The COVID-19 pandemic and other extraordinary influences had a profound effect on the industry in 2020. These changes significantly shaped the creative climate and made marketers take more bold steps in pushing for brands to become “more culturally aware, more personal, and participatory.”

2020 marked an inflection point with lasting implications, and because of this, many creative trends have been highlighted and introduced. Facebook recently released its 2021 Creative Forecast which put a spotlight on these trends After undergoing a thorough analysis of the selected 100 campaigns that emerged on the platform, Facebook’s team carefully selected five high-performing creative marketing campaigns based on many factors.

They are the following:

 

1. Build inclusively

As people become more aware of diverse representations in the market, the monumental movement for inclusivity continues to impact brands’ marketing. They continuously demand a society that respects, celebrates, and sees everyone regardless of their background, race, gender preferences, skin color, and physical conditions.

Brands emerged from the competition by building an inclusive climate through creative marketing that represented, reflected, and depicted their target audiences in socially sensitive ways.

 

2. Create edutainment

The COVID-19 pandemic forced everyone to receive and embrace new information, especially about safety measures to prevent getting in contact with the virus. In addition, the global pandemic also leads to endless opportunities to acquire and learn new skills due to work-from-home setup.

One crucial aspect to consider is that brands did not lecture their audiences. Instead, they build edutainment experiences that are compelling and engaging and don’t feel like a routine task.

 

3. Sell with ideas

As lockdowns and social interactions restrictions tighten during 2020, people are always looking for new ideas and interests spontaneously. The majority of people did not just scan for ideas; they took actions to learn, apply and try these ideas they’re interested in.

Brands that completely understood the underlying dynamics of this behavior made themselves discoverable by using ideas that thrive on standing out from the competition and closing the sale.

 

4. Speak platform language

Social gatherings, weekend and daily hangouts with friends, and work coordination drastically shifted from physical to online communication in 2020. These changes drove and encouraged creativity on the platform that set away from the traditional polished output.

Brands that spoke the language of digital platforms through lo-fi production and creator content won the hearts of audiences. This led to expanded brands’ presence on Facebook that greatly contributed to their marketing success.

 

5. Reward self-discovery

Creatives that are deeply connected to feeding the people’s desire for digital exploration and delivered experiences that let them explore actively at their own pace saw an improved response with this approach. This has mainly to do with the shifts in entertainment and curiosity to digital space in 2020, allowing people to explore and learn online conveniently.

 

Aside from these five critical, creative behaviors, Facebook has also provided question prompts to get started on how to use these approaches in marketing on the platform.

Harness creative steps for the future

Facebook highlighted how to harness these five behaviors, mainly driven by significant cultural changes in 2020. One thing to note is that brands should remember how cultural shifts tied with people’s behavior changed creativity in 2020. Knowing the industry, it will just keep evolving.

Read the full report here. And for social media management and other digital services, check out our offerings here at 75 Social!