Future of Marketing Predictions: 12 Experts On Upcoming Trends

Being aware of emerging trends is a fundamental part of being competitive and successful in the marketing industry. The marketing world is changing and evolving so quickly that sometimes, it’s hard to keep up. As 2020 comes to a close, an extremely difficult financial year for many businesses, most marketing professionals are optimistic and hopeful as they look to the future. 

What marketing trends will dominate the next calendar year? We gathered insights from 12 marketing experts to hear what they think the biggest marketing trends of 2021 will be and why. 

Consumer Wants Versus Needs

Marketing will have to adapt to drastic changes in public opinion and shifts in what consumers deem wants versus need. There is great hesitation to return to big spending and marketers must understand this shift in order to create effective campaigns. As a whole, marketing must be empathetic to the circumstances the world finds itself in and accept that consumer spending has a long way to go before returning to a semblance of normalcy. 

Kimberly Kriewald, AVANA Capital

Email Marketing

In 2021, marketing will be geared towards email. Platforms like Mailchimp have a growing number of users which is telling of where the industry is headed. Email marketing and the ability to reach a large audience with the click of a button is becoming one of the most resourceful options for marketers in the business world. The ability to target certain audiences, access crucial analytics and even receive feedback through email marketing platforms gives professionals access to data like never before – not to mention it can be done all on one platform.

Denise Gredler, BestCompaniesAZ

Voice Search

Thanks to popular virtual assistants like Siri and Alexa, voice search is increasingly popular. Data indicates that voice search usage is on the rise, with no signs of slowing. Digital marketers will likely optimize for voice search friendly websites into their strategies to maintain visibility in search engines.

Chris Dunkin, Portable Air 

The Return of Basic Forms of Marketing

We will likely see a return to more basic forms of marketing in the immediate future. Marketing budgets drastically decreased during the pandemic and it will take time to return to previous levels. Email marketing, social media and website promotion will be key in maintaining a steady message to users. A highly useful product is the best foundation to build on. 

Dr. Marc M. Batschkus, Archiware

Search Engine Optimization 

With 2020 slashing the marketing budgets of most businesses, PPC isn’t receiving the large ROI that it did for companies prior to COVID-19. I believe a trend that is here to stay in 2021 is Search Engine Optimization (SEO.) People want to get results that they trust! Organic results appear more credible to savvy searchers and, because of this, receive more clicks than paid advertisements. If your company is working with a limited marketing budget, SEO is the most effective use of your money and will lead to great results. 

Kayla Centeno, Markitors

Strategy Beats Tactics

As we’ve seen in 2020, the world can change fast. A marketing strategy should be based on enduring principles such as knowing your customer, providing a unique benefit, and exceeding expectations. However, your marketing tactics should, and must, change with the times. Being able to pivot your advertising spend to different channels, redesign your messaging, and upgrading your loyalty program should be something you can do quickly. These tactics can help you succeed, but the strategy must come first.

Layton Cox, Marketing Consultant

Re-Educating Customers

Marketing in 2021 is all about re-educating our customers. No business model has been left untouched by the pandemic, and every pivot and adjustment we make means our customers have to adjust as well. Confident, consistent communication will reassure customers our brands are still here and ready to serve them.

Chryssa Rich, Primary Health Medical Group

Investment in Marketing Automation

If a company is considering this, it is so important to do the necessary research to know what solution best fits the business’s objectives, needs, goals and budget. The biggest benefit of marketing automation is creating a process that increases efficiency so you save time. Once you improve your standard operating procedures, you and your team can work on other tasks that will take your business to the next level. Implementing an effective marketing automation system increases your chances of seeing positive trends in brand awareness, increase in revenue and a positive return on investment.

Jennifer Leicht, Marketing and Small Business Consultant

It Will Resemble Peer Recommendations

In my opinion, it’s going to be much more direct, sincere, and based on behavioral psychology. People are getting tired of blatant ads that speak to the masses. We can see that tribes are taking over and if you don’t speak the voice of the tribe, you won’t be able to market to that group. Thus, I think marketing is going to be tailored to specific groups in a way that will resemble recommendations from their peers.

Jakub Kliszczak, Channels

Relationship-Based Marketing

My top prediction for the immediate future of marketing is that it will become more relationship-based. Consumers are growing tired of mass marketing and faceless messaging that has taken over in the past few decades. People want to do business with other people and they want that reflected in their marketing. We’re already seeing incredible results from hyper-specific marketing, such as video outreach, so expect to see results improve in the future.

James Pollard, The Advisor Coach LLC

More Personalization with Less Budget

Marketing is becoming increasingly targeted in 2021. In the past, it was common to launch high-budget campaigns that hit a huge audience but only converted a tiny fraction of it. Today, we have tech that lets us target users with pinpoint accuracy. I’m talking about tools like Facebook Pixel, email personalization, and website cookies. My prediction for 2021 is that marketing will become even more personalized, with new media types like “dynamically updated emails” and “personalized blog posts”.

Ruggero Loda, Running Shoes Guru

Digital Collaboration and Paperless Ads

Many people shifted to working digitally—due to the work-from-home paradigm. Thus, many are moving to new technologies to collaborate (Slack, Dropbox, D.Drive) as well as going paperless—and more ads may be spent in these industries. Ad costs went down at the beginning of the pandemic due to the erratic fluctuations of spendings and fear of an impending recession—as fewer companies pumped money into ads. As things go back to normal, costs should go up again and stabilize. And as competitions heighten, ad costs may soar even further.

Hung Nguyen, Smallpdf