Marketing Trends to Watch for in 2021

Marketing Trends to Watch for in 2021

The digital marketing landscape changes at a rapid pace, and with experiencing COVID-19, this time will be no different. We may not be able to 100% pinpoint what the coming years will look like, but we can take a few educated guesses of what’s on the horizon.

More Interactive Marketing Content

Alongside the rise of Stories on various platforms, the popularity of interactivity has also risen. People have been starved for connectivity and interaction and many marketing campaigns have begun including more ways to interact with their audience. From various quizzes and polls, AR ads, and 360-degree videos, there are many ways to upgrade your content to the next level and get people talking about your brand.

For example, Google partnered with over 500 museums around the world offering virtual tours including the MoMA, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Palace of Versailles to name a few.

Chatbots

More and more businesses are welcoming and perfecting the use of Chatbots, with many having integrated them onto their platform already. And the public is starting to accept it more as well, with 69% of customers saying they’re willing to interact with brands using chatbots. Notably, Mastercard created a Facebook chatbot – to interact with their users, respond like a real person would and automate payments.

We believe artificial intelligence will become a more prominent force for many services, including product recommendations, email personalization and e-commerce transactions.

Vertical Video & Graphics

With the release of IG Reels, there will continue to be a push for 30-second vertical video ads supporting that space. For every new video ad placement style, advertisers will need to create content that fits well in that space. In 2021 we will see new levels of creativity from businesses and brands when it comes to this area.

Pinterest & Google Lens (Camera Technology – Access Similar Products)

Remember Google Glass? Google seems to have returned to the concept again recently, as has Pinterest with its announcement of Pinterest Lens – a visual search tool that allows people to take photos of items and find out where to buy them online. They also launched Lens Your Look to help you plot out a future outfit. They’ve fully automated Shop the Look, a feature that helps users buy products from companies that work with Pinterest, so you can, for example, buy a pair of jeans you see in a picture.

This goes hand in hand with how Instagram seems to be pivoting from less of a photo gallery to an online shopping mall as it refocuses its UI toward the shopping experience.

Website Security

We’ve continued to hear story after story of businesses getting hacked or breached, such as Facebook, Yahoo, and T-Mobile. Only around 25% of consumers believe that most companies handle their sensitive personal data responsibly.

Since first impressions are everything, if your website doesn’t seem secure within a few glances, it’s unlikely that the customer or user will return. And as more businesses start holding their user’s privacy in higher regard, it’ll only be more important to make sure your website is safe and secure from any chance of breaches.

Long-Form Content (the rise of Medium & Substack)

People seem to have more time on their hands lately and are taking more time to read more long-form content. Posts that are generally 3,000 words or longer have been getting more traffic. This seems to be connected with the popularity of publishing platforms like Medium and Substack, which harkens to the early blogging boom of the 2000s.

This shows that people are interested in reading longer pieces of content by voices that have a lot of insight on a topic. This is something that brands or businesses can leverage by hiring writers to discuss topics related to the industry.

The longer the content, the more likely you can relate it to previous topics your business has covered. A study from Search Engine Journal showed that long-form content gets 77% more backlinks than short articles, which can greatly help in directing organic traffic. Ultimately, this means people will spend more time on your website, foster a stronger trust in your future content and improve your visibility on Google and other SERPs.

Social Audio – Clubhouse & Twitter Spaces

Rumour has it that Twitter’s answer to Clubhouse is just around the corner (aiming for an April release) and supposedly they’ve spent extra time making sure it’s a more welcoming space than its competitor. Many described Twitter Spaces as “more of a conversation,” and the platform houses a wider variety of professional voices. These audio-only social spaces have provided exciting new opportunities for marketers to network and communicate with one another.

How can this be modified to make it a more welcoming space? Provide options to time people out who constantly talk over people (a problem Clubhouse seems to have a problem with)

https://www.singlegrain.com/digital-marketing/digital-marketing-trends-2021/