When you have a business to promote, it always pays to stay on your toes about the latest digital marketing trends. After all, at the core of the internet is the need for innovation. We are constantly looking to push the boundaries of technology, and your digital marketing strategy is no different. Keeping up to speed with the latest techniques will ensure your business doesn’t get left behind.
2020 has been a rollercoaster of a year for businesses across the board. But that doesn’t mean to say that you can afford to forget about your digital marketing in response. In fact, it’s never been more important to connect with your customers, and an effective digital marketing strategy is one of the best ways to do this.
Here are our thoughts on what to expect in terms of digital marketing trends for 2021 to tell you more.
Ecommerce
If 2020 has proved anything, it’s that online retail is unstoppable even in the face of lockdowns. During May 2020, online sales accounted for 30.2% of all retail sales in the UK. This is a huge hike from the measly 2.8% market share online retail had back in 2008. This trend shows no sign of slowing down either, which is why it’s time to follow suit if you haven’t already.
Whether you’re an independent coffee chain or a large department store, giving your customers the option to be able to order your products online is essential. Otherwise, you are cutting yourself off from a huge market segment – especially if your business is forced to close temporarily, as we have sadly seen several times over the past few months.
Ecommerce websites are a great way to future-proof your business too. In terms of digital marketing, it syncs beautifully with an active social media presence, not to mention a well-designed website that’s making full use of SEO and user experience.
On a basic level, you could sell vouchers for an in-person experience you provide or even offer video consultations. If your business sells products, then your users will be looking to purchase these from you online, so catering to demand isn’t something any business can ignore especially as we move further into the 20s.
Social Media Marketing
Social media marketing (SMM) will continue to play a huge role in digital marketing. However, shockingly, only 60% of UK businesses use SMM and this figure drops to 57% for small businesses. As we move into 2021, more companies will start to embrace SMM. Though with more competition, there’s little room for generic content, which is why it’s time to go back to the drawing board.
One of the best ways to add value to your SMM is to use user-generated content. Such as retweeting a positive comment about your service, or highlighting your Trustpilot reviews in a screenshot on Facebook. Now more than ever, people are looking for trusted content, which is why rehashed memes shouldn’t be at the forefront of your SMM strategy anymore.
Many businesses choose to outsource their social media to a digital marketing agency instead. This can pay off immensely, especially given your content will be generated for you, and your stats will be closely monitored. So if you’ve been winging your social media up to now, it’s time to step things up a gear.
Video Content
All of us are consuming more video content than ever before. Whether you use video to give a behind the scenes tour of your business or explain a service in greater detail, video marketing is well worth your time. Not only can video marketing bring in 66% more leads but 88% of those who use it report being satisfied with their ROI.
To make video marketing a success for your business, a few things need to be considered. For example, picking the right video topics that your users will be interested in. This could be demonstrating how your products work or explaining your services in greater detail. The video needs to be both shot and edited with quality content in mind. Remember, people have short attention spans! So keep tiresome talking headshots to a minimum.
Once you have your video, there are endless ways of using it. You can build an audience on YouTube and embed the files onto your website and social media posts. Live streams are also incredibly valuable to your business, as when you go live all of your followers will be notified.
Voice Content
Twitter recently rolled out the ability for users to send voice notes instead of text-based Tweets. The move was designed to give a more “human” experience to the platform. From a marketing standpoint, this is going to mean two things during 2021.
Firstly, it gives the opportunity to connect to your social media followers in a new way. Secondly, voice notes will also tap into the world of voice recognition software (i.e Alexa). Within your digital marketing, this means using voice notes to target longtail keywords to connect users with your brand.
Voice Tweets can contain up to 140 seconds of audio. This is the perfect length of time to introduce your brand or give details about special promotions. It’s certainly going to be a case of trial and error for some businesses but is worth embracing all the same as usually voice notes can only be sent through a message (i.e on Facebook Messenger), rather than made public.
In-Depth SEO
SEO (search engine optimisation) has always been an important part of any digital marketing strategy. However, as we move into 2021 Google will continue to up its game in terms of what search results it deems are relevant for its users. Therefore, it’s time to ensure your SEO strategy is more watertight than ever before.
As we enter a new year, it’s always a wise idea to conduct an SEO review to make sure your keywords are on point. However, beyond this, you need to consider everything else that can boost your rankings which includes a quick page load time, accurate search intent and the overall user experience.
In layman’s terms, it’s about refining your content so that it gives users the most relevant result, in a way that’s easy to access. Pages that aren’t connected to what the user is looking for just won’t cut it, which is why keyword stuffing will be even worse of an idea in 2021 than it already is.
Websites that are slow to load or plain glitchy will massively jack up your bounce rate, so now is the time to consider getting your website redesigned if you’re in any doubt.
To Sum Up
In essence, digital marketing trends for 2021 focuses on refining your current strategies. Instead of settling for the basics, it’s important to hone in on what your customers are asking from you. This includes the likes of more relevant search results and video marketing which is easier to consume.
If you’re ready to fine-tune your digital marketing so that it’s ready to take on 2021 and beyond, you’re in the right place. Here at Imaginaire, we help businesses understand their marketing and develop strategies to boost conversion rates.
We can help with all aspects of digital marketing including web design and SEO. Drop us an email or call us on 0115 971 8908 to find out more.
By
Charlie
