Two-thirds of New Zealand professionals are NOT aware of the latest digital trends relevant to their job or industry, according to a recent survey by recruitment specialist Hays.

That’s the most common challenge expressed by our clients in the marketing industry as well: keeping up-to-date with the latest news in Digital Marketing.

Are YOU falling behind in Digital Marketing?

Every day brings new developments and new opportunities.

That’s why we’ve developed an NZ DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS 2021 Presentation which focusses in on some of the hottest and most important NZ digital marketing trends that you need to take into account for 2021 and beyond.

This presentation looks ahead at what marketers should expect and plan for with Digital Marketing in 2021 — based on local and global trends you may not yet have had the opportunity to examine — turning those forecasts into a comprehensive report & slide deck in PowerPoint format (with accompanying notes) – information that you can easily present to your team and your clients, bringing everyone up to speed on the latest New Zealand Digital Marketing Trends. All presentations are unbranded, so you can add your own branding and comments.

Each presentation consists of at least 150 slides, dealing with as many key insights.

NZ Digital Marketing Trends 2021

Here are some of the topics we cover in the NZ DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS 2021 Presentation.

What’s new, and what’s expected in 2021

We examine the possibilities for the usual round of suspects:

• Organic Search
• Paid Search
• Organic Social
• Paid Social
• Influencer Marketing
• Content Marketing
• Conversational Marketing
• Programmatic
• Online Video
• Artificial Intelligence
• Virtual Reality
• Augmented Reality
• The Internet of Things
• Voice Assistants

And we also look at:

New NZ Privacy Legislation

The new NZ Privacy Act has now come into force. What are the implications for New Zealand businesses?

That’s Entertainment Now

In times of seemingly unrelenting doom and gloom, consumers turn to entertainment and anything that will give them a smile. We’ve seen the dramatic growth of Tiktok, with its endless parade of short videos. Don’t like the one you’re watching right now? Just keep swiping.

Snapchat (with Spotlight) and Instagram (with Reels) have inevitably joined the party with their own Tiktok alternatives. What are the opportunities for marketers?

We talk about the types of entertainment that brands can provide and how you can communicate effectively through social media.

Don’t Get Memed

The meme has come into its own during 2020, which is both good news and bad news for brands. If you happen to capture the moment with one of your messages, that might well be shared far and wide. But, Internet culture being what it is, your memed content is just as likely to be shared with a sarcastic or just mean-spirited spin.

• We take you through the types of content to avoid and how to proceed through the meme minefield.

Content planning goes short-term

if there’s one thing that the chaos of 2020 has shown us, it’s that long-term content planning just won’t cut it anymore. You can’t schedule content for more than a few days in advance, not unless you’re prepared to take the risk that parts of the country are suddenly in lockdown. Yes, prepare in advance by all means, but be ready to pivot on a dime.

• We discuss strategies to help you plan short-term (but with an eye on the bigger picture).

Last Rites for the Cookie

Google’s Chrome web browser will stop supporting third-party cookies by early 2022, significantly altering how digital ads are targeted and tracked. We examine some of the alternatives.

Listen, listen, listen

Be sensitive to what consumers are saying, and how they are feeling about the environment of the moment. Mood swings are inevitable, from the euphoria of a successful vaccine to the frustration of another case in the community. If you stay up to date with current chatter, you will avoid being tone deaf in your messages.

• We cover what to listen for and how to listen effectively with the available free and low-cost tools.

The four Cs of COVID-19 content

The coronavirus has introduced us to the four Cs — community, contactless, cleanliness and compassion. Even if New Zealand manages to avoid any major pandemic outbreaks in 2021, the Cs will continue to be topics of conversation until effective vaccines are universally available to every Kiwi and our borders are finally reopened.

• We discuss the most appropriate ways to leverage the four Cs without irritating your audience.

Ephemeral Content Spreads and Spreads

They started on Snapchat and then spread to Instagram and Facebook. Now both Twitter (with Fleets) and LinkedIn (with LinkedIn Stories) have joined the content-with-short-half-lives bandwagon.

• We discuss what you need to know to leverage ephemeral content as effectively as possible.

Tracking Digital Outdoor

Out-of-home advertising has always been difficult to measure effectively. Now there’s Lens, which taps into a variety of tools (including number-plate recognition and mobile tracking) to deliver more meaningful metrics for digital billboard audiences.

Conversational marketing

Social media is all about interacting and engaging with others — it’s called “social” for a reason. But it’s always been difficult to manage engagement at scale. Now, thankfully, tools are emerging such as chatbots and social messaging that will help you to build relationships with your customers.

• We explore the current state of the art and recommend new developments you to consider.

When You’re Too Full to Binge Any More

Netflix has begun testing its first linear channel (yeah, just like broadcasting), in France, reportedly due to the “consumption of traditional TV” in that country. Netflix notes that “many viewers like the idea of programming that doesn’t require them to choose what they are going to watch.” An interesting experiment, to say the least.

Avoiding Fake News

Online content has always blurred the lines between fact and fiction — just take a look at the carefully-edited lives of some influencers, for example. But disinformation has become a defining characteristic of too many digital channels as a result of the coronavirus. What is a brand to do?

• We explore accountability, authenticity and transparency and the importance of those attributes to brands in 2021.

More socially responsible consumers

This is a trend long in the making, as younger generations use social media to advocate on behalf of the causes that matter most to them. In 2021, Generation Z and Generation Alpha will continue to make their voices heard — and 88% of consumers want to support brands that have social causes aligned with their product or service. But no greenwashing, the alignment has to be authentic.

• We review the possibilities and share the problems inherent in aligning your brand with inappropriate causes.

Influencer Marketing Revisited

Influencers have had a rough time of it in 2020, their revenue eviscerated by the pandemic. All mass media saw their income erode as a result of Covid-19, but most had sufficiently deep pockets that they could (with or without governmental assistance) weather the storm.

Not so the humble influencers, many of whose income was solely dependent on sponsors. As the money fell away, the influencers faced the same dilemma as other media: keep posting (for free) to keep their followers entertained and engaged, or pause until the tap was turned on again.

In the meantime, consumers turned en masse to the latest social media phenomenon, TikTok, leaving behind many influencers whose natural habitat was Instagram or YouTube.

In this section of the presentation, we look at and see what Influencers are up to now and what they’re likely to do in 2021, pandemic or not.

Search Marketing Evolves

As people’s needs and circumstances shifted dramatically due to the pandemic, Econsultancy tells us that consumers have been seeking out things they might never have searched for before – like home fitness equipment, hairdressing tools, or DIY materials – and are also looking for new ways to accomplish things like banking, shopping, or remote working. At the heart of it all has been search.

As a result of this, search data has served as a kind of barometer for the changes in people’s daily lives – from spikes in searches for virus symptoms and treatments to queries about online grocery shopping, hand gel, and things to do in lockdown.

It is a goldmine of information for marketers who know how to tap into it.

In this section of the report, we look at the new focus of searchers and how you can best take advantage.

We also look at some of the key trends that have been evident in search marketing across the year despite the pandemic, including:

• Position zero, also known as the featured snippet at the top of a Google results page, represents the first search result that appear for a particular query. Are you the best answer to someone’s question?
• Your search results will benefit if you dig deep and analyse the keywords in which your prospects are actually interested. So how do you do that? We share some actionable tips.
• And video continues to make a huge impact on search rankings.

What marketers plan to do in 2021

We’ve also compiled the results of various marketer surveys in order to understand:

• which digital channels are expected to attract increased advertising expenditure in 2021
• which digital channels marketers see as most effective for brands
• how marketers are planning to use digital media in the year ahead
• the types of content that consumers actually want businesses to provide
• surprising demographic developments in digital media
• the benefits of data integration for digital marketers
• the importance of value-driven marketing
• the dramatic increase in importance of social listening

But wait, there’s more.

Those are some of the core Digital Marketing trends, but there’s a whole lot more, including:

• The latest statistics on digital usage in New Zealand.
• The move towards greater transparency in digital advertising, including the ability to view current advertising executions (a great competitive tool and a source of inspiration as you prepare your own social media advertising).
• Square videos, vertical videos, short and long videos: what you need to know
• Increased developments in Augmented Reality, as the technology expands beyond Snapchat filters and Pokémon games and into videos, live events and enhanced customer engagement.
• How best to use Chatbots: there are now more than 300,000 active chatbots on Facebook Messenger
• The latest developments in Programmatic
• A new focus on news by digital platforms, all intended to get consumers to stay longer with their platform.
• Increased use of AI to refine audience segmentation and to combat fake news.
• Increased capabilities for Facebook and LinkedIn groups.
• Consolidation of Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp connectivity, including the ability to share messages across both platforms.
• We explore the implications of the new breed of online video streaming services, including Disney’s upcoming more adult-oriented Star service, along with HBO Max, Peacock and  Paramount+.
• Preparing for new generational trends, as Gen Z begins to intrude on the social territory already carved out by the millennials.
• And we close with a brief look at other Future Technology trends that will impact in later years.

All that and of course plenty more, in the NZ Digital Marketing Trends 2021 report and slide presentation, coming out soon.

AGENCY & PERSONAL USE RIGHTS INCLUDED

This is a slide presentation designed for you to easily present to your team and your clients, bringing everyone up to speed on the latest New Zealand Digital Marketing Trends as we accelerate into 2021.

As with our other presentations, we offer the New Zealand Digital Marketing Trends  report for you to re-use as you see fit (except you may not re-sell it, of course).

All presentations are unbranded, so you can add your own branding and comments.

Prepare for digital marketing in 2021 with a comprehensive presentation to your team or your clients

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT

1. Your purchase will be confirmed by email (if you have not received a confirmation within 24 hours, feel free to email info@socialmedia.org.nz).
2. When the presentation is published, download instructions will be provided to you by email.