Digital Marketing Trends 2021

There are a lot of advertisers trying to keep up with the year 2020. With current events significantly influencing digital marketing patterns, it’s a year like no other, truly. This laundry list should sound familiar unless you have been living under a rock, or Norway, perhaps: socio-political unrest, including mass demonstrations, violent street battles, and an upcoming election; a cooling U.S. economy; devastating wildfires and volatile weather phenomena; and our ancient, pugnacious nemesis, COVID-19.

All the unparalleled confusion they generate is the reason these changes impact marketers so directly. For example, who knows what advertisement costs for social media would look like a week, month, or year from now? And who can predict how long the “boom” in eCommerce will last, especially when we don’t know when the world is going to get the green light back to normal?

The point is, now is the time for marketers to closely track their targets, efficiency metrics and KPIs. Marketers need to be flexible and adapt fresh tactics efficiently and reliably to survive and succeed again. In the face of adversity, certain brands, organizations , and individuals who can find a way to be flexible would be better placed to hang around, grind it out, and start looking forward to 2021.

While there are undoubtedly new developments and innovations to account for, what you can find widely is that many of these marketing tactics and trends are not inherently new, but they are changing in a remarkable way that can inform your future outlook. Below are some projected marketing patterns for 2021 experts.

Search Engine Optimization

Search Engine Optimization ( SEO) is still a moving target, as search algorithms are continually changing. The daily flow is definitely not going to change in 2021. But analysts have observed some patterns that promise to be something more than just “flash in the pan” shifts.

That’s not to suggest things like COVID-19 won’t have long-lasting SEO effects (just look at Google’s 2020 Coronavirus search trends). But there are many more profound changes that will have an effect on the SEO environment in the near to long term.

Video Marketing

Videos are going off. To say that we’re in the golden age of video would be an understatement, particularly when there seems to be no end to new formats, creativity, and public engagement strategies out there. As far as the audience is concerned, the statistics are kind of wild.

• Research from Asset Digital Communications shows that video continues to rise in popularity.
• Recent data from GlobalWebIndex shows that 56 percent of Internet users watch videos on Facebook , Twitter , Instagram, and Snapchat every month.
• Grabyo has this statistic at 75%—75% of US users are actually using social media to watch content on a daily basis.

Now, when you think about video, your mind is probably going to YouTube first. And for good reason: YouTube is still one of the most popular video sites out there.

• YouTube engagement and views are at an all-time high, with YouTubers seeing 20-30 percent more views (Mediakix)
• People tend to forget that YouTube is the world’s second-largest search engine
• In the United States, YouTube has achieved a market reach of around 90 percent, while racking up 2 billion logged-in users as of 2019 (Statista)
• 60 billion U.S. users access YouTube daily (Statista)

The argument is that the relevance of video to all digital marketing platforms is increasing and growing rapidly. Exponentially, that. That means that this channel is crucial if you’re aiming to communicate with your audience and draw new people to your brand in 2021.

Social Media Marketing

Social media is their own wax egg, isn’t it? The nuance, controversy, and ever-changing demand that we as marketers have come to know and enjoy has only escalated in 2020. The need for rapid and accurate adaptation is as urgent as ever, particularly as new and powerful channels arise. In evaluating our own social media strategy with clients, a few common trends begin to surface as we look to 2021.

Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising

First of all, good news: pay-per – click (PPC) ads doesn’t go anywhere in 2021. If anything, highly focused, highly successful PPC promotions would be even more relevant to digital marketers. However, how marketers carry out targeted and successful PPC campaigns might look a little different.

As you build up your 2021 PPC plan, note that companies already get $2 in exchange for every $1 they spend on Google Ads (according to Google Economic Impact). Although the underlying factors and patterns are many — and not without their fair share of the debate — few disagree that PPC can be quite efficient.

Email Marketing

Necessity is really a great motivator. When marketers prepare for the coming year — one likely to be full of all sorts of confusion and upheaval — they need to concentrate on getting the best out of their core marketing activities.

And it doesn’t get any more “heart” than email marketing, which has remained very reliable considering external market conditions. One research from Omnisend shows a 31 percent increase in YoY open rates and a 22 percent increase in YoY conversion rates in the post-COVID period. Another Campaign Monitor analysis shows that both the available and unsubscribed rates increased in the months following the March 2020 lockout (YoY). Although it may be premature to call email marketing a pandemic, it is fair to assume that it will remain part of your 2021 marketing plan. At least it ought to be.