Despite all the drawbacks from last year’s pandemic, there are marketing trends that have endured, and even seem more promising this year. With the stay-at-home trend, e-commerce took off, with TikTok becoming the new social media powerhouse on the scene. Although 2021’s first quarter has just ended, more trends are expected to continue to hit the market. Unlike last year when the pandemic restricted the market, these upcoming trends will be more flexible, and can spread out as fast as your favorite viral video.
So, if you feel like resting on your laurels already, now is not the time. What’s ahead of its time yesterday could become obsolete by 2022 in the online world. Take advantage of these digital trends, which are likely to dominate the digital environment this year, to ensure your business will continue to thrive.
The tight competition in this field makes it critical to stay on top of things if you want to avoid falling behind. Stay ahead of the game, and if you feel you need help, take advantage of marketing service providers like Sentius Digital. It can be tougher than before though, because digital marketing in 2021 is going to be more about these trends:
- Marketing Automation
Marketing automation will become an important part of any modern company’s everyday operation as digital marketing technology becomes more modern. There are just too many touchpoints in the customer journey, and you’ll need a sophisticated attribution model to predict results and calculate ROI accurately. Over time, as your company grows, tracking these numbers by hand will become impossible.
By the end of 2021, we can expect further breakthroughs in marketing automation, with AI software becoming more accessible and more mainstream, not only for large companies but also for smaller ones. For instance, you can use AI-powered tools to create captions and copy that will fit your blogs, landing pages, and campaigns.
- Chatbot Dominance
It’s now safe to say that the chatbot takeover has already begun for many marketers out there, and they’d be right to think so. Chatbot adoption has indeed soared, but consumers aren’t as quick to adopt them as companies have.
Engaging with chatbots, mainly first- and second-generation ones can take a bit of time to get used to. Conversations via IM is just clunky and much less helpful than the ones you can do by phone or face to face. By the end of the decade, 2020 and 2021 will be regarded as milestone years in chatbot development, when conversational chatbots finally reach the level of customer acceptance that they deserve. So, if you’ve been hesitant to make use of them, now is the right time to take part in this digital revolution.
- More Live Streaming
Almost all consumers spent most of 2020 in lockdown, restricted in the four corners of their homes. Changes in habits and presence arose as a result.
As a response to the instructions to stay at home, live streaming exploded in popularity. Consumers take delight in witnessing just how much the world continues to change right outside their window. One good thing about live streaming is that it can forge a more interactive relationship between you and your audience.
Consider changing your social media strategy so that it emphasizes live streaming. Live streaming is an integral part of the biggest social networking sites there are today. Take TikTok, for example, which is a newcomer to the social media game, but is already very viable. With 2 billion global downloads, TikTok has become increasingly popular for both personal and business use.
- Podcasting
If you haven’t already, embrace the podcast revolution because it’s just growing, and showing even more potential for the coming years. A podcast’s target market is usually the young professionals who are more likely to embrace its idea.
In a podcast, you can tell listeners that you’re the one handling and sustaining your brand. Since podcasting can make it obvious that you’re not a machine, your followers will be more likely to trust you and even engage with you. With a sustainable laptop fit for podcasting, you can effectively use this digital marketing tool.
- Personalization
A recent survey reveals that 72% of shoppers are more likely to trust personalized marketing, despite widespread concerns about consumer privacy. The marketing environment of 2021 will require marketers to tailor communication and experiences for customers based on their tastes, concerns, and online behavior.
The good news is this can be accomplished with the help of digital marketing tools that also provide detailed consumer profiles. You won’t even need to hire dozens of staff and designers to personalize your communication with consumers. There are also software programs that can send personalized messages based on the preferences you set.
- Social E-Commerce
Social E-commerce refers to a trend that helps find the ideal customers by using social media sites. E-Commerce is one of the marketing channels that blossomed during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The trend has already started to permeate giant social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook. It’s also recently announced that Instagram Guides are now live. This latest feature allows subscribers to share information and advice in an easy and accessible interface.
So far, the early feedback from its launch indicates that this new feature will be a success! Influencers and content creators alike are already using the Instagram Guides feature to retarget their audiences more accurately. On the other hand, Facebook has been running its e-commerce site for years: Facebook Marketplace.
To make Marketplace even more competitive, Facebook has orchestrated some significant developments. If there’s one thing all of these advances are suggesting, it’s that social E-Commerce will be a massive trend in 2021.
- Continuity Of SMS Marketing
Many people might be surprised to discover that SMS marketing is still anticipated to continue as a significant promotional trend in 2021. Although it might seem obsolete, text messaging remains as one of the most interactive forms of communication.
An essential component of the omnichannel marketing strategy is SMS marketing, where companies keep in touch with customers across all devices—from desktops to smartphones and tablets. To drive customers down their sales funnels, fast-food restaurants, for example, could cross-promote their SMS campaign with social media.
In increasing numbers, companies may also employ SMS marketing to maintain contact with their customers using their integrated CRMs when tracking prospects across the web.
Conclusion
These high-profile trends are what you should watch out for in the 21st century digital marketing. As we compare these trends with last year’s trends, it’s clear that this year is a step forward in automated marketing while still continuing some of the older, traditional methods. It’s neither too early nor too late to participate in these new digital marketing trends, so make the most of them to grow your business.
