Digital marketing trends in the festive season are
always a good idea for brands and agencies to adopt.
At a time when the demand is high, content supply also
needs a boost for better visibility.
Understanding the Festive Market
India and the world over, festivals are an important period. This is when everyone comes
together in celebration, and is looking to move away from regular life. Especially in today’s
age of social media, festivals have transcended cultures and borders.
And so, brands join in on these global conversations, ensuring that they don’t miss the train.
Being relatable to your audience during the festive season can be crucial to many things –
awareness, information, and ultimately sales. Furthermore, the digital marketing game is all
about brand recallability. The more visible and recallable a brand is, the better its reach is!
Top 6 Festive Marketing Trends 2021
In 2020, a lot of brands were faced with an unusual challenge. Marketing during a pandemic
has its own unique challenges, however, the atmosphere in 2021 is more optimistic.
Audiences today are looking to consume content that goes beyond the pandemic.
Let’s have a look at digital marketing trends for this year:
- Keep it interactive
Interactive content is content where the audience actively participates instead of passively
watching, reading, or listening. Especially for festive marketing, users are looking to join in
on the celebration through social media. Through participation, and even those where they
are rewarded through giveaways, interactive and engaging content is quite successful.
When it comes down to measuring effectiveness, interactive content has proven to drive
traffic to websites, educate users about a brand and increase conversion. In this way,
interactive content gives marketers the ability to track interactions and better determine
success.
Listed below are the Statistics that support the same:
53% of all marketers report using interactive content.
93% of marketers agreed that interactive content is effective in educating its buyers
88% of marketers said that interactive content is effective in differentiating their brand
from their competitors
The number of interactive posts has increased by 33%
One of the best examples to understand how interactive content can be used in different
industries and across different cases is the brand ‘Swiggy’.
Swiggy has taken the Buzzfeed-Esque approach and actively keeps its audiences engaged
through digital activations. Like a quiz, for example, or even an online scavenger hunt.
- Making the most of influence
Influencer marketing is more of word-of-mouth marketing that concentrates on using an
important leader or personality to amplify the brand to the market. Influencers could be
famous celebrities or YouTubers, Instagramers with great followings who can help spread
the word about the brand or business by social channels.
Here are some of the notable highlights on Influencer marketing by Influencer marketing
HubSpot:
Influencer Marketing Industry is set to grow to approximately $13.8 Billion in 2021
More than 240 new influencer marketing-focused agencies and influencer platforms
established in 2019
The majority (59%) admit to having a standalone budget for content marketing, and
75% of them now intend to dedicate a budget to influencer marketing in 2021
90% of our survey respondents believe influencer marketing to be an effective form
of marketing
One of the best examples of influencer marketing has to be fast-fashion brand
‘Fashionnova’. It’s one of the most popular brands using influencer marketing to promote its
products. It has been using influencers to increase their reach on Instagram and various
social media platforms. - Involving the audience
People like to participate in activities, especially activities relating to their favourite products
or services. User-Generated Content or UGC harnesses this excitement of the customer and
prompts them to create something of their own. They get to interact with the concerned
product and share it with the world.
UGC campaigns run on the creative submissions by the customers of a product or service,
as per the challenge or prompt given by the company. This strategy is so effective that UGC
posts enjoy a 4 times higher click-through rate in comparison to normal promotional
campaigns.
UGC is a great strategy for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it massively reduces the time, effort,
and resources required to run a campaign. UGC campaigns gather a pool of high-quality
promotional materials, all submitted from the customer at no cost to the organization.
Secondly, UGC receives 28% more engagement rates when compared to a normal post, as
the trust factor of a post that is coming from an unpaid customer is far higher.
Despite these wonderful benefits, it was noted that only 16% of brands have any form of
UGC strategy in place. Of the brands that have harnessed the power of this digital marketing
trend, GoPro has been a crowd favorite. By giving prompts to their customers to make
videos using the GoPro equipment, they have succeeded in creating a craze in people.
Users from around the world post their adrenaline-filled life with these cameras with their
campaign “Video of the Day”. - Direct shoppable content
For brands that are product-centric, Instagram’s shopping option is a massive boon. This
feature allows people to not just view their products but also get directed to the website,
where they can make a purchase. This ease in acquiring a product is attractive to
consumers, because it reduces the downtime between viewing a product, liking it, deciding
to buy it, and then the actual purchase.
Remember, during the festive season, a lot of people are making purchases. Whether it’s for
themselves, for family, for their homes, or even to bulk-gift people, festive marketing surely
lead to sales.
As of mid-2021, 5 out of 10 product-centric brands are adopting the shoppable content
approach. The estimated number of global digital buyers in 2021 is 2.14 Billion. In 2021,
eCommerce sales are expected to account for 18.1 percent of retail sales worldwide.
The number one reason people shop online is free delivery.
Brands such as H&M have stepped up their marketing game with their shoppable content,
by turning their Instagram profile into shoppable posts.
They tag products into their Instagram posts so that users from their huge following of 36+
million followers can get inspiration and discover new products, and make purchases using
Instagram only.
- Reels, the short-form king
The Instagram Reels was great news for marketers & content creators. Especially since
TikTok was banned in a few countries, reels have served as the best replacement.
The great news for digital marketers is that Reels are providing more than double
engagement rates when compared to posting a normal video. For festive marketing, it has
opened up an array of possibilities. And now with the newly launched insights features on
Instagram Reels, you can even track your performance and analyze your work!
Brands like Puma, Zomato, and Dunzo are constantly innovating using Reels. Even with
influencer collaborations, Reels is a popular format. And why is this format such a no-brainer
for any brand?
- Reels cost less to produce, but yield good results.
- Creating a volume of content is easier.
- Hopping onto trends makes ideation a simpler process.
- Brands have the chance to be fun, and reach younger audiences.
As a marketer, you can use this feature to showcase many kinds of content such as
informative content, behind the scenes of the organization, product reviews, etc.
An excellent example of this is Louis Vuitton’s Instagram reels, they are of high quality,
stunning, and very innovative. Every single reel of Lois Vuitton has gone viral with an
average of 5M views!
An effective Reels and video content strategy is necessary to grab and retain your
customer’s attention in 2021.
- Time to go virtual
Virtual events were all the rage in 2020, and it seems like the norm is set to continue in 2021
as well. We all probably prefer events to be live, but attending something in person can be
time-consuming, expensive, and cumbersome. Having the option to attend virtually makes
knowledge and opportunity accessible to almost everyone, and provides a fantastic
opportunity for your company to connect with prospects and earn their trust.
Virtual events can be of many types – launches, interactive sessions, performances, and
even product-specific events. For the festive season, this opens up a window of opportunity
to have anyone join in from anywhere, and celebrate together.
Take Diwali, for example. It is undoubtedly one of the biggest festivals of the year, and not
just in India. A lot of brands choose to launch new products during this time period. A lot of
other brands also join the ‘sale brigade’ and discount their best-selling products in a bid to
attract customers.
However, with so many sales and events happening at the same time, how does a brand
ensure maximum visibility? Virtual events could be the way to go for 2021. Whether it’s a
Zoom launch with a celebrity, or a film launch on Facebook Live, the festive season is a
great time to engage audiences virtually.
In a Nutshell
Digital Marketing in 2021, just like any of the previous years, is bound to be dynamic and
ever-changing. Trends are being churned out faster than they ever have. In a year filled with
unprecedented change, digital marketing has evolved to match new habits and demands of
brands and consumers alike. We can safely say that 2021 will be the year of continued
digital transformation and engagement, where the innovative use of technology, marketing
strategy, and creative ideas will make or break brands. Rise above your competitors by
preparing for these four likely trends — start shifting resources, kickstarting brainstorm
sessions, and conducting research.
Title: Top 6 Digital Marketing Trends for Festive Season 2021
Description – Digital marketing has evolved to match new habits and demands of brands
and consumers alike. Our blog covers the top 6 digital marketing trends for this festive
season to help your brand rise above your competitors.
Blog SEO Keywords: key trends in digital marketing, latest digital marketing trends, top
digital marketing trends, upcoming trends in digital marketing
