Recent Digital Trends in the Romanian Market

8 mins read

We are witnessing a process of steady growth in the digital industry. It has evolved tremendously throughout the years. What we worked with in 1999 when we were founded, is completely different from today. We can say for sure though, that Romania is keeping up with the digital trends. This means that in this industry at least, we are growing and innovating. From our experience and a bit of research, we gathered some trends that are developing in Romania and also have a good representation in CEE and Western Europe.

Video Marketing

Users are seeking authentic and interactive content on social media. Videos can be used as a valuable tool for digital marketers, as they are an efficient method to draw the customers’ attention. Marketers can see the impact their video has and optimize their content based on analytics features found on social media platforms. There are a lot of video formats available. So, by exploring the newest formats, you can reach a bigger audience as platforms tend to promote the new ones more. According to Wyzowl, the number of businesses using video as a marketing tool has increased by 41% since 2016. About 40% of marketers say their plans around video marketing have been affected by the pandemic.

Podcasting, the go-to audio digital trend in Romania

Podcasts became more popular since Apple started investing in its Podcast app and Spotify reached the Romanian market. Podcasts’ themes vary from stories to marketing, from lifestyle to news and so on. Due to its diversity of themes, anyone can find a good niche to focus on, for their brand. A podcast can be customized to send users to other marketing channels. So, you can invite your listeners to check the visuals on your website (if an episode is based on graphics) or to subscribe to your newsletter.

Chatbots

They are essential for helping potential customers in their decision-making process. They can be virtual assistants on your website, answer questions immediately and even guide them to the page needed. Chatbots are a great choice to improve the customer experience on your website or app, while making you a more interactive brand.

Personalized Content

Customers tend to be more attached to a brand if they have a personalized experience. Being featured in an IG story, having your name on a coffee cup or getting a personalized letter in your package leaves you thinking there’s a bond between you and that brand. Some personalized content, targeted properly, proves to be an efficient strategy in securing your customers’ loyalty. Once consumers have a personalized experience with a certain brand, their loyalty skyrockets and expands the customer value lifetime.

Influencer Marketing

Influencers became a “must” when creating a marketing plan, especially for B2C marketing. These influencers became role models for various groups of people targeted by your brand. People are watching their morning routine, night routine, vlogs, “this week’s favorites” and they’re even trying to copy that lifestyle. So, once your product is mentioned in an influencer’s video, there’s a big chance their viewers will also try your product, and even become your customers.

Social commerce

Part of the big e-commerce movement, social commerce is the marketplace on social-media platforms. Instagram and Facebook already integrated a Shop and Marketplace feature in their app structure. This kind of feature makes customers’ lives easier as they can start browsing various brands on one app. This isn’t helpful just for consumers, but for marketers as well. They can add products on these platforms to be bought without having extra steps to take in the buying process.

Micro-moments

A micro-moment is finding yourself searching for a song by using the 1 lyric you remember from it. To sum it up: micro-moments are happening when a user needs to search for something specific on the internet. Being driven by intention, an impulse, they have to fulfill a certain need they have. You can take advantage of these moments by having a type of context which integrates well with your brand.

Digital Social Responsibility

Attending or supporting an online CSR event is a good opportunity to be featured in social media posts, press, and other digital channels. The exposure is considerable but take into consideration that if you and your customers’ values don’t overlap with the event, it might end in a backlash from them. The chances of something becoming viral are bigger, but this should not stop you. Just do a thorough check before making a decision.

The year 2020 has changed the face of CSR a bit. It took the form of collaboration with public authority, offering educational support, investing in skill development and more.

Brands’ independence

Now, brands are separating themselves from third-party vendors in order to become independent. Businesses are developing their own websites and services to have as much autonomy as possible. For example, if you own a restaurant, instead of contracting external delivery services, you are implementing your own.

Progressive Web Apps

A progressive web app is a website that looks and behaves the same way as a mobile application. You can add it to the main screen of your phone so it will send push notifications and work offline. One of the main advantages is that it doesn’t need installation, and you don’t need to develop three separate apps (desktop, iOS, and Android).

Browser Push-Notifications

Browser Push-Notifications behave just like the notifications on your phone. Even when you are not on a website, they can be triggered and they’re visible enough not to be ignored. Their main role is to draw customers back to your website. One of the advantages of having browser push-notifications is that Windows and macOS started to invest in these features, giving us a hint of their importance.

User-Generated Content

Marketers are using content generated by users to promote their products/services. They are using this type of content by creating challenges, contests, and giveaways. Some brands are even reposting photos made by customers with their products. Using UGC promotes authenticity which offers your brand an important credibility boost, creates trust, and drives purchasing decisions.

This could blend well with your Video Marketing Strategy as well. Short-form video like TikToks and Instagram Reels have been trending in 2020 and will continue in 2021. According to SocialMediaToday, users arriving on an ecommerce website through user-generated content are 184% more likely to purchase.

Programmatic Advertising

By using artificial intelligence for ad buying automation, you can optimize your online advertising and achieve your objectives better. This technology increases your conversion rate and reduces customer acquisition costs. Through programmatic advertising, you can make sure that you are targeting a specific group in a certain context.

Geofencing Marketing

Geofencing allows real-time customer targeting, depending on their location. If your customer is in the proximity of your restaurant, store, or office he can receive your ad as a push notification, text message or on other communication channels. A good example of this practice is the Waze app. Various brands’ are on this platform, and you can see their location while driving.

Keeping your customers loyal

Various tools and features have been recently developed to ensure the loyalty of the current brands’ user base. From social media groups to white label platforms dedicated to brand communities, in which you can build trust and reach your most loyal customers.

Storytelling through social stories

When it comes to social digital trends in Romania, we see a rise in the story culture. Companies of all sizes are using them. By using stories, they can customize their content and be close to their existing customers. They are using it either to share moments from within the company, teasers of upcoming events live or tips and tricks.

Contextual Marketing

By paying attention to the socio-demographic context of your customers, you can unlock new opportunities in your favor. You can capitalize on recent events, memes, and causes that captivated the public. As an example, we have the ROM’s campaign Toma Corunt or even the Savana’s non-traditional family ad.

Competitors interacting online

Lately, brands are interacting more with each other through various posts, comments, and replies, activating their audiences, endorsers or detractors the same. We can take as an example the interaction between KFC and Burger King or 5togo and Starbucks.

Shifting to communities and groups

Social media platforms are starting to focus on communities. Facebook is adding features that you can use to analyze and manage the groups you’ve created and administer. Groups are giving users a possibility to discover activities with intent, as opposed to our everyday scrolling.

These are the trends we noticed from our experience as well as from research. But because digital is an ever changing field, these will change over time. What’s important is to keep yourself updated in order to remain relevant in this industry.