The past year has expedited many digital trends to form a new online marketing landscape. With digital marketing changing faster than ever, small businesses must learn to adapt to stay in business and thrive. Implementing upcoming digital marketing trends can help your small business stay ahead of the game and go into the new year with an effective marketing plan. Let’s review 5 digital marketing trends for 2021.
Video content consistently dominates as a digital trend. In fact, by 2022, 83% of the world’s internet traffic will be video. We see two specific video content methods gaining momentum: live streaming and YouTube.
Live streaming is available on multiple platforms, including Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube. With virtual communication the new norm, people still long for human connectedness. Though done virtually, online experiences should add that human touch. Live streams are raw and allow you to connect to your audience on a more personal, real-time level. Is there a way you can include live stream segments in your social media posting?
What about YouTube? For one, 68% of YouTube users watch videos to make purchasing decisions. YouTube review videos, tutorials, or even paid ads can be the beginning of a new customer sale. YouTube has a massive reach of over 2 billion monthly users looking for tips, entertainment, and product reviews.
Small businesses can use YouTube in different ways. You can run a paid ad that plays on other video content to boost revenue and brand awareness. You can start a YouTube channel for your business as a social media outlet to post product education or connect with your audience. The bottom line: YouTube is worth including in your digital marketing techniques.
Google My Business allows you to control how you want your business to appear on Google’s search. Local small businesses are finding success in using GMB to attract local clients and traffic.
Google is usually used to find instant answers or begin purchasing research. Moreover, 76% of mobile “near me” searchers visit a related store the same day. With a quality local listing, you can increase foot traffic, website visits, and phone calls. Verify your local listing and keep it updated to help your business dominate in the local competition. Learn the key elements to optimizing your Google My Business account in the Drive More Business with Local Search (SEO) and Reputation Management webinar.
Marketing Automation uses digital tools to complete repetitive tasks in your marketing routine. You can automate social media posting as not to have to open the app and manually post every day. You can set up email automation campaigns that send a stream of emails to customers based on triggers like signing up for a list. Thus, as a small business, you can save precious time and energy.
Marketing Automation also maintains a steady line of communication with customers. This could be one reason why 77% of users had an increase in conversions after using marketing automation software. Do you use tools that schedule social media content for you? Does your website have a way to auto-reply to visitors such as chatbots? What marketing tasks could your small business automate? Join us for the Get New and Repeat Business on Autopilot with Email Marketing webinar to learn simple ways to use automation to reach customers with email marketing repeatedly.
Like video, voice search is another recurring trend. Voice search is an essential piece of search engine optimization. Did you know 20% of mobile queries are currently done with voice search? People are using voice command systems to find information about businesses and future purchases. How can you use the increase of voice searches to your advantage?
Continue to improve voice engine optimization. Voice search depends on data it can get quickly, so fast website loading speed and accurate business listings are essential.
Voice searches are asked in the form of full questions. Instead of the search query, “social media tips,” the longtail keyword query is “what are some social media tips?” Think about the natural language people use when asking voice command prompts and include that language in your website content.
Interactive content lets your audience feel a part of the conversation. Deloitte insights found that 56% of people engaged in at least one digital activity over the past year. Once again, with virtual communication dominating the world, you must make it as human as possible. A face-to-face interaction involves two-way discussion. You can mimic this experience by crafting an engagement strategy that evokes customer participation.
Interactive content can be as simple as asking questions with quizzes and polls or using other features like shoppable social media posts. These interactive experiences require the user to do more than tap a like button. You can also plan campaigns that get customers involved to share stories, opinions, or content.
Recent events have forced millions to opt for online business exchanges and digital methods to communicate with customers. Your small business can not only survive but thrive if you address what will be trending in 2021 for the digital marketing world.
What are some practical ways YOUR business can incorporate these trends? Join us for the 2021 Digital Marketing Trends for Small Businesses Webinar as we explore examples and ways on how to implement these 5 trends to help your business grow! Save and share the info-graphic for an easy guide to trends for 2021!
