Digital Marketing trends that agencies should be looking out for in 2021

By Bill Ly on Mar 3, 2021

While the post-COVID market scenario has bounced the digital boom with shoppers making digital a first resort, digital marketing agencies need to evolve with a holistic strategy to sharply target each touchpoint of consumers’ journey. In the vast and competitive sea of online media, predicting customers’ preferences and behavior is no easy feat. As new marketing tools are launched, old ones are grandfathered out. Hence, digital agencies can no longer stick their head in the sand and hope for traditional methods to tick.

Both embryonic and matured businesses must shift their lens to delight the digital-age consumers and pave their way through the market. With customer experience being the new battlefield, 45.9% of businesses make it the top priority of their business. 

We have curated a list of top digital trends that marketing agencies cannot afford to miss in 2021. Read on to learn about these trends and stay at the bleeding edge in this dynamic battlefield.

Chatbots

Frequently employed as customer service agents on the landing page of websites, chatbots are equipped with machine learning aptitude, which businesses utilize to personalize conversations with visitors. With plenty of customers exploring the website simultaneously, it’s beneficial to have an automated tool that can handle multiple queries at once rather than hiring a bunch of customer care representatives. IBM estimated that Chatbots can answer up to 80% of routine questions without fail. Owing to its 24*7 prompt and cost-effective service, 50% of businesses plan to invest more in chatbots than on mobile apps.

If you have been cautious of implementing chatbots on your business website, put your worries to rest, the benefits can be monumental.

 Short-Form Videos

Top-notch content has been the king of social media for several years now, but the quarantine year has increased boredom levels which eventually demanded the change in content format. With an appetite for nearly every kind of video, marketers leaped into the new wave of video content. Given the fact that people love things swift and catchy, 56% of videos created by businesses are two minutes or less.

Creating short-form video content may appear deceptively easy, but integrating the brand’s message in a tiny video calls for creativity, massive customer research, and unparalleled marketing strategy. Let’s face it!

Ad Personalization

Statistics suggest that 72% of consumers interact with a brand only if it offers personalized service, while 60% of content marketers struggle with personalized marketing in real-time. Ad personalization is a must tool, especially for small businesses, to acquire and retain customers. When you are reaching an audience based on their behaviour and preferences, you are investing in customers who are already interested in your brand, which eventually boosts ROI. 

If you want to distinguish yourself in 2021, you must tap into personalized advertisements, content, emails, messages, products, and more by leveraging machine learning.

Here is a comprehensive guide on how to implement Ad personalization.

 
A/B SEO Testing

A study shows that 90.63% of content achieves zero traffic from Google. Those falling in this scope need not change their entire website. Instead, a bunch of experiments can help you determine the optimization adjustments you must make. You can run a controlled experiment for several on-page SEO elements, including URL structure, Meta titles, Meta description, headlines, CTA buttons, product content, sales copy, etc. Split testing to fix your SEO strategies not only saves time and money but also guards your website against negative impacts that are beyond your control. Why is that important? Because Google modifies its practices overnight.

Gain a complete insight into A/B SEO Testing to increase conversions with this guide.

 

Blockchain Technology

Blockchain Technology allows decentralized communication between multiple parties, eliminating the need for middlemen in digital marketing. In traditional marketing, Google controls the territory between the website owner and advertisers, demanding a cut of the profits. With blockchain, each user is verified and validated. Hence, marketers know that they are investing dollars for genuine clicks.

Blockchain technology, where everything is verified and documented, allows brands to gain customers’ trust through transparency. When customers can get a ‘behind-the-scenes’ visual of the supply chain, doubts like factory conditions and cleanliness in manufacturing units fade away.

 Influencer Marketing

Influencers are not just a trend, but discovering the right influencer that matches your brand’s persona is a meticulous procedure. With 63% of consumers trusting influencers’ opinions of products more than the brand’s promotions, it is needless to say why most brands are allocating a share of their marketing budget in influencer campaigns. Every year AI is building a process to find the right influencers to drive authentic online conversions. With AI algorithms working parallel to influencers, it provides a transparent and accurate framework to spread a brand’s message across social channels.

Learn more about how AI-powered influencer marketing is more authentic than corporate marketing.

Wrapping Up

For digital marketing agencies innovative enough to dive into the pool of current digital trends, the possibilities are infinite. With the rapid onset of new trends, marketing agencies must adapt to this dramatic transformation keeping their brand message intact. The array of new digital trends sketches a roadmap for businesses to enhance their digital skills and capabilities. The fact that a business gets more effective with every new development is certainly a no-brainer. And it’s never too early to begin researching, strategizing, and implanting the digital marketing strategies that keep your business ahead of the competitive curve.

For digital marketers, change is the only thing constant. If they are not looking forward and embracing new strategies, tools, and technologies, they are certain to lose the battle.

Summary

If your business has stagnated, it’s time to update your marketing strategies. Here is a quick guide to put light on the latest digital trends that can set your business into momentum.