The world is changing, and so is the realm of digital marketing. With the COVID-19 pandemic still ongoing, digital marketing initiatives for virtually every company in every industry will need to continue adapting to the current climate. As such, there are various trends that could influence what the digital marketing landscape may look like as 2021 progresses. While it’s become increasingly difficult to predict the future, it’s important to keep abreast of how the nature of digital marketing will take shape for businesses this year.
Though trends will always change based on how technology evolves over time, the examples listed below may be ones that play a bigger part in the approaches businesses take on digital marketing in the coming months. Here are some of the biggest digital marketing trends to watch for the rest of this year.
Voice Search and Chatbots: Not New Trends, But Ones That Continue to Grow
Even if these are two of the most common tools to be part of predictions for the future of digital marketing, they’ve also genuinely been growing as techniques for increasing brand awareness. The popularity of voice assistants such as Siri and Alexa drives this home even further. With search queries being generated more and more by voice search (and particularly from younger demographics), this tool is not only convenient, but the artificial intelligence behind it is smarter than ever. Furthermore, AI chatbots have been increasingly used as a way for businesses to interact more directly with users. This tool can allow clients and leads to ask questions before purchasing your products or services, at any hour of the day, and also help businesses better understand their needs and wants.
A Greater Emphasis on Inclusivity With Marginalized Populations Is Also a Possibility
Since the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020 , racial and social justice have remained extremely hot topics. Therefore, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see companies place an increased focus on inclusivity in their digital marketing efforts. Professionals who have done their digital marketing training would do well to treat this as a strategy worth pursuing, especially as buyers from marginalized groups are increasingly avoiding buying from companies who do not support social justice initiatives. Buyers in 2021 are more interested than ever in seeing a larger commitment to diversity and equality from businesses, so the digital marketing strategy and online content of a business would do well to reflect this in the coming year.
TikTok: The Platform No Digital Marketing Program Student Should Underestimate
As far as social media platforms go in 2021, you can hardly get any bigger than TikTok. Since social media marketing for businesses is likely part of what you’ll learn in a digital marketing program, this is even more pertinent. The Chinese company has been racking up more monthly downloads than both Instagram and Facebook, and its global user growth has skyrocketed during the pandemic. TikTok is an especially useful platform to digital marketers targeting young users. Thanks to its large user base, friendliness with influencer marketing, and various options for video advertising (e.g. the hashtag challenge), TikTok is worth incorporating into your digital marketing strategy in 2021 and beyond.
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