Since the COVID-19 flare-up in 2020, consumers have changed the way they shop. In-store shopping is more of an inclination right now as more and more people shop online. In turn, businesses have followed suit and gone online to avoid losing their customers and become even more appealing to new ones.
With the stupendous expansion of online shopping, businesses have to contend with stiff competition. More and more companies are coming up with better digital marketing trends to win over their target market.
Below, we have listed some of the most important digital marketing trends in 2021. They’ll give you a head start over your competitors. Keep reading!
1. Marketing Automation
Digital marketing technology has grown exponentially in sophistication. It’s not surprising that we’re likely to weaken top-of-the-line marketing automation. In 2021, marketing automation will be an industry mainstream necessity, so it’s one of those digital marketing trends to watch out for.
At this rate, the customer buyers’ journey has become so fluid and dynamic. Consumers go through multiple touch-points across multiple devices.
With time, it’s going to be almost impossible for businesses to track outcomes manually and calculate ROI accurately. About 67% of marketing gurus are already leveraging marketing automation tools.
Most of this technology is not new. However, it’s bound to evolve further. It’ll allow marketers to generate personalized content, convert leads, and track results a lot better.
It’s safe to say that marketing automation will be an incredible way to do digital marketing for business effectively in and beyond 2021.
2. Inclusivity
In this day and age, more and more people want to say an optimistic depiction of equality. They want to see equality in the brands they purchase from and in the content they consume. This applies mostly to the younger generation, the marginalized groups.
In 2021, one of the top digital marketing trends will be inclusivity. Digital marketing 2021 will include subject matters that cover religion, sexuality, race, and more.
This includes all types of content. Anything from blogs to topics discussed on social media, videos, imagery, and the product and services a business offers.
3. More Personalization
Consumer privacy has become a major widespread concern in the past year. Cities like California have gone ahead to implement the California Consumer Privacy Act. That said, about 70% of shoppers only engage with personalized marketing.
They are more likely to interact with personable web pages. Most will unsubscribe from mass-blasted emails that offer generic web pages.
As a marketer, one of the top digital marketing trends of 2021 that you need to implement is more personalization. You’ll have to customize customer experiences and communications. Base them on their behavior, preferences, and interests.
3. Short Form Videos
After the pandemic hit and a lockdown was enforced, boredom levels shots to the roof, and most people turned to videos for entertainment. Short-form videos have especially become popular. TikTok is the most preferred platform for Generation Z.
Even Snapchat implemented major redesigning, and Facebook launched its own Instagram Reels to join in on the action.
There has been a significant boost in social media consumption across the board for all generations. For this reason, businesses are redirecting a considerable amount of their budgets to these channels.
When you put all this into consideration, you need to invest in a short-form video marketing strategy. This is more so if your target market falls on the younger generation.
TikTok launched TikTok for business earlier in 2021 and is set to expand its advertising and promotion options. This means that as a marketer, you need to plan how you can leverage this platform. You need customer research, creativity, and strategy. It’ll ensure you get a balance of branded messaging with the casual tone usually associated with these videos.
4. Influencer Marketing and Live Streams
Talking about boredom, apart from videos, a lot of people also turned to live streaming. Events were canceled, and consumers were unable to attend in person. They found that one of the best ways to socialize and get in on the game was through live streaming videos.
Regardless of whether they were videos from the favorite celebrities, from online workshops, or brands. These videos have become an integral part of our day-to-day lives.
Live streaming shot about 50% on Facebook during the lockdown, while on Instagram, it shot to a whopping 70%. Not to forget TikTok, which shot in use exponentially and this trend is not about to stop any time soon.
Additionally, businesses should take advantage of influencers. Their live streams tend to create trust and connect with consumers at the moment.
Take Amazon Live, for instance, where influences took the platform by storm. They promoted all the products they would recommend at the live events.
Even better, the live streams were shoppable, which means consumers could purchase those products as they watched. This means you should leverage live streaming and get influences that can promote your business. Make it possible for your target market to shop as they watch.
5. Increase in Visual and Voice Search
More and more consumers are using both Visual and voice searches. Better technology is readily available, and about one in four homes in the USA have a smart speaker of some sort. Additionally, there are tools such as Google Lens that allow customers to search for images of a product they need visually.
This means visual and voice search will be one of the biggest digital marketing trends in 2021. Marketers need to concentrate on sitemaps for images and image texts. You also stand to increase your digital commerce revenue by about 30% simply by implementing visual and voice searches.
Top Digital Marketing Trends: Are You Ready for 2021?
The year 2020 was so unpredictable that businesses have had to change the way they interact with consumers. Brands took their businesses online, more consumers spent more time and money online, and businesses needed to create more human-centric ways to reach customers.
In 2021, we’ll experience some of these digital marketing trends. Brands need to take them up and start implementing them if they want to come up top and win over their competition. For more informative content, please check out our website today!
