3 marketing trends that will define 2021

Editor’s note: This article is a re-run as part of our countdown of top stories from the past year.

Marketers largely started last year from a place of strength with bigger budgets and confident growth strategies. Then 2020 caught even the most seasoned of marketing pros off guard.

As a result of the pandemic, advertising budgets have been slashed, sales have effectively fallen off a cliff and the fight for brand loyalty has only become more competitive.

Over the course of the pandemic, we spoke to over 200 brands from around the world about how they have adapted during the pandemic and what their marketing strategies will look like for the year ahead. And it is safe to say they are looking very different. The COVID-19 pandemic has certainly forced businesses to get creative, to think differently and has accelerated the need for brands to build a community of loyal fans who can drive organic word-of-mouth growth for them, without the need for expensive advertising strategies.

Let’s take a closer look at the major trends we can expect marketers to be on the lookout for this year:

1. Less advertising, more brand building