5 advertising trends that have emerged during the COVID era

Hindsight is a wonderful thing. And sometimes, it even has its uses. Here are five ways in which the marketing world has learned from and responded to the pandemic and the exciting and innovative ways advertisers like Clear Channel are moving forward.
1. Brands with a conscience
Whilst the world was consumed with the pandemic, there were also important global movements happening, such as the Black Lives Matter and climate protests around the world. People are now more socially conscious than ever before, and they want the products they buy to reflect this. Many consumers see it as a priority for brands they support to believe in diversity, sustainability, and ethical production, and they want their advertising campaigns to reflect this too.
2. Personalised advertising experiences
Now, more than ever, people want to feel like they matter. Whether it’s online advertising that reflects their tastes or supermarket advertising that represents their community, consumers want an experience that feels unique to them and not like they’re just a number on a spreadsheet. 90% of consumers prefer brands who treat them as an individual, and so advertisers have been exploring ways to streamline irrelevant messaging to customers and serving only directly impactful content in a bid to build brand trust and loyalty.
3. The rise and rise of video advertising
Live streams, long format, short format, story-reels… whatever the format, video advertising is here to stay. This method of getting brands out into the public consciousness really exploded during the pandemic, and no wonder its popularity continues, as 72% of businesses reported video directly increasing conversions. Countless brands have chosen to harness the power of video, particularly through their social media outlets, tapping into the current hunger for film and reaping the rewards.
4. The explosion of mobile advertising
You may have thought mobile advertising was already popular, and you’d be right. However, the sheer breadth of mobile usage since the pandemic has meant that advertisers have had to reevaluate how campaigns are created to maximise the experience on mobiles. One noticeable move is the production of campaign materials in ‘portrait mode’ or photos edited to reflect phone screen dimensions rather than traditional aspects. This allows advertising to be seamlessly cut into Youtube content or social media content to maximum effect without needing to rotate your phone.
5. A return to out of home advertising
On the other hand, in response to both the huge increase in screen time and consumer confidence in the vaccination rollout, many advertisers are choosing to focus on out-of-home advertising as a way of engaging consumers when they want to actually be engaged. Many consumers report to have turned away from digital advertising as a result of believing it to be a saturated market and have grown tired of spending their lives online. Whilst e-commerce is definitely here to stay and is, in fact, booming, there is certainly a definitive space for advertising in the physical world, and consumers are hungry for it.
Overall, if exploring advertising trends during the COVID era has taught us anything, it’s that consumers want brands that care. A brand that champions sustainability and diversity as well as valuing customers as individuals is a brand to support. Use your advertising space to showcase this, and you’ll be on to a winner.