As we fast approach the start of 2021, as a business owner, you’ve probably already started to plan ahead. To help you along the way, let’s take a moment to focus on some current marketing trends that are sure to continue in the coming year.
Succeeding in 2021 will involve the same basic strategy as any other year. Find customers and keep them happy! Being aware of emerging marketing trends will allow you to do this, whilst keeping you ahead of the competition.
Keywords will mean less for SEO
Google will be steering away from keyword matching, and instead using smarter search engines to search by content. As AI get more intelligent, the trend toward searching by content will only increase. As a result, you need to make content one of your biggest marketing investments! Make sure you focus on relevance and customer value – and worry less about semantics!
Websites will be continually updated
It shouldn’t be a shock to you – people are now mostly shopping online. User experience has emerged as one of biggest motivators of online purchase. If your website is outdated, clunky and boring, you will lose customers. In recognition of this, brands are updating their websites almost constantly. Images, videos, graphics and copy are being continually refreshed to keep the interest of shoppers.
User Generated Content is still on the rise
Want to engage with your customers in an easy and cost effective way? Share their content on your platforms! Posting User Generated Content (UGC) lets your customers feel like they are partnering with you and you are more likely to inspire their loyalty. According to Kissmetrics, “25 percent of search results for the world’s top 20 largest brands are links to user-generated content.” If you doubt this, YouTube made this their business model, and it’s not going away anytime soon.
Use nostalgia to tug at those heartstrings
Everyone has a song or a memory that evokes a powerful emotion in us. Emotions are hugely motivating, and customers are more likely to pay attention to marketing campaigns that pluck at their heartstrings. After the hard times of 2020, capitalising on fond feelings from the past will definitely earn you competitive advantage for the future.
AI will improve
Businesses are increasingly relying on AI. For instance, chatbots are a great tool for easily leading customers to precisely the right information on your website. They can also automate a range of responses depending on the circumstance, and are hugely cost effective. In a digital world where time is of the essence, the use of AI is going to be increasingly common.
More and more marketing automation
According to recent studies, organisations that increased their use of marketing automation software saw a 14.5% increase in sales and a 12.2% drop in total overhead. 80% of marketing automation users saw an increase in the number of leads using marketing automation software. There is no reason to believe that 2021 will be any different!
Increase in demand for visual content
Human’s are visual creatures. We would much rather watch a good marketing campaign than read advertising copy. Plus, videos are a fast, useful, and hopefully, an entertaining way to get your message across.
More marketplaces on Social Media
As well as being powerful advertising tools, social media has also become a popular e-commerce option for brands. This means, you boost your message and sell your product at the same time! 2021 is just going to bring more people to these new virtual marketplaces as they hunt out more ways to buy online.
Investment in CRMs will continue to skyrocket!
14% of global businesses are already using CRMs heavily, according to Gartner’s 2019 CIO Agenda survey. They estimate that AI connected to CRM activities will boost worldwide revenue by $1.1 trillion by the end of 2021. If your competitors are using CRMs, you need to do the same or you will fall behind.
Taking a stand on social issues
New data from Sprout Social shows that customers connect more powerfully with organisations that take a social stand. In even better news, the same study suggests that this occurs regardless of political stance. Consumers care more for companies that stand for something.
So there you have it! The top marketing trends to watch in 2021.
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