We are almost halfway through the most unusual, unprecedented, and a taxing year 2020. The Corona Virus outbreak has shattered economies, and the whole statistics of the consumer world has changed. In such crucial times, digital marketing trends have experienced some major changes as well. Nothing is quite certain until the world completely fights off the COVID-19 pandemic. However, certain digital marketing trends are expected to stay and bloom in 2021.
Five digital marketing trends that are expected to rule in the year 2021 are discussed below.
1. Non-Linear Customer Journey
In recent years, you must have witnessed the appearance of ads on your Facebook feed related to something you had been searching for. The question that does Facebook read minds has perplexed you and everyone else. Well, Facebook does not have any superpower to read your minds. Most probably, you may have searched, watched a video with that particular product in it, or maybe followed an influencer on social media who has been using it or has been relating to that merchandise. Practically speaking, Facebook can read your mind but only by decoding the data paths.
Non-linear customer journeys are a multi-media marketing effort that is spread over televisions, radios, voice devices, and more, using the targeted product beyond social media. The customers are very smart about their purchases. The journey in this digital era begins with the customer’s interest in a product, resulting in research, reviews, and ratings. The users go on further to compare features and prices and then make the final move. For instance, a user is looking for a company that excels in Logo Designing, and they would gain complete knowledge about the company before deciding to hire it or not finally. With digital channels turning out to be craftier, and man new ones hitting the market, this marketing trend is here to stay and build up more traction.
2. Marketing Automation
Another digital marketing trend that is already gaining quite a name and is something we will definitely see in 2021 is marketing automation. This platform allows marketers to identify a user’s complex and “chaotic” click journey. With numerous digital skills at our fingertips, marketing automation in 2021 is a totally new game challenge. Similar to the pop-up Ads on Facebook, customizing the automation marketing process is more cost-effective and successful rather than sending out a simple generic message.
As per the data provided by Salesforce, 67% of the top marketers already trust marketing automation, and more than 20% have it in the pipeline. It is easier to convert leads with automation with automated nurture campaigns, customized, scalable content, scoring, and track results.
3. Social Media Marketing
The popularity of social media platforms has scaled up non-stop in the past few years. And with the occurrence of pandemic COVID-19, the demand in social media usage has spiked up to 70% more. In the current circumstances where everything has been under a lockdown, social media marketing has seen a boost, and it remains the only platform to access existing and potential customers. With the engagement of influencers, social media is going to be even more prevalent in 2021 than any other form of marketing.
4. Digital Emotions
With Facebook’s care emoji, the most popular thing at the moment, the power of emojis cannot be denied. And with Apple, the technology giant coming up with the idea of animojis – personalized emojis, it is obvious that the digital emotions will be prevalent for the next few years.
There are no concrete facts about how emojis can help enhance the visibility of the curated content. Still, it is a proven fact that 70% -80% mean & women like to use emojis to express emotions online. Its role in the digital marketing campaign may still be ambiguous, but with social distancing, quarantine, and lockdowns, people are mostly connecting online. Emojis are the greatest way to express your emotions when you are simply targeting the audience through text.
The right emojis incorporated with trending keywords and hashtags, your social media campaign can be boosted effectively well into 2021 and beyond.
5. Smart Assistants – Voice Search
One of the chief developments that have impacted the digital world is the prevalent embracing of voice search technology, which is altering how websites are optimized by search marketing professionals to rank higher for targeted keywords and queries.
Whether it is Alexa, Siri, or Cortana, we frequently seek their support for everything from finding out a pizza joint nearby to finding the most popular nail salons in the vicinity. Voice searches and smart assistants have made the searching more locally customized that has prompted a shift in search trends of Google.
Voice search technology offers a unique opportunity for businesses who want to stay ahead of the game. The continuous growth of voice search presents new opportunities for market growth and moving forward digitally because voice search will only gain more popularity in 2021 and more.
