Incubeta AUS/ASIA: 2021 Predictions

In the final instalment of our Incubeta Predicts series – where we asked our teams across the globe for their 2021 industry predictions – we caught up with the Australasia team, over in Sydney & Singapore. Covering everything from Ad Customisation and YouTube, to Diverse Marketing and Social Channels – here are their thoughts.

Matilda Rose Moir

Sean Binedell – Senior Digital Account Manager Incubeta SG

2020 has been one of the most interesting years to date in the world of digital marketing. Market fluctuations have effectively wiped-out years worth of data and trends used by companies to determine their digital strategies and targeting. We are living in the new norm- a post pandemic world where spending patterns will focus around quality rather than quantity. A reduced environment whereby a consumer will not spend for the sake of spending.

With this new-norm we’ll see increased emphasis on ad customization used within the customer journey, with Google tech (such as Data Driven Creative and Ads Data Hub) becoming essential to a client’s digital strategy. Integration of Client database streams into the Google machine learning ecosystem will determine who maximises available revenue. Who comes out on top in this new digital arms race. 

Kirill Korzh – Senior Platforms & Media Consultant Incubeta SG

More than 50% of all on-demand music is streamed through YouTube, with the platform owning 37% of all web traffic. It’ll therefore come as no surprise that YouTube, following Spotify’s successful launch,  is introducing audio format ads for its streaming service. Widely used across the industry, YouTube’s switch to audio format will likely be the first of many as audio content sets to take off in 2021. We’ll likely see a massive uplift in the new year, with audio format readily available through DV360 with multiple formats. 

This uplift will also be reflected within video content. By default video consumption is quicker and easier than reading text as one can use multiple avenues of sense; listening, watching, interacting etc. Over the last year digital video content has become more effective than SEM campaigns and 2021 will likely be the time for search engine marketers to become video marketers. According to Deloitte, on average, U.S. internet users spend 15 hours each week consuming video content with 70% of millennials saying they’ve used YouTube to learn and educate themselves. 2021 will have a massive scale for video advertising and we’ll undoubtedly see many new vlogs and ad types via true view on YouTube. 2021 will be the year that video content finally takes it’s top spot within the funnel. That being said, before it happens performance marketers will need to adopt new measurement practices, implementing new strategies that include video and take into account post-view conversions. Aligning with an increase in video, 2021 will also be the year of native advertising. The more content consumers digest, the more difficult it becomes for advertisers to get our attention and the benefit of implementing native ads is that, even though it’s non-disruptive, it draws attention and makes users engage resulting in increased performance. We’ll likely see an increase in native advertising moving forwards.

The next trend that we can expect to see is personalization. There have been multiple regulations about data privacy around the world within the last few years which has driven changes in first party data processing and the use of third party cookies. Usage of data became a challenge for marketers as it became tougher to run successful performance oriented marketing campaigns. This is the main reason why, moving forward, brands will strive to establish personal relationships with their customers, using consumer data to show relevant and personalized targeted ads based on their individual needs and interests. 2021 will become a year when users will start getting more value for the data they share, which in turn, boosts campaign performance for the advertisers – a win-win for all parties.

Tricia Chia Xinying – Account Manager Incubeta SG

Whilst the pandemic did a lot of damage to various individuals and the economy, it also helped to make everyone stronger and learn to adapt whilst making new changes. Furthermore, 2020 also brought numerous social and diversity issues into light – with movements such as Black Lives Matter emerging. With that, my prediction for 2021 centres around these big events which help bring about new challenges and outlooks.

Moving into 2021 we’ll likely see an increase in diversity in advertisements. Black Lives Matter was a huge catalyst in society, with widespread coverage and debate about race, diversity and systemic racism – a movement that will undoubtedly  remain prevalent in 2021. Consumers are increasingly more sensitive to advertisements, looking for brands who are inclusive and diverse in their messaging. In 2021, ads and brands will be under great scrutiny to see if they have changed their ethos to be more inclusive or show some form of diverse thinking. With race being such a sensitive topic, advertisers must ensure that they do not go about this the wrong way and approach this topic with an open mind frame. 

Aside from diverse and inclusive marketing, there will also be a greater shift to mobile or native advertising. With the pandemic and subsequent introduction of WFH, there has been an increase in the number of people spending time on their phones and tablets. Businesses are definitely aware of this and will respond by shifting their strategy to focus on mobile or native advertising, using formats more suited for mobile users due to the increase in usage. With more and more brands shifting to digital advertising, regular static ads will no longer suffice. Consumers are looking for more personalized and engaging advertisements that are relevant and catch the eye. In this vein, brands will take this opportunity to start building engaging and creative advertisements that attract more users and customers.

Lani Cummins – General Manager Incubeta AUS

Social Commerce will explode locally in 2021. As it stands, a much larger share of total online sales occurs in markets like China, however, where more than 30% of the population is classified as a social buyer, social commerce is set for strong growth here in Australia. 

Penetration of the Chinese market was accelerated thanks to the well integrated shopping and payment experiences offered initially by WeChat (2017). Now with Weibo offering their own eCommerce integrations this trend is set to continue. Locally our social platforms of choice have been a little slower to get going – with Facebook only properly launching their own integrated eCommerce experiences in the past 12 months. However, with Facebook and Instagram shops now available to all sellers, and Instagram launching their integrated checkout functionality in the US (coming soon to AUS), growth in this space is inevitable. 71% of the Australian population is active on social media and up to 30% of that figure have purchased through social media in the last 12 months – a feat that will only add to the overall growth of social commerce. 

Be sure to look out for new offerings from SnapChat and TikTok that’ll likely emerge in this space over the next 12 months as well.

To view the full series, visit Incubeta Insights 

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