The world around us is shifting very rapidly. And the reason behind this change is technology. It is evolving daily. And as we are aware that today technology heavily affects our life. What it means is our life is also changing day by day. And so our preferences, behaviour and thoughts. This is the same for marketing also. And for Digital Marketing in particular. Know about the top 10 Digital Marketing trends in 2021.
Digital marketing is an industry that rides on changing trends on the internet. And these trends depend upon the activities of people in physical as well as digital life. So when a photo, video or meme becomes viral, different brands jump on to promote themselves. This is necessary because these brands want to tell their customers that they are aware of current happenings.
Since our world is changing every day. Let’s have a look at some key digital marketing trends.
Top 10 Digital Marketing trends in 2021
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Conversational Marketing
People’s habits are changing with their evolving life. And so is the way they communicate. Earlier people used to talk directly and used to write letters. As technology progressed, letters were replaced by emails and emails by text messaging. And this texting has been integrated on various social media platforms. Since we are texting or chatting more than anything. The trend of conversational storytelling and marketing is becoming quite common.
Conversational marketing is basically a 1:1 and lives chatting between a marketer and customer. In this, a marketer tries to understand customers’ needs by directly talking with customers. This is quite effective because of its personal nature.
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Chatbots
A chatbot is an AI-based technology used for instant messaging service. It lets you chat anytime – day or night with your customers. They are convenient and that is why they are popular. and receive positive feedback from people.
- Around 85% of customer service was powered by Chatbots in 2020.
- The most preferred things about Chatbots are 24-hour service (64%), instant responses to inquiries (55%), and answers to simple questions (55%)
A chatbot is prefered due to several reasons. These are 24/7 support and the accurate answer they give. Since it is excellently doing customer service, you can focus on more important work.
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Video marketing
Videos are today one of the most crucial things in the digital world. Social media platforms are dominated by videos. People are making videos more than ever. In fact, platforms like Instagram and Snapchat are run by users who create multiple videos daily. These videos can be of 10 seconds or 30 minutes. Although Snapchat doesn’t support long very videos, it aggressively promotes short videos on its platform. Like social media users, videos are also becoming popular among marketers.
The survey says,
- 70% of people have shared branded videos
- 72% of businesses reported, better conversion rate due to videos
So you can comfortably expect video marketing trending in 2021.
4 . Visual Search
A visual search is a process of searching things based on a photo or video. It provides the customers with an immersive experience. And as the technology is improving, more and more platforms are giving this option to customers. It is really effective, especially when you are searching for something whose name you don’t know.
Here are some of the platforms that offer this option
- Pinterest Lens
Pinterest is heavily dependent on visuals. It is all about photos and video that are pinned (posted) by users. And many of these pins are of products that are for sale. So it makes sense to include this option in this platform.
- Google Lens
Google lens is a visual alternative of its regular version, it is a visual search engine. It helps users to find things based on the picture. You can even use images of the barcode to see the product it belongs to.
Other examples include Bing visual search, CamFind, Micro-Moments and so on.
Even e-commerce platforms like Myntra, Flipkart and Amazon have an option of visual search for fashion products on their platforms.
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Social Media stories
Many social media platforms nowadays are incomplete without an option of stories. This includes Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, Linked In and so on. Whereas Snapchat was the first platform to introduce the concept of the story. As it became popular, others followed suit. Even YouTube also allows users to upload stories on their channels. Long story short, no one wants to miss the train.
But why are stories trending? Because of the benefits they offer. These are
- Enhanced brand awareness
- Continuous engagement
- Cost efficiency
- Improved traffic to your web page
- Possibility to reach younger audiences
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Voice-based search
These days smart speakers are pretty well-known. You would find them in different places like home, office and restaurants. And this highlighted by these statistics–
- In 2020, around 50% of all searches will be via voice
- 72% of people used their voice-activated speakers on a daily basis
- Worldwide smart speaker sales have gave grown almost thrice between Q1 2018 and Q2 2019, growing from 9.36 million units to 26.1 million units.
Voice-based technology has lots of potentials. And the growing market for smart speakers is hinting the same. And even many companies like Domino’s, Paypal and Nestle are providing their customers with the option of voice-based search.
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Social commerce
As the name suggests, social commerce comes from social media + e-commerce. It is also known as Social e-commerce. It is the process of integrating social media and e-commerce. In other words, you can buy/sell products or services through social media. It benefits both buyer and seller. It helps in streamlining the process of online shopping. For buyers, they get to see the products that they want while enjoying social media. For sellers, it helps them to connect with their target audience more efficiently.
Some platforms that are popular for social commerce are Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook. It helps in connecting customers and brands organically. Also, these methods refine the customers shopping experience. Not only it assists them in interacting with brands actively, but they feel cared for. Hence, it helps in creating brand loyalty as well as user-generated content.
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Progressive Web Apps (PWAs)
Progressive Web Apps or PWAs makes a website work as a mobile app. It makes them feel like an original mobile app. Some of the benefits of using PWAs are faster-loading speed, push notifications, offline work option, efficient utilization of hardware, and so on.
In 2020, the number of smartphone users reached around 2.87 billion. The total page views on mobile are increasing year-over-year by almost 50% worldwide. So PWA has become relevant more than ever.
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User-Generated Content (UGC)
UGC is generic content created by the customer or user instead of the brand. It includes photos, videos, blogs and social media posts. While platforms like Instagram, YouTube and Tik Tok are the principal source of UGC. More brands from various industries are using it. From Fashion, electronics, make-up to Media and FMCG. Which says a lot about the importance, relevance as well as popularity of UGC. And has also become an integral part of their social media campaigns. Also, social media Influencers have become the brand ambassadors of the digital era.
The benefits of UGC are
- Community building
- Brand loyalty
- Expanding customer base
- Organic promotion
- The unique identity of the brand
- Trustworthy
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Privacy Marketing
People nowadays are getting more serious about their privacy. Many brands are being fined for a data breach of the users. Also, they are losing the trust of consumers who care about their privacy. Not only tech giants but companies from different industries are also facing heat over privacy. And the marketers whose audience are these people would have relied on privacy marketing.
The company that is already using this technique is DuckDuckGo. And more will follow the same path in future.
Now that you know new digital marketing company trends in 2021. Tell us what you think about it. Share your thoughts in the comments below.
