With the
chaos of 2020 now behind us, it seems almost impossible to accurately predict
what will be coming next for the digital marketing sector in the year ahead,
yet we'll look ahead to what we can expect from the next 12 months.
Most notably,
eCommerce sales went through the roof, people spent a lot more time on
social media, and video conferencing became the norm. This has led to a major
shift in the way brands connect with their consumers.
Digital marketing consists of a lot of strategies. In fact, it's a
holistic approach to do different types of marketing activities across
different online platforms. These methods get upgraded on a regular basis as
new technologies emerge across the globe.
So, as we turn
into the New Year, what marketing strategies will continue to permeate in
2021?
Here are some key
strategies to consider:
1. Invest in machine Learning and Artificial intelligence (AI)
First of all, the artificial intelligence (AI) will be quite
popular in the coming years. Machine learning is another important part of
digital marketing.
2. Share your content on
Social Media
In 2021, make sure you share your business videos across different
social media platforms. Unlike the images or written content, a good video is
more effective as far as grabbing the eyes of the visitors is concerned. This
is really important if you are going to market on the leading platforms, such
as Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, or Facebook.
According to the latest research, 80% of people like to watch
videos on the internet. They don't want to read articles or blog posts that
much.
3. Optimize your sites for
Mobile Devices
In 2021, your marketing strategies should be focused on mobile
technology as well. According to the latest Google algorithm, your site should
be optimized for mobile phones or you may get a penalty from Google.
Nowadays, mobile phones are one of the most popular devices across
the globe. The New Year will grow the mobile video consumption by up to 30%. On
the other hand, the demand for desktop computers and laptops will continue to
decline.
4. Consider Mobile apps
In the world of digital marketing, mobile technology is the latest
innovation. As a matter of fact, it's one of the most effective digital
marketing tools in the here and now.
With the help of this cellular technology, you can compete with
your competitors to stay ahead in the field. Without any doubt, if you have a
mobile responsive website, you can grow your business to a large extent.
So, you may want to tap into the mobile apps as well. One such app
is Whatsapp business. According to a source, mobile apps have generated $88
billion, give or take, in recent years.
5. Focus on the Customer
Experience
For your business, customers play the same role your blood plays
in your body. Therefore, it's important that you work on the consumer
experience. This will help you increase your sales over time.
If your customers are satisfied with your products or service,
they will keep coming back for more.
6. Chat-Bot Marketing
Safe to say that you must have encountered a chat box while
surfing on the internet. In this era of being a busybody, running a company
and interacting with each and every customer becomes a real
challenge. Chat boxes are one of the most widely implemented applications
of Artificial Intelligence. Not just do they display results at a faster rate,
they are also humorous and offer a personalized experience to the clients.
Moreover, in a recent report from IBM, 85% of all the customer service
interactions will be done by machines by the end of this year.
The Facebook messenger connects over 2 billion people, so Facebook
chat bots have become a real and popular solution to boosting up the digital
market. Since chat bots can be used to generate human dialogue, it can be used
to reply to customer queries, spread important information, and to provide
user-friendly assistance to the buyer/page visitor. However, you can create
your own chat bots, with automated replies via text or message, and the
customer will not even realize whether they are interacting with a customer
care provider or a bot.
7. Live-streams and an increase in influencer content
Stay at home orders
meant events were canceled, and consumers were unable to attend in-person
events. They weren’t even able to socialize with their friends and
family.
This led to an uptick
in the number of people tuning into live-streams, whether it was a branded
live-stream, a live video from their favorite celebrity, or an online
workshop.
On Facebook, live
viewings spiked by 50% during lockdown periods, while viewings on
Instagram surged 70%. TikTok use shot up in 2020, and there’s a good chance
we’ll see this upward trajectory continue to play out in 2021.
Human-drive content
like influencer live-streams can create trust, and tap into the
'in-the-moment' connection that 2020 consumers crave.
Amazon
Live really got going during the pandemic. Influencers took to the
platform to promote their favorite products during live events. What’s
more, the live streams were shoppable, which meant viewers could make
purchases while they were watching.
People nowadays not only look for the popularity of an influencer
but also look for the quality of follower. Classic marketing strategies like
word-of-mouth marketing and advocate marketing, are now being popularized in
the digital marketing field. An advocate influencer instructing and convincing
the people who are completely away from the world of advertising does a great
job in gaining organic customers. Reaching out to the masses on social media,
promoting a product, and creating a good community of netizens in bulk,
influencer marketing is sure a bold and new technique.
8. Increase in voice and visual search
An increasing number
of consumers are searching via voice-activated tools like Alexa. Perhaps that’s
due to people have been stuck at home, with limited opportunities for
conversation, or perhaps it’s simply because this type of technology is more
readily available (about one in four American homes has a smart speaker of
some kind). 65% of smart speaker owners say that they don't want to go
back to a life without a voice-controlled assistant.
But it’s not just
voice search that will prevail in 2021 - we can also expect other creative
search methods to rise to the top, like visual search.
Tools like Google Lens
enable consumers can search for whatever they can see. This means marketers
will need to focus even more on image alt-text and sitemaps for images. Over
the next year, visuals will become increasingly important in the SEO
game.
It’s going to be
profitable too: Retail Customer Experience estimates that by 2021:
"Early adopters that redesign their websites to support
visual and voice search will increase their digital commerce revenue by
30%.”
9. SEO
Search engine optimization is the best way to remain on the top of the
search engine return page by using and enabling certain keywords which increase
the hit score according to the type of business. For long-term strategies, this
is possibly the best way out, as it is cost-effective also. The investment is
not indefinite as once a site gets ranked, it will remain so; increasing the
influx of traffic and in turn, increase in sales. If a company is looking for
outsourcing on a digital platform, opting for SEO is no doubt a suitable
choice.
10. Easy-to-consume content
2020 also saw people
leaning on easy-to-consume content - things like podcasts that can be consumed
on-the-go or newsletters that land directly in subscriber’s inboxes.
Content is not just
about facts and figures, it must be easy, clean, and lean
Studies show
that 55% of Americans now listen to podcasts, while newsletter
mentions were up 14% during lockdown.
Advertisers are spending more on podcasts too, which is a hint
to their continued success in 2021.
Convenient and readily-available content like podcasts and
newsletters will help brands connect more deeply with customers and provide a
more intimate way to stay in touch.
In the year 2021, content will have the
same importance which it had in previous years.
So, these are the digital marketing strategies that you may want to consider in 2021 to give your brand that needed cutting-edge.
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