5 Digital Marketing
Trends That Will Rule 2021
2020 has been a roller-coaster for businesses – both online and offline. While several offline businesses took a hit during the pandemic and were forced to shut down, online businesses have grown significantly. The biggest reason for this can be attributed to the time spent by people indoors, forcing them to spend more time on the internet and interact with blogger outreach, ads, videos, and images. From social media to website traffic and email open-rates, businesses have noticed exponential growth in the way customers have engaged with the brands online.
2021 has arrived, and with it, the uncertainties in the digital trends. We have listed five trends that businesses need to know to level up their marketing game. Have a look.
AI & Marketing Automation
Even before the pandemic started, AI and Marketing Automation were looking useful for businesses. They can utilize AI to analyze the available data, improve communications, track operations & understand customer behavior. Marketing Automation allows them to automate their processes and reduce manual work while establishing trust with the clients.
Automated Google Ads
Google has rolled out a new feature where the biddings can be automated. This will allow Google to examine large data chunks and adjust bids effectively. It will also enable it to achieve campaign goals effectively.
Advertisers can automate the bidding and save their time in manual optimization of ad campaigns. Moreover, automated bidding works for both display & search ads. It also includes smart bidding that incorporates enhanced PPC, click & conversion maximization. This bidding strategy has gained popularity in 2020 and is expected to rise further in 2021.
Social Media Will Dominate 2021
The trend of Social Media Marketing like Facebook & Instagram Ads has increased exponentially in the past few years. 2021 will see the continued growth of this marketing type. Studies have revealed that 24% of the US companies’ total marketing budgets in the second quarter of 2020 were allocated for social media. This is a massive 13% increase compared to last year.
The pandemic has forced marketers to focus extensively on customer retention. As the pandemic has led people to work from home, internet penetration has skyrocketed. This means people have started to research more on the company’s products. They have also begun to engage more and are open about expressing their feedback on Facebook.
This trend isn’t going anywhere even in 2021. As a marketer, you need to keep this in mind while drafting your digital marketing strategy for 2021.
Local SEO & Google Listings
Searches like “coffee shops near me” have increased significantly in 2020 and are expected to rise in 2021 as well. This is called Local SEO, where local businesses appear in the search results when someone searches with a query that includes “near me”.
Make sure that you list your business in Google My Business and build enough citations to show your website in the local search results. Several businesses have noticed an exponential increase in footfall in their offline stores due to local SEO. Digital marketing experts believe that this trend is here to stay in the upcoming year as well.
Video Advertising
The paradigm shift from images to video is perhaps the most significant trend that 2021 will witness. Popular platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn have introduced short video features (Reels, Facebook Shorts & LinkedIn Story) because people hook more to videos than images or blogs. Furthermore, virtual event and conferencing software is becoming an increasingly popular way to interact with target audiences.
This gives marketers a perfect opportunity to target their audience by creating engaging and informational videos. More specifically, shorter videos (one minute or less) have been observed to perform better than long-form videos by the marketing experts. However, any video duration can hook up your target audience as long as it contains the information the users want to consume.
Final Word
The digital industry is dynamic, where trends change quickly. As a marketer, it’s essential to know what will work in the near future and stay abreast of current trends. Use this article to understand Digital Marketing trends that will rule 2021 to draft a perfect marketing strategy for your business.
