73% of marketers say finding new customers is their top goal for 2021.
2. Features for social selling & e-commerce will become more professional
You could see social media as the largest marketplace in the world. Especially now that the shift to digital has accelerated. E-commerce will gain importance in the coming years and partly take over the shopping experience. In 2020 we have already seen that the major social media providers continue to launch new e-commerce features. Think for example of Pinterest with Shopping and Stories and Instagram Shopping . More and more (dynamic) features are being set up for social commerce . And more and more brands are diving into these new possibilities. For example, the Dutch BALR.
Instagram Shopping
I also expect a further development of these features in 2021, partly driven by rapid digitalization. Augmented and phone number library virtual reality (AR/VR) will logically play an increasingly important role in this. After all, it is the main way to match the tangibility of a physical shopping experience. So do you have a product or service that lends itself to AR or VR ? Then embrace it in your advertising strategy. The 'warning' from the first trend of this article also applies here: don't just focus on social commerce, also focus on further building your brand and the customer experience. AR and VR can also play a crucial role there.
3. Fewer targeting options = not necessarily a negative
As mentioned before and also described in my previous article on Frankwatching, the professionalism of social media as a marketing communication platform is increasing rapidly. Control over privacy/security is becoming increasingly important. Regulation is starting to take shape.
I see a clear trend where Facebook is the 'mainstream' channel for the more commercially loaded content (except in the case of young target groups), supplemented with channels for specific objectives, niches or topics. For example, we see Instagram being used a lot by fashion and food . Pinterest by home . TikTok by the music industry... You name it! Next year I expect brands to spread their budget even more for goals and target groups, a positive development.
If we have to choose a 'winner' based on 2020, then it's LinkedIn as far as I'm concerned. You didn't see that coming, did you? Due to the large number of people working from home, activity has increased significantly. The platform is also launching more and more tools to make working from home more enjoyable and effective, for example by developing livestreaming business events . Will 2021 be the year of LinkedIn again?
5. More storytelling, also in advertising