Digital Marketing Trends for 2021

No one would have expected 2020 to drastically change the lives of many people, including how businesses are operating nowadays. It is a dramatic turn of events that no one has expected to happen.

The pandemic has brought fear to many, particularly businesses. People are advised to stay home, wear a mask, observe social distancing, and limit activities outside of their homes. Hence, businesses should find another way to continue their operation or permanently shut down.

However, despite this tragic event, businesses find ways to keep going. Most shifted from having a physical store to choosing a digital alternative.

Since people would choose to buy online than risk going out, businesses shifted their strategies. As people spend more time on their devices as compared to pre-pandemic times, businesses are taking advantage to sell their products online.

Therefore, the only way for a business to run is to leverage online strategies of digital marketing.

We know that the coronavirus pandemic won’t be going away soon, and 2021 will continue to be like 2020. So, for businesses to thrive, moving online, and getting notice is crucial.

In this article, we will be showing what are the digital marketing trends for 2021.

Digital Marketing Trend for 2021

EPHEMERAL CONTENT GAINS MORE IMPRESSION

Unlike evergreen content, ephemeral content brings a new perspective to your marketing campaign. It urges users or viewers to immediately view or engage in your post before it would completely disappear.

Ephemeral content is media-rich content that is accessible for 24 hours. These are often seen in the form of videos or photos. Since it lasts for 24 hours, it inspires people to take action immediately.

There are popular social media platforms that allow the publishing of ephemeral content – Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat.

With 3.81 billion users of social media worldwide, means that leveraging on such content can reach potential customers.

Create short videos that are relevant and can capture your audience. Post photos that are of excellent quality and attention-grabbing. If you want to create great content, invest in editing tools like Adobe Photoshop Elements or Premiere Elements to edit your images and videos. You don’t need expensive software to create stunning ephemeral content.

CREATE YOUR GOOGLE MY BUSINESS OR WORK ON YOUR LOCAL SEO

When Covid-19 was not around, businesses rely on foot traffic and people who drive-by. However, during these unprecedented times, people’s behaviors have shifted. Instead of traveling to experience other places or culture’s cuisine or buy items from big companies, they support and purchase locally.

With people staying home, local businesses are often their go-to to purchase anything they want and need. Hence, building your local SEO in these times is vital. Even in the coming year, local SEO would be a big help.

So, how are you going to optimize your business for local SEO?

• If you want to rank higher on local searches or Google Maps, you need to create a business profile on Google. Provide all the information requested to build your profile online.
• Keep your information updated and accurate.
• Include other information such as payment method, products, and services you offer, images, logo, and more.
• Ask your customers to leave a review and respond to all reviews as much as you can.
• Add FAQ to help customers with what they need.
• Share events or promotions on your post.

Local searches comprised 46% of Google searches, which brings more traffic and possibility for small or local businesses to grow.

OPTIMIZE FOR VOICE SEARCH

Voice searches were predicted to reach 4 billion this year and up to 5 billion in the coming year. Since voice searches are increasing in number, businesses must optimize for voice queries. Create direct and conversational content that goes in line with search queries. When you decide to create content that offers assistance to voice searches, it can boost the traffic of your website.

Although voice search is not currently part of Google’s algorithm, it can still provide businesses better chances of growing because people often use this technology.

BETTER RESPONSE AND CUSTOMER SERVICE WITH AI-POWERED CHATBOTS

Chatbots are becoming a vital part of customer service. It’s more than a tool to answer frequently asked questions. Now, it is possible for chatbots to go beyond answering common questions to understanding customers’ behaviors and want by using their search history, past conversation, and how they interact with these AI-powered bots.

With 69% of consumers preferring to use chatbots to speed up the process of communication, businesses have an idea of what to invest in. However, make sure to invest or upgrade to an AI-powered chatbot that has deep learning and conversational abilities.

ADVERTISE ON YOUTUBE

YouTube is the second most popular social media platform with 2 billion monthly active users worldwide, where businesses will surely be able to sell. As people will continue to stay at home and find ways to entertain themselves, it is no doubt that they will turn to watch YouTube videos more and more.

According to Google, people who watch YouTube ads to completion are more likely to purchase or get to know the brand. Hence, most marketing professionals run ads on YouTube. Furthermore, 62% of marketers are planning to increase their budget for YouTube ads.

Marketers or businesses can also add some budget to choose non-skippable ads for viewers to be exposed to their brand. There are also other options on how you can advertise on YouTube. You can opt for non-skippable instream ads, bumper instream ads, sponsored card ads, overlay ads, and more.

Advertising on YouTube, particularly this coming year, will boost brand awareness, influence people’s buying decisions, and a business’s brand reputation.

OPTIMISE WEBSITE FOR MOBILE SEO

Mobile SEO is vital for a positive user experience. If you want people to stay on your site longer to increase your website’s domain authority, you need to create a positive experience for your users. One way to do so is to make your website look good regardless of the screen size.

There are different devices users utilize when searching online. It ranges from desktop, tablet, and smartphones.

Businesses should invest in optimizing their site for mobile since Google has considered it to be part of its algorithm to rank on their Search Engine Result Page (SERP). In addition, a mobile-friendly website decreases the bounce rate and ultimately allowing visitors to stay on your site longer.

How to make your website mobile-friendly?

First, you have to check if your website is already mobile-friendly. You can go to Google’s mobile page testing tool and see if your website has already been optimized.

If your website is still not designed for mobile users, here are ways you can optimize your site.

• Improve your page’s loading time.
• Use a responsive design for your website to adapt to any mobile device format.
• Focus on designs that are mobile-friendly such as the font must be legible, has an easy call-to-action, and is effortless to scroll and click on.
• Exercise caution when using pop-ups. Make sure that you don’t use a lot of pop-ups on your mobile website’s version, as it will drive people away. In addition, make sure to add an “X” button that can be seen easily.
• Optimize for local SEO, as most people use their device for searching places near them.
• Have a clean, simple, and easy navigation bar.
• Optimize title tags and meta description.
• Create content that is made for mobile devices.

INCLUSIVITY

The significance of inclusivity has never been pushed on the headlines as it has been today. Since then, the number of audiences or buyers want to see more brand depicting equality and inclusivity in their content. Therefore, for the coming years, brands need to create content that covers a variety of race, sexuality, religion, and even people with disabilities.

Accenture has seen a shift in purchasing behavior since people demanded change. 29% of consumers will shift brands if the business doesn’t include inclusivity and diversity. So, if you run a business, it is about time to switch to gain more customers. Create products that cater to all groups.

We would be seeing more brands adapting inclusivity and diversity in 2021 and so on.

COPE WITH AD BLOCKERS

Viewers now have the option to block ads they see online, from YouTube Ads to banners or displays. Sometimes, there is no other way to combat these ad blockers, so the only way is to shift your marketing strategies.

Marketing experts can invest in other marketing techniques like sponsored posts or influencer marketing, which are also effective, particularly to younger audiences.

STILL WITH FEATURED SNIPPETS

Unlike other trends, being on Google’s top search result (featured snippet) will always be relevant. So, you have to optimize your website. However, SEO and getting position zero is a challenge.

There are many factors to consider, and here are some of them. With continuous application and monitoring of your SEO, you’ll somehow get to be on Google’s first SERP or its featured snippet.

• Do keyword research. Use long-tail keywords.
• Answer common questions like “How” and “What,” or explore the People also ask section on Google.
• Give direct answers to questions.
• Use bullets or tables.
• Write using inverted pyramid style. Answer the question first or provide the most valuable information and proceed to support your answer or provide further details.
• Make sure your content follows the appropriate format, such as the word count, H1 titles, internal and external links, and so on.

Conclusion

This pandemic will more likely last beyond 2021, and there are still uncertain events we cannot foresee. So, people, technology, and even marketing professionals have to adjust to unprecedented changes to thrive. These trends might be practiced by professionals, or it might change as digital marketing needs to adapt to what can help sell a product or grow a business.