Don’t Just Survive but Thrive: 7 Best Digital Marketing Trends to Embrace in 2021
Can you believe that a few years ago, concepts like – Artificial intelligence, voice searches, and data-driven marketing – were rudiments of science fiction and futuristic movies? Today, these innovative marketing trends are embraced by businesses of all sizes!
Welcome to 2021! If you want your business to remain competitive in today’s fast-changing business landscape, then you need to embrace the rapid changes in digital marketing. We are living in the Era of Digital Darwinism.
Digital Darwinism explains the evolution of consumer behavior based on technological changes. Businesses have to adapt to the changing consumer demands or risk losing out. Marketers can no longer afford to remain complacent, sticking to the old and obsolete methods of marketing.
Read on to find the top trends of digital marketing for 2021. These trends will not only help your business survive but thrive in 2021 and beyond.
1: Influencer Content & Live Streams
The vast part of 2020 saw us locked indoors. Events were cancelled and there was nowhere to go but to stay at home. People craved the human connection in 2020. This led to an uptick in the number of live streams. Celebrities, small influencers, and even the general audiences started doing live streams.
Facebook Live spiked by 50% during the lockdown
Instagram Live increased a whopping 70% during the lockdown
Amazon Live took off during lockdown – not only could the audience see products but shop them during the life as well
We can expect the popularity of live streams to continue in 2021 as well.
2:User-Generated Content
Today’s customers want to feel connected with their favourite brands. They are looking for memorable experiences. They are no longer enticed by advertisements. Instead, they want proof before they make a purchase. After all, no one wants to spend their hard-earned money on buying the wrong products, right?
This is where UGC (user-generated content) comes into the picture. It ticks all the boxes.
It’s relatable
It assures the customer
It builds a community among users
User-generated content can be anything. It can be an honest product review, an unboxing tutorial by a previous customer, etc.
3: Strong Emphasis on Sustainability and Goodwill
Today’s customers are eco-conscious. They want their favourite brands to do more for the environment and the community. Over the last few years, we’ve seen a huge number of brands take sustainability seriously. It’s no more an after-thought. Right from sourcing the right materials to sustainable packaging, brands are coming up with new ways to win the goodwill of the customers.
As the hunt for a greener planet picks up speed, consumers are actively looking for brands that are conscious about the environment and purpose-driven.
4: Inclusive Marketing
If you’ve seen a recent Dove ad, then you would have seen the brand’s commitment to inclusivity. Not just the big brands, small businesses are also tailoring their digital marketing campaigns to make them inclusive.
A recent study by Accenture reveals that inclusivity plays a key role in shaping purchase behaviour. 41% of shoppers state that they are abandoning brands that don’t reflect diversity. Brands that aren’t inclusive are likely to miss out on a major chunk of their audience in 2021 and hereafter.
5: Voice and Visual Search on the Rise
With more and more kids using the internet in 2020 (due to online schooling), there has been a significant increase in voice searches. The trend has caught on with adults too. From searching for help with homework to looking for online food delivery places, voice searches today form a regular part of our daily lives.
It’s not just voice search, visual search is also on the rise. Pointing Google Lens at a dress worn by a friend to find a similar one, scanning QR codes, translating native languages to English, visual search is also surging.
What does it mean for marketers?
You need to tailor your content to make it voice-search friendly.
Focus on sitemaps, and image-alt-texts to rank high in visual searches
Early adopters who redesign their SEO plan to support voice and visual search can see a huge increase in sales in 2021 and beyond.
6: Easy to Consume Content
Let’s all agree – with the pandemic and so many other things happening in our lives, no one wants to spend reading pages and pages of text. Easy-to-consume, on-the-go content like short videos without voice, podcasts, and newsletters that arrive directly in subscribers’ inboxes are on the rise. Podcasts have the potential to become the next big thing in marketing.
7: Video is Still King
The craze for video content doesn’t show any signs of stopping. From Instagram Reels to Facebook videos, long-length YouTube videos, videos rule in all formats. Getting started with video marketing is easier than ever before thanks to high-definition mobile cameras and easy video editing tools. If you haven’t started with video marketing in 2021, make it a priority.
Are you ready to up your Digital Marketing Game in 2021?
Digital marketing is here to stay. It doesn’t matter whether you’re an online brand or a brick-and-mortar shop, digital marketing is MUST for all brands to thrive.
You can be sure that your customer will do in-depth online research before reaching out to your business. And, to make the best first impression you need to invest in the right digital marketing strategies. Digital marketing is a low-cost investment that has the potential to bring in high ROI. Also, it makes it easy to target the right customers and get them to convert.
The scope of digital marketing in 2021 is bigger than ever before. And, to generate the best results, you need an efficient, cost-effective digital marketing company at your side. Get in touch with Webfries to start building a customized digital marketing plan that suits your business goals and budgets. Shoot us an email at sales@webfries.com and let’s get talking.
We also offer extensive digital marketing training for companies. We can help your team learn the ropes of digital marketing so that you can handle it on your own. Get in touch with us to know more.