Digital Marketing Trends To Look Out for in 2021

Digital marketing is one of the fast-evolving niches in the business world. It depends on the fast-evolving technology and so your digital marketing strategy should respond to the new developments quick enough. Are you ready to start planning your 2021 digital marketing strategy? As you get started, stay up to date with digital marketing trends that are set to define 2021.

Live Video

According to statistics from Hubspot, global internet users watched 1.1 billion hours of live video in 2019. The statistics also revealed that live streaming is expected to account for 82% of all internet traffic in 2020. Most consumers feel confident to purchase a product when they see a clearer picture of the product in a video.

The good part about live video is that you do not need advanced technology, a smartphone is all you need to get started. Live video drives more engagement, views, traffic and commands longer view times when compared to pre-recorded videos. 

You can use live video for content like Q&As, DIY videos, customer support, special announcements, interviews with influencers and live events.

Voice Search

If you want to remain visible to consumers in the coming years, you have to find a way to incorporate voice technology into your digital marketing strategies. Voice search will soon become the preferred method of browsing the internet. It’s faster, hands-free, and ultimately more convenient.

As it keeps getting bigger it will change the way SEO is done, improve the customer experience, drive more traffic to your site and help you stay ahead of the competition

However, It is not just about adopting voice search to remain relevant but it’s about creating a unique and optimised customer experience that will foster relationships and build brand loyalty.

According to experts in voice search, content must be specifically optimised for voice. It needs to be more direct and conversational so that it will accurately sync with search queries. Check out this article for a more in-depth explanation of the power of voice search.

Interactive Content

Adding interactive elements to your content strategy is a great way to provide value for visitors and get them to engage with your brand. Interactive content includes quizzes, assessments, interactive infographics, white papers, videos and polls. 

Content marketing will shift from just being about words to content that encourages users to actively engage with it. 

Users also want to be stimulated and be in control over their experiences, hence the growing demand for interactive content that offers a more engaging and immersive experience.

Shifts in Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing is based on hiring a person with the power of persuasion over a specific community. As such, the influencer can influence a group of people in their decision-making. It is about individuals with the power, knowledge, and influence in a particular sector, to position a product in the mind of target customers. Not only in order to generate brand awareness but also to make it more visible and bring more potential customers to the business.

Influencer marketing will take a new shift with the rise in micro-influencers. These are influencers who have between 1,000 to 100,000 followers and focus on a specific niche or area. They are generally regarded as an industry expert or topic specialist. 

The advantage of using micro-influencers is that you can target your marketing campaign to an audience that is actually interested and can be a potential customer. For example, a micro-influencer whose focus is to blog about vacation destinations is an ideal option for a travel agency. The agency can bank on the fact that the influencer’s followers are potential leads.

Advertising via messaging apps

Customers spend a significant amount of time on messaging apps and it’s a good place for you and your customers to connect. Advertising on social messaging apps like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and WeChat will be a huge part in digital marketing.

In October this year, Whatsapp announced that it will expand ways for people to check out available products and make purchases right from the chat and make it easier for businesses to integrate these features into their existing commerce and customer solutions. 

Applying AI in marketing

Artificial intelligence in marketing is important for analysing customer data which helps in sending highly targeted marketing campaigns. By leveraging the data from customers, you can be exposed to information on what potential leads are most likely to buy. This information is important in recommending useful products to customers and choosing the right channels to reach them.

Having a comprehensive picture of a customer’s needs makes the audience segmentation process easier and it facilitates win-win conversations which can eventually lead to a purchase.

These are some of the digital marketing trends to look out for in 2021. As you plan your digital marketing strategy for the coming year, keep abreast with the trends that will shift your strategy into a direction that aligns with the way customers consume information. 

Would you like to incorporate some of these innovations in your digital marketing plan? We can help, talk to us.