In this day and age, there are endless possibilities open to businesses when it comes to advertising, but which is the best option and what is trending in 2021? We take a look at the most current trends.

Digital vs Print

A long-standing debate, what is best and what will achieve the ROI that your business needs? 

The short answer is that both have their own pros and cons and, for most businesses, the best marketing strategy will include an element of both of them.

Digital advertising allows you to reach a lot of people very quickly, and also allows for highly targeted campaigns. It provides a much faster output too - people can access it instantly and the tracking and reporting available on digital advertising provides much clearer data for calculating ROI, which in turn allows you to test and adjust campaigns relatively quickly. 

On the flip side, it can be convoluted and complicated to set up digital advertising correctly, particularly on Facebook and Google, and this makes it incredibly easy to waste a lot of time and money. You can set budgets and cap spend, but the actual algorithm for calculating the cost of each impression or click is unknown and you don’t know how much you will pay for a lead until your bill comes in. 

There are a lot of options when it comes to digital advertising. Here are some of the top choices:

1. Customised advertising – showing customised/personalised adverts to your target audience. Many customers perceive personalisation as attractive and engaging and dislike generic ads.
2. Video advertising – whilst this isn’t new, real-time streaming of videos is becoming increasing popular. Customers want the most direct, fast and concise form of communication in the form of short video ads.
3. Mobile advertising – this is BIG! So many of us are permanently attached to our mobiles and brands know this. The ‘story’ ad format is becoming more and more popular with major social channels adopting it (Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, LinkedIn and YouTube). In game advertising is also growing fast, making mobile advertising a huge trend for 2021.
4. Display advertising – probably the first form of advertising employed on the internet, displaying your adverts on other people’s websites is still a powerful and popular way of reaching new prospects. Many platforms allow you to specify which websites your advert can and can’t be shown on, giving you a decent method of targeting your ads.
5. Re-marketing – a sub-set of display advertising, this form of digital advertising allows businesses to gather information about their customers from previously visited websites and present them with highly ‘customised’ adverts, re-targeting people who have shown an interest in what you have to offer before.
6. AI advertising – a new and emerging trend for 2021, is progmatic advertising delivered through AI (artificial intelligence). Using targeting signals and real-time adaption for individual adverts or campaigns via any given channel. Trends such as the use of voice search will become more and more in the same way we are already using Siri and Alexa – opening up lots of exciting opportunities to businesses.

Whilst digital has big plus points, print advertising still very much has its place in the marketing strategy of most businesses.

With digital advertising, you are beholden to the policies of platforms such as Facebook, Google and Apple, and these can change quickly and seemingly on a whim, with little warning. These changes can have dramatic, negative effects of the effectiveness of campaigns – so if you are reliant on a single digital platform for generating leads, your whole strategy is on a shaky foundation.

Conversely, the more marketing streams you employ, the less you have to worry about changes to any one of them, making your strategy secure and robust.

As there are many customers who do not use technology, or are reducing their use of it, and print media can be a very effective way to meet these people. 

It also makes a refreshing change! People are so exposed to digital advertising that it has become overwhelming and ignoring or ‘clicking to skip’ an advert is ingrained into our brains. On the flipside, adverts in a magazine or a piece of direct mail through the front door are now much more inviting and even enjoyable to ‘browse’ through.

In 2021, successful traditional print advertising is all about targeting it as much as possible – both geographically and by demographic.

1. Direct mail – whereas junk mail through the door used to go straight in the bin, it is now such a rarity to get something by snail mail, it is generating a lot of engagement and results. People are spending more and more time at home and businesses can really tap into this with direct mail pieces e.g. postcards. Flyers or direct mail can be posted with Royal Mail, local distributors, or by hand yourself if your business is hyper-local. Records for direct mail campaigns are growing significantly making this an old/new trend for 2021.
2. Niche Publications – advertising in the local paper is no longer a good option for the typical business – their reach is vastly reduced as people turn to other media for their news, and the demographic they reach is too broad to target your advertising message. Niche Publications however provide a fantastic opportunity to reach a highly targeted audience who are very engaged with the content of their magazine, making niche publications a great place to advertise in 2021.
3. Flyer inserts – Leveraging the benefits of both of the above points, inserting your flyers into a niche publication reaches a highly targeted and engaged audience, and maximises stand out to the reader.
4. Focusing on the ‘Why’ – more focus is being given to the meaning and purpose of adverts, especially when it comes to adverts in magazines/newspapers and other forms of print media. Coming from a place of purpose will drive marketing and advertising to new heights and help bring customers that are better suited for what you have to offer.

About Toddle About

Toddle About offer an array of advertising options, both digital (via their website, email list and social media accounts), and print (via the Toddle About magazine and flyer inserts)

Toddle About have over a decade of advertising experience, working with hundreds of businesses to improve and perfect their advertising campaigns - so we know a thing or two! 

We are always on the look out for new initiatives to help our customers grow their business. 

If you would like any advice about which of these 2021 trends is right for you, feel free to drop us a line advertising@toddleabout.co.uk