Digital Marketing Trends to Look out for in 2021: My take on this!
My article was originally published on Linked-In.
2020 has been one hell of a ride. The global pandemic has redefined the future of the business. We have seen companies move online thus making remote work the new normal
Not only this, the marketing landscape has shifted itself with more focus on meeting customer expectations and needs. This new era is dramatically replacing physical experiences with virtual platforms.
The use of Social media networks, eCommerce platforms, streaming sites, online conferencing has skyrocketed. As of 2020, there have been approx. 3,805 million active social media users. The reason why marketing campaigns are being restrategized and redesigned to bow to a new reality. Even though Digital marketing has been in a constant state of evolution. But current situations, latest technologies, and trends are impacting customer buying behaviors, and how they connect and engage with your brand.
Having said that, to stay on top of the game, companies should consider present-day digital marketing trends to follow in 2021 to retain and acquire new leads, conversions, and revenues.
Below are the top 7 digital marketing trends of 2021. These trends can help you plan your strategy as we enter a whole new year.
Social Commerce
The pandemic has changed the eCommerce industry in unprecedented ways. More and more people are making purchases through mobile devices, giving rise to Mobile-commerce. The use of social media to sell products online is the next big thing in the eCommerce industry and is a widely growing trend among retailers.
According to studies, mCommerce volume has risen at a 25.5% annual growth rate from 2019 and is expected to reach $488.0 billion by 2024. Customers’ buying behaviors and the way they engage with brands through social media are greatly visible especially in times of quarantine and social distancing.
Online social commerce is rather positively impacted as physical shopping is restricted due to lockdown policies. Major social platforms such as Pinterest, Facebook, and Instagram, TikTok have developed eCommerce capabilities for providing convenient and personalized customer experiences.
Online businesses are using social channels to engage with a large pool of audience for sales and revenues. As we move forward in 2021, we can see more potential for this unification between social media and eCommerce platforms.
Virtual Events
Physical social gatherings and events have seen to become virtual because of global Pandemic. This trend will continue as we enter the new year. The demand for virtual events is not reversible, now since everything from customer engagement to participation has moved online.
Physical events may come back but virtual trends have accelerated and are here to stay because of individual safety concerns. Moreover, virtual events tend to be more accessible to a broader audience around the globe and easily scalable.
The expenses on behalf of both the attendees and hosts can be greatly reduced, resulting in more ROI. Rich content through virtual conferences, meet & greets, and webinars are connecting everyone on a much larger scale and are, therefore, one of the most important marketing trends of 2021.
Artificial Intelligence
It is entirely impossible to talk about digital marketing without having to mention Artificial intelligence. Undoubtedly AI is opening the door of many possibilities for marketing in this day and age. Speaking of AI, chatbots are becoming quite popular and the trend will continue to grow even in 2021.
Chatbots for social media are evolving. Brands will be using bots to provide more consumer-centric services and solutions. Moreover, chatbots can make customer experience rather personalized through custom product recommendations.
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Billions of people use instant messaging every day. These platforms provide great opportunities for businesses to interact and connect with their customers, imagine the power the interactive chatbots can bring to businesses such as eCommerce and travel chatbots are revolutionising the way businesses engage with their customers.
According to studies, chatbots will help businesses save over $8 billion annually by 2022. They are not only limited to providing on the spot support but also AI-powered chatbots can be trained based on past consumer behavior and search patterns to provide seamless services in the future.
Therefore, Chatbots are a lifesaver moving forward and are also becoming one of the top and mobile app development trends 2021.
Video marketing
Video marketing is one of the most important trends that will dominate 2021. According to research, 72% of businesses say that video has improved their conversion rates, meaning businesses must integrate video marketing into their strategies for maximizing results.
Video usage has shot up in recent years as most people prefer to make decisions based on video content. Engaging video content encourages prospective audiences to engage with the brands which help businesses to achieve their goals.
The main objective of any brand is to understand their customers and know how to connect with them, therefore video marketing is the stepping stone. While written posts are powerful in their own way, arguably videos are also very important for brand awareness and advocacy and we will see many companies embracing video marketing in 2021.
Conversational Marketing
This is one of the most exciting marketing trends that we will see in 2021 as communicating with customers one on one creates trust and brand loyalty. Your customers should be able to reach out to you any time of the day with their queries and still should be able to expect an immediate response. Therefore, ensuring that your contact information is prominently available on all your social media platforms, with websites including is becoming more and more important.
In 2021, tools for conversational marketing will be available across multiple platforms, allowing brands to anticipate and meet customer needs. Because at the end of the day, the goal is to improve customer experience through immediate responses for higher engagement.
Influencer Marketing
According to studies, influencer marketing will become a $15 billion industry by 2022. Influencer marketing is dramatically increasing in popularity, it’s a safe bet that we can see exciting approaches to influencer marketing in 2021.
Companies paid little attention to micro-influencers but it is all going to change as in 2021. Influencer marketing is playing a huge role for brands in broadening their reach with higher engagement rates. Moreover, micro-influencers are way easier to work with as compared to world-famous influencers. Additionally, they are a perfect fit for smaller brands who may not have bigger budgets as they don’t cost much, goodie bags or vouchers can do the trick.
Automation
Approx. 50% of businesses are already using marketing automation tools, but the percentage will get cracking in 2021. In addition to that, according to studies, the global marketing automation market size is expected to reach USD 8.42 billion by 2027. Now, that’s interesting.
Marketing automation tools mean a great deal in 2021 as it helps companies to regulate their budget and help them achieve more in less. Such tools are helpful especially when a company is running low on a budget because they streamline the activities rather effectively.
Along with digitization, more and more companies are moving towards automation to stay competitive. It not only helps with eliminating the manual processes but also ensures timely implementation of marketing campaigns which results in scalability and maximum ROI.
Customers demand personalized content on their feeds. Marketing automation can assist companies in collecting useful customer insights through predictive analytics to provide more consumer-centric experiences.
So what do you think? Do you agree with these marketing trends for 2021? Do you have a trend of your own? Share your thoughts.
GIF Source: Giphy
