What impact will 2020 crisis have on next year's content marketing plans of brands?

The year 2020 has been like no other. The pandemic caused immense unrest in the world, leading to mental, social and economic pressure across the globe. Consumers changed the way they shop, forcing brands to change the way they communicate. 2021 is almost here and irrespective of whether Covid is present or not, marketers need to be on their feet, ready to face whatever uncertainty the year throws at them.

We saw how content marketing came to the rescue of brands during the Covid crisis. Brands that never believed in the concept tried hands on it. When the world was unsure if one should advertise in such sensitive times, content marketing ensured the connection was not lost between brands and consumers.

Dheeraj Kummar

Dheeraj Kummar, NCD, Brand and Consumer Experience, Motivator (GroupM), said, "The pandemic taught us the importance of a connected world and technology has played a tremendous role in it. Content marketing will continue to play a crucial role to make brands stay connected with their consumers via platforms where they (consumers) are and create conversations that are shared for purpose or emotions. Though things will be uncertain, staying connected will reassure that we can sail through anything, together."

Shamik Ghosh

According to Shamik Ghosh, VP, Marketing, Head of Content, Corporate Communications, Paisabazaar.com, India now has an even more massive appetite for content consumption. However, there is likely to be a more measured approach by brands now and focus on free traffic will go up manifold. He said, "The new-age content strategy should be led by the three Vs —Voice, Vernacular and Videos —to reach out to untapped consumer segments, offer a more engaging and meaningful experience and scale brands further."

BuzzInContent.com caught up with India's leading content marketing practitioners to know from them how content marketing trends will evolve given the rocky times and the role it will play in the overall marketing playbook of the brands.

Manish Chowdhary

“Almost all the brands are focussing in a big way on digital platforms as the online experience has replaced the in-person experience. There is a clutter of information and brands targeting the same set of consumers. In all this, we have to stand out with the right set of content — meaningful, interactive, engaging and informative. More than a sales pitch and 'buy now' kind of messaging, we are focussing on the inherent benefits and advantages of using our products," said Manish Chowdhary, Co-Founder, Wow Skin Science.

The new normal for content marketing in 2021

The rise of vernacular content

With the pandemic-induced lockdown, India realised that as a country we have to become self-sufficient, which gave rise to the 'Vocal for local' call, meaning more power to local businesses over global multinationals. This led to brands positioning themselves as Indian and local. But to connect with the consumers at the local level, one has to talk to them in their language. Hence, 2021 will be the year where brands would be producing more content in vernacular languages.

Arjun Mohan

Arjun Mohan, CEO, India, upGrad, said that in the times we operate in, conquering Bharat (or regional India) with vernacular content marketing initiatives would be an emerging trend in the content marketing space next year. "With technology taking over, and the rise of affordable smartphones and internet services, our hinterland population is rapidly switching gear towards becoming digital citizens. Such developing trends of new internet users are taking over tier II and III cities, more than in tier I regions. Based on these nuances and idiosyncrasies, we dived into the vernacular segment, and created an array of content with partners like ;ab_channel=BharatiyaDigitalParty" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bhadi Pa, ;ab_channel=Wirally" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Wirally, .be" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Madan Gowri, et al. to name a few," he said.

Safe Indoor shoots and content production

Khushboo Benani

Outdoor shoots with large crews are not just expensive but also unsafe. So brands are resorting to shooting inside the safe confines of the homes of content creators. Khushboo Benani, Head of Content, Influencer Marketing, Brand Advocacy, Diageo India, commented, "The big trend for 2021 is going to be in-home. We are working increasingly with creators who can shoot within their homes and safe environment. Earlier, we would have done outdoor shoots and worked with big production companies. Although, we will still do that for a couple of campaigns, but we prefer indoor home shoots."

Because safety will be the priority, it will help the growth of podcasts. Benani said, "Podcasts can be done from homes, and therefore, it will continue to rise. Many creators have started their own podcasts."

Growth of hygiene level, byte-sized content

The number of people buying products online has increased during the pandemic. Questions asked to a salesman at a shop are now requested online on the web. Therefore, brands need to ensure they have enough content to fulfil the information appetite of consumers. 

Gaurav Mehta

Gaurav Mehta. Chief Marketing Officer at GirnarSoft (Cardekho, Gaadi.com, Zigwheels), said, "People are buying a lot of things online, which they weren't earlier. A lot of categories where online purchases have increased will accelerate consumption of content online. People are going to search for more and more content like How to...which one...'. The brands will now have to create more hygiene level content."

He said, "We are in a high-involvement, automobile digitised industry. We will create more byte-sized content, especially for two-wheelers. The two-wheelers industry has bounced back rapidly compared to the four-wheelers. The tier 2,3,4 markets are looking for content online now. Therefore, we will be producing vernacular byte-sized content."

A slowdown in long-term content IPs and growth of influencer-driven content

Marketing budgets across brands stalled or drastically reduced during the lockdown. Now, with the unlocking and the economy opening up, brands are slowly increasing marketing spends but they are being more cautious of making every penny spent accountable and driving ROI. 

Kumar Deb Sinha

Kumar Deb Sinha, Country Head, Dentsu Storylab, said, "In such a scenario, content marketing will face both challenges as well as few growth opportunities. Initiatives that are more driven towards long-term brand building will slow down in the coming years, including IP creation or investment behind new initiatives. At the same time, there will be larger opportunities driven by influencers and influencer-driven videos and content at the cost of big ad campaigns. Influencer videos come at a lower cost and larger efficiency compared to ad campaigns.

 Increase in self-help DIY videos

Shirish Agarwal

Shirish Agarwal, Head, Marketing Communications and Brand, Panasonic India rightly pointed out that consumers are confined within homes and are looking for a richer, digitised purchase experience and are increasingly relying on self-help, DIY videos to cater to their servicing needs. Meanwhile, digital content is enabling brands to extend their reach and create positive touchpoints in the era of social distancing. This will continue to be the normal for marketing in recent times.

He said, "In the current scenario, based on market insights and changing consumer preferences, we have fine-tuned our content from merely focusing on the conventional features, advantages and benefits of our products to focus on the value proposition, ease of usage, multitasking and DIY needs to name a few – all in line to elevate the user experience."

 Focus on storytelling

Kummar of Motivator said the lockdown unlocked the possibility of working with constraints and certain content formats will be retained by brands that really worked for them. It means more importance will be given to the quality of storytelling than the scale of storytelling. But certainly, there will be a focus on content that will deliver ROI as businesses need to revitalise quickly.

The emergence of mixed reality

Mixed reality (MR) is the merging of real and virtual worlds to produce new environments and visualisations, where physical and digital objects co-exist and interact in real-time. Girnarsofts's Mehta explained that this trend would rise because people don't just consume content from an information perspective but also from an entertainment perspective."

Sustaining big content marketing plans won't be a cakewalk in 2021

According to Kummar of Motivator, "Until these trends, technologies and platforms help brands to reach their critical mass, I doubt the consistent and long-term use of it. They may be used as innovations or one piece of a larger campaign. But I am optimistic some brave marketers will collaborate for branded content creation with a long-term commitment."

Sinha of Dentsu Storylab emphasised that new content trends will be evaluated against efficiency, ROI and business growth potential for the advertiser. And this is where such new tech and content opportunities will face challenges. "They have not yet built the critical mass in most cases to justify it against ROI and reach-based investment. Unless the platforms think innovatively to address the above challenge, they will see a reduction in investment from advertisers in 2021."

Wow Skin's Chowdhary concluded that the challenge would be to retain a unique point of view when creating conversation with the consumer set. In that sense, the brands need to be innovative when devising their content marketing plans and investing in the right content tech.