Items on the Agenda:

• Tackling a New Challenge; User Privacy Data
• Live-streams and influencer marketing
• Visual Searches with Image and Video SEO 
• Inclusivity is Key
• Sustainability: Purpose-driven campaigning
• Easy-to Grab Content

2020 was certainly a year of surprises in terms of business and marketing; some businesses were sent to turmoil while a few saw their growth excel over the roof. The Pakistan Stock Exchange showed a major deficit in the stocks for airlines while on-demand delivery apps saw a huge boost in terms of worth.

But now with the entire uncertainty and imbalance of the drastic year behind us, it is time we look forward to 2021 and everything new that can be expected in the regime of digital marketing trends.

 

The New and Reshaped Digital Marketing:

The pandemic managed to change a number of things that people perceived to be a norm of lifestyle. This includes the perception of communication, connection and conducting business itself.

The recent events that occurred brought drastic changes to the retail landscape, with customers raising their expectations from the brands to comply with their new shopping habits.The global upheavals of the year 2020 can be felt in Digital marketing as well.

Source: UD Conference Services

 

In contrast to the changes that have emerged in the field of marketing after the past year, the digital marketing trends for 2021 will ideally be constructed around two sharp-cut, but contradictory concepts: 

• Technical optimization: SEO reformed to perform efficiently upon which campaigns will be based. 
• Compliant with the need of the time: addressing global issues in order to engage with the customers on a more personal level. 

The fragility of the world still lingers and calls for the brand and businesses to develop a strong covalent relationship with their consumers.

Tackling a New Challenge; User Privacy Data:

With the beginning of the new year, the digital marketers have been struck with a major blow in the shape of a fall in targeted ads due to the strict revisions of policies regarding the consumer data.

With the lack of trust developing among consumers, particularly the middle-aged audience, the system of back end data collection, tracking and targeting a consumer will surely suffer hectic changes. This will push the businesses to make arrangements in order to prepare for such circumstances.

So what are the key digital marketing trends for 2021 that business would need to consider in order to stay ahead of the competition and avoid another drastic deficit? 

 

Top 5 Digital Marketing Trends to Consider in 2021:

 

1)  Live-Streams & Influencer Marketing:

Source: Woorise

Live-streams and virtual platforms started off as a contemporary substitute for in-person meetings, but by the looks of it, they’re here to stay. Shifting entire meetings and personal experiences online has been a major transformation bestowed upon us during the previous year. 

But the fact is, they work. So this is definitely going to be something that digital marketers will clinch on to in the longer haul. 

Influencer marketing has really begun to spring and is now considered one of the top marketing strategies in the business world. Influencer marketing is predicted to develop a stronger stance with the introduction of business platforms affiliated to short video message applications like TikTok. 

More than 60% mobile surfers are millennial or from the Generation Z. That makes influencer marketing the real deal to attract customers and to introduce a brand to a whole new generation.

 

2)  Visual Searches with Image and Video SEO:

Source: SEO Hacker

This was considered to be a pre-pandemic revolution in the field of optimization and now is predicted to be the center point of effective search optimization for businesses in the future. This trend is termed as the next hack for businesses to rank themselves higher than the competition and succeed in provision of efficient experience to the users. 

Customers show a keen interest in having their brands use animations and visually pleasing content to tell their story. Although your underlying code, written content, and link-building strategies are all still very essential in this format, visuals are getting more relevant every day.

 

3) Inclusivity is Key:

Source: The Guardian

Inclusivity is one of the major outtakes of the year 2020, with customers now sharing a keen interest in making shopping decisions based on the inclusivity of the brand. One of the major events that shaped this concept was the global movement of ‘Black Lives Matter,’ that portrayed racial issues still lingering in our society. 

A study by Accenture shows that the cultural movement towards inclusivity is also impacting buying behaviors, with 41% of shoppers moving away from retailers which don’t share or adhere to their views on identity and diversity. Moreover, 29% are willing to burn the ships and switch brands completely if they don’t show enough diversity.

 

4) Sustainability: Purpose-driven campaigning:

Source: Pinterest

According to a global survey by Nielsen, 81% of the consumers all around the world want their brand to promote environmental issues and play their part in improving them. 

Supporting environmentalism is not limited to brands that deal with green products or could limit the use of plastic for their brand. The key is to brand your business to trigger the factor of environmentalism in the minds of your consumers and initiate a thought that your business understands the nature and complies with the factors in play in order to bring subtle improvements.

 

5)  Easy-to Grab Content:

Source: The Bonobos Blog

Another huge transformation that was seen in the behaviors of the general public is their keen interest in consuming data and information in a sort of on-the-go manner. 

A study by brand equity in the United States of America showed that more than 55% people turned their way towards podcasts and nearly 14% towards newsletters. This is an indication of the preference the masses have in terms of consuming information.

Easily related forms of information like Podcasts and newsletters could help brands in reaching out to the public better and faster than before, thus improving brand engagement in the year and the time to follow.

 

 

So now that you know the top 5 digital marketing trends for 2021, do you think you’re prepared to take on the new year? If not then get in contact with us and we would know the right anecdote to get your business on the right track.