Digital Marketing Trends to Dominate in 2021

A few years ago, artificial intelligence and voice-powered search were considered as highly ambitious agendas bordering on the impossible. However, in 2020, these concepts have emerged as the crux of data-driven digital marketing.

In 2021, the digital marketing arena is all set to become all the more competitive as technology is rapidly evolving, leaving businesses little choice but to comply and evolve if they desire to remain competitive. As a business owner in this day and age of rapid technological evolution, it is crucial to avoid being victimized by digital Darwinism and instead, embrace these evolutions to craft a masterful competitive edge.

Today, there are numerous tools and marketing trends that will help you gain prominence in the digital sphere and reach out to your audience in intensely creative ways. This article will walk you through the key digital marketing trends that are expected to dominate in 2021.

Here, take a look:

Artificial Intelligence

2020 is the year for the dominance of artificial intelligence (AI) and the year ahead will allow robust implementation of AI-based software, tools and marketing solutions. AI is set to emerge as the beating heart of the digital landscape, propelling businesses and industries across the world into the future.

AI is rapidly taking over menial tasks and jobs across workplaces as robots are emerging to collecting data, study consumer preferences and statistics and provide data-driven insights into marketing campaigns. Experts believe that AI-based technologies began penetrating new products, services and software back in 2019, and this development has heightened its pace this year.

AI has emerged as the most lucrative opportunity for online and offline businesses, and latecomers to this trend has much to lose in terms of garnering a competitive disadvantage. So, why should you adopt AI-based tools and software?

AI has the ability to analyze millions of search patterns and pull actionable insights from data derived from social media platforms to help marketers understand consumer preferences and behaviors. The application of AI across chatbots is by far the most competitive trend as these chatbots are powered with a natural language processing software to address the needs and requirements of the customer like a real person. These AI-powered chatbots aid customers with handling payments, addressing queries and selecting products, amongst others.

In 2021, AI is set to penetrate the procedures of conducting communication, recommending products, creating content, personalizing emails, and conducting e-commerce transactions.

Conversational Marketing

Conversational marketing has emerged as the reality of modern marketing because consumers seek conversational techniques that adequately address their queries and offer substantial responses. Brands have realized that consumers are more responsive towards conversational marketing techniques, and when they have queries, they seek immediate and instant responses without delays.

What is conversational marketing? It is a one-on-one, real time conversation between customers and marketers. This new form of marketing has discarded other traditional strategies as consumers are much more responsive to marketing channels and mediums that meet them on their own terms.

Brands that able to communicate with their audience across multiple platforms, devices and time zones are more likely to enjoy marketing success. It is crucial to note that modern-day consumers are impatient, and they expect immediate responses to their search results and queries. Brands that are available across a wide range of channels and platforms are better positioned to communicate in ways that are preferred by their consumer audience.

The ultimate goal of conversational marketing is to address consumer preferences and adopt a feedback-driven model to boost user engagement and experience, and cement consumer loyalty.

Programmatic Advertising

Programmatic advertising is another realm that is being actively penetrated by AI-based applications. It basically refers to the use of AI to automate ad payments and buying, allowing brands to be more specific while defining their target audience. For instance, real-time bidding is a prominent example of programmatic ad buying, which allows greater speed and efficiency, resulting in lower costs of acquiring new customers and increased conversions.

Indeed, programmatic advertising is the rapidly changing face of modern-day advertising as it offers far more superior results than manual advertising campaigns. Programmatic advertising platforms and tools have the ability to pull hundreds of targets from consumer preferences, lifestyle and behavior to make advertisements more individualized and active.

Personalized Marketing

Personalized marketing, products, emails, content and services are the future of the digital ecommerce industry. In 2020, personalization has emerged as the most significant digital marketing trend and this trend is expected to aggrandize as consumers are unlikely to settle for anything less than what they seek.

Personalized marketing campaigns are more successful because generic advertisements tend to annoy and displease consumers. On the other hand, consumers are more likely to interact with brands and businesses that offer them personalized experiences. When it comes to email marketing, personalization has much to offer, allowing email campaigns to be actionable, precise and useful.

In order to understand the power of personalization, let’s take a look at the strategies adopted by Amazon and Netflix. Netflix allows its users to personalize their entire experience, and continues to provide movie and TV show titles that they are most likely to enjoy. Amazon personalizes its user experience by introducing its users to products and brands that they prefer and enjoy.

Personalization has the ability to boost conversions, encouraging consumers to make purchases even when they are not actively shopping for products. Personalized email and video campaigns are capable of boosting conversion and click-through rates by offering a personal touch that resonates well with the audience.

As a young ecommerce brand with limited resources, the above-mentioned digital marketing trends can seem quite overwhelming. It is crucial to note that your success in the digital arena isn’t always reliant on the amount of money you can spend on ads and social media platforms.

Creativity and context are the two most integral and essential ingredients to reach out to your audience in ways they prefer. Maintaining contact, staying relevant and being creative are the most crucial strategies to adopt alongside innovation!