Key communication trends in 2021
- SHUBHA MADHUKAR, DIRECTOR & PRESIDENT, TIC

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As the world changes, so does communication! And faster than ever in these exciting times of technology-enabled communications. For those of you in the comms community, here's a quick update on emerging communication and content strategy trends that will help you stay on top of the game.

Personas and User Journeys: Your audience is not just dispersed across platforms. They are very different in how they consume content online. To stay in sync with audience behaviour, do invest in understanding personas and user journeys. Personas will help you understand your target audience’s content needs and user journeys will align the content you create or curate with the path your TG takes when engaging with your brand.

Omni-channel Presence: Different people process information differently depending on their learning styles (visual, auditory or kinesthetic). That’s why it’s important to tell and retell your story in a variety of formats. Different people have different preferences too. Some like to frequent Twitter, others like Instagram. Still another goes to Google to satisfy every need. To be discovered by your target audience where they are, you need to distribute your content everywhere.

Voice Optimisation: Research indicates that in 2021, half of all online searches will be done online by voice. If you want your content to be discovered online by your target audience, it’s time to say ‘Okay, Google’ and optimise your content for voice search assistants.

AI-Enabled Content: Time to leverage the latest in machine learning and artificial intelligence. These algorithms track consumer behaviour and preferences by analysing real-time data and therefore, can be leveraged to serve more relevant and personalised content to your target audience.

Influencer Engagement: If you haven’t done this yet, now is the time. One of the proven ways to effectively reach out to your relevant TG, especially if it’s a niche one, is to rope in the social media influencers they follow. Experiential engagement through influencer marketing gives your brand that much more extra credibility and attention.

User-Generated Content: Platforms like TikTok have added to the power of the consumer to create viral content. Getting your TG and followers to share relevant content created/curated by them is a great way to create authentic content experiences and should be a part of your content strategy.

Thought Leadership Content: Thought leadership will find a place of pride in the content marketing strategy for both B2B and B2C organisations. We all know thought leadership is instrumental in enhancing the perception of an organisation. From a global survey done jointly by LinkedIn and Edelman, we now know that thought leadership content influences buying decisions as well.

Research-driven Narratives: Tap into your audience opinions. Carry out light-hearted surveys with your consumers to generate insight-rich and data-driven stories for your brand. The authenticity of these stories is attractive to an audience that is otherwise constantly bombarded with marketing and sales campaigns.

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