Here are the best digital marketing trends for 2021
2020 will go down as a year that changed the course of history. One of the main implications of the Covid-19 pandemic has been the fact that it has stimulated a switch to all things digital. The world has had to change the way that it communicates & does business – social media usage has skyrocketed, businesses have utilized a ‘virtual’ way of working, & work from home (WFH) has become an acquired business practice.
Here are the best digital marketing trends for 2021.
Rise of the chatbot
If you’ve had an e-commerce transaction go back or had a food app order mishap, the possibilities are you’ve had to deal with a chatbot. The growth of online and e-commerce purchases, linked with a chatbot’s ability to communicate with customers and mimic real-life interactions, makes it a very attractive go-to solution for businesses.
For marketers, however, this offers a unique opportunity whereby they can use chatbots to not only give instant customer service but also be a source of personal interaction for information & data collection.
More recently, the use of chatbots has increased, and they are being used in creative ways to help drive consumer engagement and website traffic. Chatbots are not moving anywhere and we will only see them becoming more common as time goes on.
Voice-activated search becoming the norm
This aim pays tribute to our most famous pragmatic assistants: Siri, Google Home & Alexa. Over the last few years, people have been using digital voices to help them with nearly everything: playing music, checking the weather, setting alarms, plus getting directions.
Voice search has also been combined into many of our everyday tech devices like smartphones, laptops, tablets, including more. Thanks to the ease and availability it provides, the voice-activated search is predicted to further hit a special in 2021. In line with this trend, there lies a great possibility for digital marketers, who must look at stepping up their business’s SEO game.
If we think the fact that the future of search is voice, then marketers must be cognizant of this trend plus choose keywords for SEO optimization that are compatible with what people are habitual to asking a virtual assistant. Text-based search is going to be a matter of the past soon, so to ensure that your content is obvious, one must ensure it is optimized for both voice and text search.
The integration of AR & VR
The two major technological improvements that are ready to overtake the present and future of business are unquestionably augmented reality (AR) & virtual reality (VR). From product development to storytelling & creating engaging content, AR and VR have emerged as the heroes of this pandemic and provided marketers to bring experiences to life – albeit virtually.
While video content will control as a dominating force in the years to come, the next ‘big thing’ that will have a significant impact in 2021 is the use of AR and VR to create 3D environments that increase the emotional bonds within a brand, its products, and the consumers.
Many brands have already started performing AR into their customers’ regular shopping experiences – for example, Ikea customers can now enter an AR app and see a 3D illustration of furniture in their home spaces before getting a purchase, or Asos customers can take the ‘The virtual walk’ where they discuss a real-world vision of their favorite garments on a virtual basis.
A new era of ‘shoppable posts’
Online shopping has witnessed a major uptick during the pandemic and ‘shoppable posts’ are fast-growing the norm, rather than the exception.
With the size of shoppable posts spanning all major social media platforms including Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, plus Pinterest, businesses have great power to maximizing their e-commerce presence across several platforms. Customers can easily click on the shopping icon of each product showcased on a company’s Instagram feed including either be directed to the e-commerce website page or go through to check out. Either way, it’s easy, convenient, and hassles free.
Domination of short-form video content
Video content is all set to fix its position as the GOAT (most famous of all time) of content marketing in 2021. The pandemic has only highlighted its value and the demand for video is not going to be slowing down anytime soon. It is fast growing a cornerstone of any business’ marketing approach and brands have already made tremendous progress with their video content approaches.
But most noteworthy is the truth that short-form video content is emerging as a front runner. While long-form content still has a place, short-form videos are ruling – they’re succinct videos and snippets that are a quick fix for brands that desire to connect with their customers and stay top of mind. They’re memorable, easily digestible, plus can push engagement. One only has to look at the astronomical progress of TikTok during Covid-19 to see the appetite of customers for short & snackable-sized content.
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