Posted by So far, 2021 has no less than surprised us with its ever-evolving marketing practices and changing trends. However, most trends revolve around the top 2 things; personalization and AI. From AI-generated content and chatbots to personal email marketing, most trends will be carried forward to 2022.
But before we step into next year, let’s do a quick round-up of the top 12 digital marketing trends that took the world by storm.
1. Personalization & Inclusivity
Personalizing the content to the individual is one of the core practices that took flight in 2021, and rightly so. With all the marketing content created to cater to the larger set of audience, people are left to wonder if the product or the service is for them or not.
Personalization and inclusivity in marketing while targeting a set of audiences can bring about a new face to your marketing content as a whole.
In 2021, after we came out of so many hardships of COVID, everyone deserves an effort towards them. Think of how many loyal customers you can gain by streamlining your marketing content according to your clientele.
Here is Fenty beauty, which we all love for its inclusivity!
2. Focus On Customer Segmentation
To ensure the best possible service, businesses need to understand who their target customers are. One way to do this is with customer segmentation. Segmenting customers helps companies to learn which features they should be targeting in their products and services.
For instance, if a business focuses on providing dental insurance for families, they want to know if they mainly target working families or out-of-work families. There are many different types of customer segmentation. One way to do this is through demographics like age, gender, income, family size, etc.
However, there are multiple other ways to use this digital marketing trend to your benefit. Customer segmentation should be at the top of your list while planning the next social media campaign.
3. Interactive Content
Interactive content is what makes online learning effective. More specifically, interactive content is what captures a readers’ attention and increases the level of content retention. Interactive content can commonly help in e-learning, where learners are allowed to observe, listen, and respond.
It is also found in games, simulations, audio tours, and virtual worlds. The best interactive content elements are intriguing visuals, audio, text, and animation.
Maybe like Wendy over here:
4. Live Streaming and Video Content in Marketing
While many people may not completely understand how to use it, several companies have shown its power in the marketing world. Live streaming is also an excellent way for companies to connect with their communities and allow their customers to ask questions.
This way of marketing creates a more personal, live connection between brands and their audience. This one-on-one interaction, coupled with video content, builds customer loyalty and confidence.
Live streaming video is also an excellent opportunity to offer behind-the-scenes access to customers through fan subscriptions, manufacturing tours, or other exclusive content. This access creates a sense of co-ownership and involvement for customers and helps them feel like insiders.
5. Increase in Influencer Marketing
Influencer marketing has become a highly effective marketing tactic. With nearly 80% of consumers today saying they want to learn more about products from people they trust, influencers are becoming the new way to advertise. Behind successful influencer marketing are two main attributes that are necessary for success.
Firstly, an influencer needs to have a large following on social media that engages with the post. No point in collaborating with influencers with a dead audience. Secondly, this influencer needs to be trusted by followers. Marketing campaigns are more manageable when the influencer has both of these attributes.
This campaign can be backed by both promotional posts on social media and traditional ads on the internet.
When PlayStation 5 was first launched, they hired a few influencers who were pro-gamers and also bloggers to promote their product. Here is an excellent blog that one of the bloggers shared!
6. More Focus On Experience-Centric Marketing
There are a lot of different considerations to make, which causes many marketers to get overwhelmed. This is where experience-centric marketing comes in. Experience-centric marketing focuses on the customer’s experience as a means of promoting a company.
The way a consumer reacts to a company becomes the actual message. In other words, the customer has the power to influence the company’s message. If a customer has a memorable experience with a company, that will carry through to their social media posts and referrals.
On the other hand, if you sell a completely different experience and offer another, that could end up in big problems for you.
7. High Demand of Voice and Visual Search
In marketing, voice and visual search are now more popular and are starting to replace typing into a search bar for many people. As voice and visual search become more popular, marketing strategies for companies are changing.
People are starting to rely on google assistant, for example, for all their needs — from looking up recipes to finding out what is happening in the stock market.
This is happening because of the google assistant app on their phone. It has voice capability so it can understand what people are saying to it. We believe, as smart technologies become more advanced, the goal of marketing will shift to high-quality content.
8. Create Easy-To-Understand Content
Creating easy-to-consume content can be helpful when it comes to marketing your blog posts. It will make it easier for the viewer to see what you’re promoting.
The easiest way to make your content easier to consume is by keeping your paragraphs shorter. This makes it easier for the content consumer to see the information that is more relevant to them. Don’t include unnecessary details that the reader won’t be interested in since this will result in the reader not staying on your blog.
9. Increase in the popularity of chatbots
Chatbots are a new and exciting way for marketers to communicate with their customers. With just a simple type of interaction beginning with a “Hi,” a chatbot can give you your daily news, set up appointments, or have a simple conversation.
Compared to an online chat, which can be daunting with multiple people typing back and forth, a chatbot is much easier for someone with limited experience to use.
With no need to type, people who cannot type due to arthritis or limited mobility can have the same conversations as someone using a keyboard.
10. Cross Channel Marketing
They are all essential channels to execute your social media strategy. Identifying the best way to use them to target your customers isn’t easy, though. The first step is to figure out where your customers are spending their time.
You might find that they are more active on Twitter, LinkedIn, or Facebook.
You can use their activity on those platforms to determine where you should focus your attention, but many factors are considered. For an instance, if you are a t-shirt retailer, Twitter is likely the way to go. Similarly, other businesses might have a different experience with social media platforms.
11. PPC Ad Campaigns
Running an ad campaign on PPC can be a great way to promote a company’s products and services. PPC allows a business to set a budget for advertising and then show its ads to consumers online.
As a company, you determine how much you want to spend on various marketing options, such as traditional targeted text ads, social media ads, and video ads.
PPC ads offer advantages over other types of marketing because they are affordable, can be set up quickly, and are very responsive. Consumers can share PPC ads from their platforms or their email, social media, or favorite websites.
Here is an example of a PPC Campaign:
12. Increased Focus On Local SEO
Local SEO is a phenomenon that takes various forms, including citations, reviews, and press releases. Still, it all boils down to being a comprehensive understanding of the topography of your area.
When you focus on local SEO, you understand the character of your area, the demographics, and how it differs from its neighboring towns. You need to include your area in your business’ information on their website and on social media.
All local SEO campaigns should be well planned and executed before the company signs up with a service to handle the SEO.
- Find keywords and hyper-local terms: Keyword research can help a company determine what its competitors are using and find the best keywords and hyper-local phrases for the company.
- Conduct a competitive analysis: Every industry is different, and companies must find out who their competitors are and the keywords they are focusing on.
- Determine what’s working: A lot goes into SEO that isn’t obvious to the naked eye.
These are the top 12 digital marketing trends of 2021; what practices do you think will be carried forward in the upcoming year? Let us know!