Marketing is an ever changing landscape – one moment we can feel like we’re nailing our YouTube strategy and then along comes TikTok! As a marketer, my clients expect me to stay on top of the latest trends, new platforms and ways to get their brands out there. Every year I take some time to take in the huge number of marketing trends that seems to appear year on year. Over the years it’s been fascinating to see the growth of social media, the increased use of customer data to fuel our decisions and clearer sight of our marketing return on investment. While I believe some “trends” are ever-green (this probably means they’re not trends), there are some that are simply trends and while dependant on your industry may not work for you long term.
I’ve put together a short list of trends I have seen emerging over the past few years and what my predictions are on whether they will be sticking around or if we will see them die out over the next few years.
The use of video content
Verdict: It’s here to stay.
We first saw the rise of video content with Youtube which allowed anyone to upload video to the platform regardless of length or intent. However, as customers got saturated with everyone uploading video, the length of video became important and thus we saw the growth of TikTok and Instagram reels – short, sharp video content that grabbed the viewers attention within the first 2 seconds. While I think there is still a place for long video content (think movie trailers) the focus has turned to producing short form video content that sells. Regardless it’s here to stay.
Virtual Events
Verdict: We’re on the downhill.
While our ability to conduct virtual events has been around for probably 8-10 years we really saw a rise in them in 2020 with, you guessed it – Covid. Companies (both B2B and B2C) raced to sign their leads and customers up to virtual events and marketers had to get more and more creative as the year (and pandemic) progressed. I distinctly remember running several of them myself throughout 2020 and 2021. Overall I think most people are pretty much over them now and were after the first 3 they attended. The novelty wore off for customers and from a business perspective its too easy for our leads to ghost us.
Using data to understand our customers
Verdict: We’re only seeing the beginning of this.
In a world where the customer has never been more informed than they are now, the companies that are going to set themselves apart are those that know their customer well. The use of data is key to understanding customer behaviour and buying partners and making sure your brand is positioned when the customer is ready.
Use of Infographics
Verdict: It’s here to stay.
Content has always been king – we need content to educate, inform and sell to our customers. However the way we present this has changed. Similar to video content, customers are wanting short, sharp, bite size content that is easily digestible to get the information they need.
Keeping abreast of trends is important for continuing to remain constant in customers minds however its important to remember that trends will continue to come and go based on changes we make within marketing.