Digital Marketing Trends for 2021 To Be Aware Of

Is your business ready for 2021? After 2020 what else could possibly happen, right?! At Puzzle Media, we like to keep ahead of the ‘curve’ balls. So to be one step forward, take a read of these three digital marketing trends we predict for 2021. 

Top 3 Digital Marketing Trends for 2021

 Digital Is Here To Stay

Virtual events and the restructure of traditional operational methods to online platforms became more prevalent in 2020, mostly out of necessity. However, seeing its positive impact on ROI, businesses will likely keep the status quo. 

Even if the COVID-19 vaccine has started to make its rounds, health and safety issues will still be a concern, at least for the entire 2021. The accessibility and convenience factors also play a significant role in making the digital set up more permanent.

Examples:

• Giving employees a choice to work remotely – The upside is businesses do not have to worry about rising office maintenance costs. Also, according to new research, 85% of Australians reported being either equally or more productive when working from home compared to the office.
• Running virtual events that allow businesses to have live interactions with their target audience – Companies found going virtual presents opportunities to reach more people, allows for higher attendance and generates savings from not having physical venue costs. 
• Amping up the technology to cater to online shoppers – The outbreak of the pandemic has resulted in a huge spike in online shopping making the $32 billion a year industry even more prominent. Revenue for the Online Shopping industry is anticipated to rise by 6.3% in the current year due to more bricks-and-mortar firms establishing online operations. 

Social Media Usage Grows Even Further 

If you haven’t set your social media accounts up for online shopping or booking yet, then, now is the time to get that fixed up.

According to research by nbn, 70% of people would like to support more local businesses. However, consumers felt they only had a limited online presence. It is an opportunity for Australian small businesses to build and strengthen their online presence. One way to do this is through social media.

Social platforms, like Facebook and Instagram, make it easier for consumers to go from discovering products and services to enquiring and purchasing, particularly with new rollouts happening across ecommerce. Running Facebook ads has also generated impressive results for many local businesses. Take, for example, one of our clients. Through our Facebook Ads management services, we helped them achieve positive ROI in ad spend.

As part of the digital marketing trends of 2021, businesses will also be decluttering and only keep the social platforms that most resonate with their audience. 

Omni Channel Marketing Becomes Key to Cut Through Noise

Omnichannel marketing, in a nutshell, means marketing across many channels digitally. It’s an excellent way to make potential customers and clients through the journey from consideration phase through to enquiry or purchase.

We suggest breaking down the customer journey into the following questions and steps:

1. What are their needs? 
2. Why are they experiencing the issue? 
3. What do they want to achieve? 
4. How can you help address the concern for them?

By breaking down the customer journey and conversations you have at different parts of the sales process, you can then identify what channels to target prospects on according to what stage of the sales cycle they are at.

Omni Channel Marketing works well as part of a broader campaign, and not a stand-alone quick win. If you want to build connection and trust with prospects, we highly recommend looking into Omni Channel Marketing.

Digital Marketing Trends for 2021: Another Year Of Opportunities

2020 has been a year full of craziness – there we said it! However, amidst having quite a notorious reputation, it was a year full of opportunities for businesses to reflect, plan and even grow. Our crystal ball tells us there will be more of this in 2021.

Digital Marketing is fluid and ever-changing. Strategies need ample research and testing to make them effective. Businesses should have systems in place if and when things don’t go as planned. 

There’s a lesson we can bring from 2020 to 2021, and it is the words of Charles Darwin, “It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive, but those who can best manage change.”

If you need help with kickstarting your Digital Marketing plan for 2021, please book a FREE consultation.