In today’s post, we’re taking a look at what’s trending in the world of online marketing. We’re well into 2021 now, and since we didn’t kick off the new year with trend predictions, we’re going to look at what’s trending mid-year.
Businesses around the world have endured a major hit in the past year and half. Consequently, people have changed the way they shop. Even with the recent shift back towards how things used to be, customers are effectively shopping online, and numerous organizations have gone online to reach their customers.
With a considerable increase in online shopping, competition between organizations is high. Businesses that lacked online marketing strategies before are rushing to catch up. In turn, digital marketers have been creative in finding the best ways to improve online exposure for clients – some strategies are new while others are tried and true.
Let’s dive in!
1.) In-Email Purchases
A newer digital marketing trend is in-email purchases. Email marketing isn’t new to the scene, but the ability to make a purchase without ever leaving your inbox is. Consumers will have the option to make a purchase right inside an emailed marketing campaign. Plus, campaigns are now offering more of an app-like experience with more interactivity like embedded video.
Some email marketing services offer their users access to more data which in turn will allow them to do highly sophisticated targeting. This data might include a person’s search history, most visited websites, most-used apps, and more. Businesses will be able to target a very specific audience with a very specific product.
In-email purchasing is a trend that is likely to stick around. After all, many organizations could benefit from this type of scalability.
2.) Repurposing Content Across Channels
Instead of coming up with new content, marketers are taking what has worked in the past and optimizing it for the present. Businesses that already have high-quality content should focus on making it more accessible across platforms, and more up to date.
Up to date, engaging content far outweighs old work that lacks keyword relevancy and features old links or data. Taking existing content and repurposing it for a new blog post, marketing campaign, or webinar is an efficient way to keep it relevant in search engines. Repurposing content doesn’t necessarily mean copy and paste, it means take the parts that worked and performed well and reuse them in a fresh way.
3.) Voice Search
It’s no surprise voice search made it on this list. Using voice search gives users an immediate answer without having to scroll through the various options that come up with a search. When typing a query, we tend to scroll through search results, but with voice, most of us go with the first thing that pops up.
With voice search growing even more popular, that top spot will be the most sought after. Showing up even in the top five will no longer be enough. Fine-tuning digital marketing strategies is essential in order to have a chance at that coveted spot.
4.) Chatbot Features
Did you know that more than half of buyers expect a response within 10 minutes to any marketing, sales, or customer service inquiry? It’s safe to say this isn’t humanly possible – this is where chatbots come in handy.
Chatbots enable companies to engage in conversations with their customers leading to better customer relationships and an increase in sales.
5.) Conversational Marketing
To piggyback off the last trend, conversational marketing is all about creating a dialogue with the customer. Brands are diving deeper and actually listening to their customers’ problems. Conversational marketing is highly effective with the use of chatbots as brands are able to resolve customer problems on an individual basis. As a result, customers feel heard which leads to an overall improved customer experience.
The idea of conversational marketing is that while the customer goes on this journey of trying to figure out what they want or need, the chatbot assistant will know when to turn the conversation in the direction of getting the customer to make a purchase.
The goal: convert leads via dialogue-driven strategies.
The Takeaway
We certainly didn’t cover every online marketing trend happening in 2021, but we covered some of the major ones. Many companies are slowly applying these changes to their existing marketing efforts. It won’t be long before many of these trends become the new standard.
We’re curious, which of these trends has piqued your curiosity?
As always, don’t hesitate to contact us for more information. We’re here to answer all of your digital marketing-related questions and guide you in the right direction!