This week, we’re reflecting on the marketing highs and lows of the year, and what they might mean for the future. Check out some crucial stats and predictions for 2021 in our last Weekly Must Reads of 2020.

2020 Influencer Marketing Recap

Influencers have continued to be successful partners for brands in the virtual-heavy year of 2020. According to Klear’s recent influencer marketing report, influencer collaborations had 57 percent more reach and impact this year as compared to 2019. A significant portion of that increase came from Instagram Stories and TikTok videos alone. While there were fewer Instagram posts marked “#ad” this year, use of sponsored stories rose by 32 percent and TikTok sponsorships increased by 130 percent.

This rise in influencer marketing began earlier this year with more marketers than ever devoting a portion of their budget to these social media creators. In the US, UK and Germany, 73 percent of marketers have said they gave more resources to influencer marketing this year. How will influencing continue to expand in 2021? Find out everything you need to know here: https://www.marketingdive.com/news/study-influencer-impact-up-57-amid-shift-to-instagram-stories-tiktok/592313/

Brand-to-Brand Collaborations

From McDonald’s and Travis Scott to Oreo and Supreme, celebrity endorsements and brand partnerships made a comeback in 2020. With so many companies seeing success from these campaigns, don’t be surprised if we see more of these surprise collaborations next year. When done well, brand partnerships are memorable and can generate significant social media interaction among the audiences of both brands.

Brand partnerships can be especially beneficial for businesses that don’t have the access or budget for celebrity endorsements. Because the collaboration is beneficial for both companies, there typically aren’t such steep fees involved. Check out more 2021 predictions from AdWeek here: https://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/what-marketing-trends-to-expect-in-2021/

2,021 Good Deeds from P&G

2020 exposed a lot of pressing needs in our world today. In 2021, Procter & Gamble has pledged to do 2,021 good deeds to help support COVID-19 relief, social justice initiatives and other charities. These good deeds are all now part of P&G’s “Lead with Love” campaign, which will encompass all of the company’s many ongoing charitable projects. The campaign was introduced with an ad last week, which explains the eight emotions humans are born with and why love is the most important.

In 2021, we expect many other brands to also expand on their cause marketing campaigns brought on by the challenges of the past year. However, 2,021 charitable deeds in one year may be hard to top. In fact, P&G had to designate an employee to keep count of them all. Find out more about their Lead with Love campaign here: https://adage.com/article/cmo-strategy/procter-gamble-promises-2021-good-deeds-2021/2302141

Cancel Pandemic Buzzwords in 2021

In such unprecedented and challenging times, many of us have naturally pivoted to using the same 2020 buzzwords over and over. Now, I think we’d all be happy to never hear most of them ever again. The marketing world in particular saw heavy usage of words like “heroes,” “new normal,” and “human,” which felt appropriate at the beginning of the pandemic, but have now already become clichés.

We will hopefully see a break from pandemic-related phrases in 2021, but we may not be so lucky to escape techy buzzwords like “CTV” and “cookieless future” anytime soon. Give yourself one last laugh at the 2020 buzzwords of the year here: https://adage.com/article/year-review/13-worst-buzzwords-and-phrases-2020-pandemic-edition/2299331