Triumph of digital marketing: Trends 2021
Is content still king in 2021? Which are the channels to invest in? What is the best way to engage your audience and retain customers? As retail sales have changed dramatically under the influence of the pandemic, these are just a few of the issues that employ the minds of marketers and executives.
Consumers have developed new shopping habits, their brand expectations have increased during the purchase and delivery phase as well as before and after it. Digital marketing has made a big leap adapting to the new reality, but given the rapid changes in technology and behavioural trends, digital marketing should continue to be developed. Find out which trends are worth paying attention to this year!
Up-to-date chatbots and conversational marketing
It is estimated that 85% of customer service in 2020 was done by chatbot or chat robots. It is artificial intelligence technology that allows companies to communicate with a potential customer in real time. Their advantages – they work around the clock and answer simple questions instantly.
With chatbots and other automated communication solutions, it is becoming clear that modern marketing communication is getting closer to an ordinary conversation. Conversational marketing promotes one-to-one real-time conversation between a seller and a consumer. Contrary to traditional strategies, this marketing form is now available on a variety of channels, allowing brands to meet a consumer according to customer rules – on devices, platforms and hours that best suit the customer. Conversational marketing allows you to improve user experience through a feedback-based model that promotes greater audience engagement and greater loyalty.
The new king of social media landscape: short-form video
Video marketing is one of the most important marketing trends right now and most likely in the next 5-10 years. Video is especially important for e-commerce, as more than half of consumers admit that watching product videos makes them feel more confident about making an online purchase decision. Live videos on different platforms and 1:1 videos, when companies create personalized video messages instead of calling or sending emails, are similarly popular.
The pandemic with extended stay-at-home periods has significantly increased people’s boredom and their desire to consume entertaining content. Here is the winner – short-form videos – as TikTok is the Gen Z’s favourite platform; furthermore, Snapchat also made significant changes, while Facebook launched Instagram Reels to keep pace with trends. Marketing budgets have also increased significantly for these channels: in the second quarter of 2020, social media accounted for nearly 25% of the total marketing budget. Creating short-form video clips can only seem deceptively simple at first. To balance the brand’s message with the careless tone associated with short-form videos, customer research, strategy and creativity are needed.
E-commerce is a necessity
Forecasts suggest that more than half of social-media users will purchase goods and services online this year. If in previous years traders and small businesses could simply benefit from the development of e-commerce, it is a necessity now. In-app purchases – Instagram and Facebook stores, Instagram Reels, Live, as well as the TikTok partnership with Shopify upcoming in 2021 will largely determine social media shopping.
Voice search
As the availability of smartphones and smart speakers increases, voice searching is becoming increasingly frequent, so companies need to rethink their digital marketing strategy by optimizing their sites specifically for voice searches. To make content suitable for voice searches, you should try to walk in your target audience’s shoes, find your feet in the new conditions and remember that information will not be read but listened to, so it must be concise, without long and imaginative descriptions. You should also create content in a form of frequently asked questions.
Pay special attention to micro-moments
The client journey, or experience that customers encounter when interacting with a company and brand, will become more dynamic and unpredictable this year, as brand communication should respond to rapid changes in consumer expectations. Special attention should be paid to micro-moments or intent-driven moments, when a person reflexively turns to a device to act on a need to learn something, do something, discover something, watch something, or buy something.
To win micro-moments, you need to understand your customers and their needs – identify your consumers’ “I-want-to-buy” moments, talk to them to figure out when, where and how they are researching and making purchase decisions. Be there in these moments and create content that provides helpful answers that makes it easy for them to make a purchase. The purchase process should be simple and seamless. Give the consumer multiple ways to buy with as many instructions and as few clicks as possible.
Learn about the latest digital marketing trends at the annual business and IT industry event RIGA COMM where developers and suppliers of enterprise resource management, document management, HRM and security systems, suppliers of cloud services, internet and digital marketing services, web solutions and mobile application developers, and ICT product manufacturers offer ready-to-use and tailored solutions for companies in different industries and of different sizes, municipal authorities and organisations to facilitate efficient operation. An extensive conference programme will complement the technology exhibition.
