become more and more relevant as consumer preference leans more towards video.
According to Mediakix, social media and video platforms experienced surges during the lockdown, with YouTube experiencing a 20-30% surge in views, TikTok becoming the most downloaded app ever with over 315 million downloads and an increase of over 30% in Twitch streaming. While these surges were attributed to the lockdown, the growth trend has been seen over the past few years, making it imperative for brands to establish presence and visibility.
The power of interaction and bonding with their favorite content creator or social community created among these platforms make them powerful game changers for the marketing industry. Whether it’s with native ads, video ads or influencer marketing, digital marketers need to keep a close eye at this increasingly dominant trend that will surely keep playing a decisive role on any marketing strategy.
2021 is right around the corner!
You think it’s too early to define what will work and what won’t for 2021? Think again! Preparing now (Or having a digital marketing agency in Miami) gives you a head start at what your business should be looking at and how to maintain a competitive edge among your competition, because whether we like it or not, this next year will be without a doubt as competitive as ever and will require the right tools, top skills and unparalleled marketing experience to be top-of-mind among the constant noise surrounding your target customer. Should you ever need a team of experts to help your company navigate all this, call us! We’ll help you go through and thrive with our top-notch digital marketing agency Miami style.
