Top 5 Digital Marketing Trends You Can’t Ignore In 2021.
It can be extremely hard to foresee which techniques will connect with customers more successfully in the ever-changing landscape of marketing.
As soon as marketers get comfortable and think they have understood their audience and their behaviour a new technology emerges and alters everything. However, one thing is certain.
Only those who are constantly adapting and improving are flourishing.
But worry not!
We have compiled and put together a list of marketing trends that will surely help you out in the current competitive market.
So, here are five of the hottest digital marketing trends that every marketer should be aware of in 2021:
1: Inclusivity
One glance at the front-page headlines indicates the importance of inclusivity in the present time. With every passing day a large number of people, especially younger audiences and marginalized groups, demand a more realistic portrayal of equality in the content from the brands they consume and buy from. These days everyone is tired of seeing the same old homogeneous content we are used to from the past decade.
Digital marketing no longer just consists of promoting your brand or service through posts but includes utilizing the different social media platforms to showcase the subject matters that are important. It’s vital for a business to be inclusive and cover a variety of races, sexualities, religions, etc., as well as representation for people with physical disabilities and learning disabilities. This can be conveyed simply by the content of the images and videos along with the topics you talk about in blogs, social media platforms or even through the different products you offer.
Accenture reports that 41% of buyers will move their business elsewhere if the retailers do not reflect diversity and inclusion as it’s important to them. This culture shift is definitely going to continue affecting the purchasing power in the coming years. Therefore, it’s important that brands do not fall behind and rather embrace this change, which should have always been the norm, to begin with.
2: Micro-influencer marketing
Now a day’s companies are no longer limited to celebrities or names that everyone knows to market their product. The recent years have given a rise to micro-influencers. Basically, micro-influencers are social media promoters that have a smaller niche following usually consisting of 1000–10,000 followers. Believe it or not, micro-influencers are the future of marketing. They have started to play a massive role in converting leads, connecting with audience members, and boosting brand awareness.
Furthermore, since micro-influencers are considered ‘average’ people, the audience perceives them to be more like family or friends. Hence, they are more likely to trust their opinions and suggestions. 58% of consumers have bought a product in the past six months based on the influencer’s recommendation.
Due to this reason, a frozen food-retailer in Iceland has switched from celebrity marketing to real-life moms (micro-influencers) because consumers trusted mothers over industry experts as they seemed more ‘real’ and genuine. So, start adjusting your influencer marketing strategy according to who your audience is most likely going to respond to.
2: Personalization
One way to stand out among your competitors is by offering personalized marketing. This means personalized content, emails, products and much more. This shift to more personalized marketing is largely due to advancement in technologies. With multiple automation and machine learning tools, every company can run tailored ads serving their clients. The perfect examples of personalized marketing are Netflix and Amazon. Their tailored recommended products or the movie titles have definitely hooked each and every one of us.
So, is it worth investing in online personalization ads? According to a study, companies that invested in personalization marketing outperformed their counterparts by approximately 30%. In fact, 80% of consumers even say they are more likely to do business with a company if it offers personalized experiences. These days customers appreciate and respond to brands that add a personal, human touch when interacting with them. However, this means much more than just simply using a customer’s first name in emails.
Below are a few personalization tips that we have compiled to help you stand out in 2021.
- Use marketing automation tools- Automation tools can produce lead nurturing campaigns depending on content interest. For instance, if a lead downloads an eBook focused on a specific topic, you could perhaps put them in an email track that’s targeted at that specific message and acknowledge they’ve already experienced some of your content.
- Group your email database by persona- You can segment your email database in multiple different ways, but the simplest (and often most effective) way is by marketing persona. Once you have your marketing personas defined, launch personalized messages to each one, utilizing language that hits on specific main points.
- Create targeted landing pages- Here are another place personas come into play. You can tailor your email messages just like you do with your other content formats; or, if you don’t have the bandwidth to do this for all of your personas, you can choose to create targeted landing pages for your various offers instead.
4: Video marketing
Video marketing is one of, if not the, most important marketing trend today. Its popularity has skyrocketed in recent years. 83% of marketers now say that video gives them a good ROI and more than 50% of consumers say they want to see video content more than any other type of content from brands. This shows the importance of incorporating video in your digital marketing strategy.
The demand for video is increasing on every platform so don’t just think Youtube! There are numerous ways (such as starting a live feed on Facebook, Instagram or even LinkedIn) you can drive traffic through video marketing by simply reformatting the content.
Here are just a few examples of how you can transform your video content:
- Get it transcribed and use the text version into a stand-alone blog.
- Rip the audio and turn it into a podcast!
- For better rankings, publish the transcription on your blog under an embedded Youtube video
So, what are you waiting for? Get started and increase your engagement rate!
5: Sustainability
Sustainability is just as important as inclusivity! People now are more than passionate about the environment and they make sure the companies who receive their money are equally concerned about the earth as they are. Don’t believe us? Well, here are some stats that might cause you to rethink your marketing strategy.
- Since the beginning of 2020, ‘sustainability’ searches have seen a 30% increase.
- 81% of consumers strongly feel business should aid in improving the environment.
- 70% of millennials will pay more for brands that support a cause they care about.
With the purchasing power of millennials increasing and the population of conscientious consumers continuing to grow, genuinely purpose-driven brands and the people-planet profit model are becoming the winner in all cases — monetarily and socially. You too can reap the rewards and benefits by broadcasting sustainable practices!
The key is conveying your sustainability practices through your marketing and content to make sustainability and caring for the environment part of your identity. There are a plethora of ways you can visually communicate your brand’s environmentalism without saying a word. For instance, you can use reusable handbags, or opt-out for green themes through your brand’s visual identity. Even discussing the matter repeatedly on social media can communicate the message.
Keep checking back with our blog throughout the year to stay up to date on all the latest digital marketing trends yet to come!
About the author: Mariam Khalid Khan — “A die-hard food lover with a passion for marketing and writing”.
