What are the digital marketing trends in 2021?
Organizations worldwide have taken a major hit due to the surge of COVID-19, hence the rise of new marketing trends.
Thanks to marketing trends, buying efficiently online has become a norm. Many organizations have moved online to stay connected with their customers.
With this massive expansion of online shopping, competition among organizations has become fierce.
According to marketing trends, many brands are hiring digital marketing companies as they are newer and equipped with current advertising models.
But while there has been a shift towards online strategies, let’s not forget that digital marketing isn’t something new. Thanks to marketing trends, the change has already happened but has been accelerated.
And some marketing strategies are gaining popularity because they have been around for a while, but their effectiveness as a channel to reach potential customers has skyrocketed in this virtual era of lockdowns.
That being said, to thrive in this period of market changes, entrepreneurs and marketers must consider both new and proven digital marketing trend strategies to remain competitive in 2021.
In this article, we will cover the digital marketing trends of 2021, divided into three groups:
- New Trends
- New Favorites
- Proven Strategies
2021 Marketing Trends: The Latest Ones
Let’s first take a look at new marketing trend tactics to help you stay ahead:
Email Purchases and Super Sophisticated Targeting
Yes, 2021 email marketing has been around forever, but it has always involved adding links within the body of the email directing readers to:
- A blog post
- A product page
- A landing page
E-commerce businesses find email is the right way to learn about marketing trends to ensure customer satisfaction because it allows:
- Receiving feedback
- Product recommendations
- Generating sales
This will become more true in 2021 thanks to these marketing trends.
Users whose requests are satisfied solely through email are relieved to know that they can expand their business opportunities through cross-channel capabilities.
Progressive Web Applications (PWA)
This is one of the relatively new digital marketing trends, starting in 2018 with major companies such as:
- The Financial Times
- Flipkart
- Wikipedia
Petlove’s PWA resulted in a 2.8 times increase in conversion and a 2.8 times increase in website time.
This option in digital marketing could now start becoming lucrative in 2021 for small businesses.
Having a mobile site—or ideally, a responsive site—can enhance user experience, but even then, there can be drawbacks. A slow-loading or poorly functioning site will leave users on the sidelines, leading to missed opportunities or even a tarnished reputation.
Would you consider purchasing from a brand if their website is poorly designed or doesn’t perform well?
The answer is probably no. With a significant influx of customers on mobile, Progressive Web Apps, which blend the benefits of browsing on a mobile browser and a mobile app, are gaining traction.
If you have a slow or unreliable connection, the PWA may also load or operate slowly.
If the network connection is strong, the PWA will perform very well.
A reliable and fast PWA will be able to keep users engaged by responding efficiently and promptly to their requests.
So let’s think about how a customer might encounter your traditional mobile app.
They would need to go to the App Store, search for it, and then download the correct app.
With PWAs, it’s relatively easier for anyone to find you.
All they have to do is search for you on Google, and they’ll be directed to your website.
Virtual Reality
Virtual reality allows you to experience and interact with a 3D world that isn’t real, using a head-mounted display device.
The device creates an immersive, almost authentic 3D virtual world by receiving inputs from the computer.
The engagement potential of virtual reality makes it a powerful tool for both learning and entertainment.
When used carefully, it can help users develop a range of skills and talents.
YouTube VR is a standalone app optimized for virtual reality.
You can subscribe to channels in this app, add playlists, and watch history, similar to the regular YouTube app.
Drone Software
One of the digital marketing trends: a drone is an unmanned aerial vehicle.
Whether fully controlled by artificial intelligence or a human, it makes little difference.
Future drones are expected to be heavily automated.
The drone industry could become the next high-growth market.
Once regulatory systems clear airspace for drones, commercial drone applications will lead to exponential growth in this industry.
2021 Digital Marketing Trends: Less New
These tactics are somewhat less cutting-edge than their predecessors but still a new option to try for small businesses and agencies.
Artificial Intelligence
At least 42% of marketers think they are not very good at segmentation for digital experiences.
However, these preferences are hard to track. They’re essential for marketers to know about their audience.
AI can dissect and analyze behavioral and demographic data much more effectively than humans do manually.
It can learn more about every detail of a user’s personal preference.
Your profile information, purchases, demographic information, or browsing history can be taken into account by an app to help you with what you need.
You may be preparing fresh content every day, but is that content meaningful to the user?
Look at Netflix, for example: each user sees video content based on their interests and history.
Voice Search
When using voice search, a person’s query usually gets an immediate answer without them bothering to scroll through different available options on the screen.
With text, we’ve seen digital trends scrolling through the rest of the listings on a search results page.
With voice, the user is likely to head towards the first thing that appears as it generally positively answered their expectations.
Chatbots
Chatbots allow brands to engage in conversations with their customers to build better relationships and generate more sales.
Businesses have discovered the ease and efficiency of chatbots in consumer product.
Oracle was questioned in 2016 about the future of customer service.
More than one out of three brands says customers and prospects prefer to make a purchase or solve service problems without having to talk to an advisor.
Regarding chatbots, 80% of sales and marketing managers reported that they have already used them in their customer experience methods or plan to do so since 2020.
A recent Harvard Business Review (HBR) study found that 15% of companies who are ahead in their use of new marketing trends and data intelligence have experienced faster growth than their competitors and are better positioned for the future.
Conversational Marketing
Let’s take a closer look at the impact of conversational commerce and how it shapes our future.
Brands are no longer just talking about themselves; they’re also listening to their customers’ issues and helping solve them on an individual basis.
The result is better interaction where every customer feels heard, and smart technology solves their specific problem.
The truth is that AI-integrated applications will enhance app performance.
Today’s customers expect brands to value their partnership and extend comprehensive support for a good experience.
These expectations are only increasing, and customers want relevant, targeted, and highly personalized solutions.
Influencer Marketing
Influencer marketing is the fastest-growing customer acquisition channel, surpassing:
- organic search
- paid search
- email marketing
It’s also noted that 51% of companies have achieved better customer quality based on influencer marketing. However, it can be somewhat costly, especially if you aim to collaborate with well-known influencers.
Do your research and choose the one that best fits your budget!
When asked which technologies would most improve the customer experience, nearly 40% of sales and marketing leaders cited virtual reality.
34% thought artificial intelligence would make the biggest difference.
78% of brands report having already implemented or planning to implement AI and virtual reality in 2021 to better serve their customers.
We are at the forefront of a technological revolution thanks to marketing trends.
We can see how innovations like AI and virtual reality are reshaping the customer experience, enabling brands to better cater to digital customers who increasingly prefer self-service over human interaction.
The relationship that brands have with their customers has reached a tipping point, and all signs point to a new technological revolution that will once again reshape the customer experience.
Customers have clearly indicated their preference for online and mobile commerce.
Now, it is up to businesses to decide whether they want to move further away from real human interactions and enter an era of advanced, digitized self-service.
