2021 Trends & What To Expect In 2022
Each year brings along shifts in trends and the year 2021, in particular, brought a faster pace of changes in marketing strategies for brands from all sectors. With the e-commerce industry already booming, there has been a significant increase in demand for the financial and online services sector this year especially in tier 2 and tier 3 cities. The pandemic has changed consumer behaviour forever - and online shopping looks set to stay and to get accustomed with their behavioural change the brands are shifting towards performance-driven channels which seems to remain a trend in the upcoming future.
2021 exposed us to several new trends which we haven't seen before and some trends which we have anticipated has now become the reality. This year we have seen an actual implementation of trends like cookies less world, online services becoming a whole new sector, Incorporation of new categories in fintech, content is driving business along with many others.
Cookie less world
Cookies have always been a fundamental element and have proven themselves to be extremely valuable resources over recent years for marketers. Publishers, marketers, agencies, anyone in the marketing chain relying on third-party cookies for years now, certainly this change will be difficult to deal with.
With the elimination of third party cookies by multiple browsers, marketers are finding a solution to cope up with this existing threat of losing out on sales. The end of third party cookies can really affect the performance of all players within the digital marketing ecosystem.
However, affiliate marketing platforms have prepared an alternative for all the stakeholders present in the market. There will be two new classes of identified solutions that will come into an active role: API integration and server to server integration, to transition into the cookie-less world. To utilise these solutions, brands need to agree and facilitate these integrations on their end and once a successful flow has been established there will be no loss at the publisher’s end due to cookie blockers. Implementations of cookie-less tracking will also help curb any kind of discrepancies and partners can avoid any kind of disputes.
Content driving monetisation
Over time, content has become an undoubtedly powerful tool for businesses of all sizes. The famous phrase – ‘delivering the right content, to the right people, at the right time’ – took a redefined meaning. With the current scenario, people chose to stay at home and users started spending more time on their devices consuming every type of content available online. With a variety of contents available like video, audio, images, text, messengers, youtube and podcasts It were then that brands decided to focus more on content to tap the targeted audience on different platforms.
It also leads to a transition where content focused videos are driving transactions. Furthermore, it has been observed that the new-age consumers are heavily relying on personal recommendations, where micro-influencers play an important role in building up these recommendations through generating personalised content.
Although now the world will be more of a hybrid lifestyle, content “was the king, is the king and will remain the king” when it comes to strategising marketing plans. To utilise the power of content, brands are shifting towards performance-based models where they are partnering with affiliate networks to acquire maximum customers on an ROI basis.
Infinite E-commerce World
The E-commerce industry has always been the leading contributor when it comes to online businesses.
Every year electronics and fashion continue to be the key drivers in E-commerce affiliate marketing. However, this year categories like personal care and online pharmacies also gained significant traction. Also, there has been a proliferation of advertisers in the beauty segment which includes both D2C brands as well as aggregators/marketplaces.
The year 2021 saw many national and international brands launching their e-stores to expand their services. To capture the market in the most minimal and effective way, brands have launched their affiliate programs. Advertisers have always looked up to typical affiliate inventories like coupon/cashback etc. However, now brands are looking to and are expecting to go beyond that. They expect to see a more innovative approach from networks and publishers and are keen on experimenting with inventories like Instant Messaging (Telegram), Influencers, Content (including Video) and more. At the same time, reward and loyalty partners (including banks) are playing a more active role in the affiliate ecosystem, and advertisers are considering these inventories as “high quality”. One significant adaptation brands have opted for is promotions to be done in vernacular languages and is expected to play a major role in the upcoming years. Regional and vernacular content promotion has seen a rise as more and more brands are looking to target non-English speaking audiences in a better way.
However, there are some challenges that need to be looked upon. The industry, as a whole, has become a lot more aware of fraud and steps are being taken to control publisher fraud across the ecosystem. Tracking and attribution continue to be areas of concern and industry experts are working on educating advertisers on the importance of having accurate tracking and reliable attribution on their campaigns, as opposed to using basic analytics systems for this purpose. This calls for the importance of having a standardised attribution methodology across the industry.
Emerging fintech categories
Over the last few years, The Fintech segment in India has seen an exponential rise. There has been tremendous growth in Digital Payments, Online trading, Insurances, Neo banking, and Digital lending. The priorities of these fintech startups have changed, Neo Banking has been helping the new generation by making the banking services easier in order to maintain a long term relationship with their users. Whereas the concept of digital lending makes it easier for those people who weren’t eligible for loans previously.
FinTech companies are adapting unique and innovative advertising models for attracting users to the market. Currently, it has been observed that most of the platforms are leveraging affiliate marketing as a reliable source to reach out to potential customers. The fintech sector is actively looking forward to acquiring more customers from late Millennials & Genz. This set of audiences not only acts as a user for them but at the same time, it has been playing a crucial role in attracting other users for brands.
The opportunity for FinTech lies in expanding the market, shaping customer behavior, and affecting long term changes in the financial industry. Further, it will open up more opportunities for marketers and advertising companies to fulfil their requirements.
Rise of online services
There has been a major shift in the online service industry. Especially after the pandemic, the demand for services that can be met from anywhere in the world has boomed. The market is driven by the advantages of online on-demand home services and an increasing number of start-ups entering the market.
Starting from traditional software services to popular services like e-Learning, OTT subscriptions, medical services, job services, delivery services, telecommunications etc. started to be trending along with the Ecomm segment were in demand this year.
2020 saw the rise of Online Education as a service but it boomed in 2021 along with the emergence of the software category as more and more end-users started using different software and applications to assist them in their day-to-day work from home.
Furthermore, the pharma industry has also seen a boom with companies expanding their services to retain customers for a longer duration. Services like purchasing medicines online, booking lab tests & appointments were trending in major cities but 2021 saw these pharma brands expanding their services into Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities. With the increasing demand for these categories, the online service industry is sure to reach greater heights and remain in trend for the next upcoming years.
Affiliate- becoming a key marketing component
Looking at the demand & market trend, brands are trying to find cost-effective channels to reach out to the end-users and to create and execute strong growth strategies in order to get ahead and rise above the competition. To leverage such marketing strategies, companies have started adapting performance-driven channels. Besides targeting a higher audience, they are conscious about their ad spends and to maximise their ROI, they are heavily spending on the cost-effective channel - ‘Affiliate’. It allows brand marketers to capture the market to the fullest and utilise the different Affiliate inventories to target all sets of audiences.
*The author is Neha Kulwal, Country Manager, Admitad India
