5 Digital Marketing Trends to Expect This Year

2020 didn’t go as expected for anyone hopeful of the new year. With 2021 off to the races, we didn’t want to start the year off with any more uncertainty. Let’s take a minute to reflect on how much has changed in the marketing industry within the last few months. Have no fear. It can go only go up from here; there’s no need to hold your breath any longer because our team came up with five digital marketing trends that you can expect to see this year.

Social Media Reigns

Social media is ruling the internet on a global scale. We’re not just talking about likes and shares: we mean business. There has been a massive shift in social platforms since the pandemic broke out, but this year, we’ll see even more companies taking advantage of a logical purchase method. For example, Facebook has transitioned from discovery to check-out, a harmonious process where consumers don’t even have to leave the platform to make purchases. Increased efficiency in online buying methods should come as no surprise, considering that 2020 seems to have made everyone more open to online shopping than ever before. Multiple platforms are adapting and using new streamlined purchase features to their advantage, and rightly so.

Virtual Events

Virtual events are here to stay. Hosting virtual meetings, seminars, interviews, and more, although not entirely new, was another progression made during the COVID-19 pandemic. As 2021 continues, and in the future, we’ll see that many events will remain virtual (sorry, concert-goers!). Organizations discovered that going virtual allowed them to invite new audiences, resulting in higher attendance rates and increased participation. Due to the accessibility of virtual events, ROI (return on investment) for many event hosts has been much higher than previous in-person events. So, get creative: reach out to relevant and intriguing speakers, add some spiffy content, and have fun hosting a virtual event!

Informed Brands = Informed Buyers

Remember how important it was to incorporate personalization into your marketing strategy? Well, now companies are incorporating the need to be informed. Consumers like it when brands know what they have purchased in the past to help them figure out what they should invest in next, so many companies are pivoting their strategy to suggest what consumers might want and when they want it. Myriad consumer information is collected by brands and retailers every minute of every day. Why not utilize that data to convey a meaningful outcome? It’s time to get ahead of the marketing trends. Learn how to predict what your buyers want to see next and study their shopping habits to forecast when they want to buy.

Social Decluttering

Remember the pre-pandemic days when Marie Kondo was all the rage, and everyone started cleaning out their closets and pantries? The same thing is beginning to happen with social media profiles. Big companies and even smaller organizations are realizing the uptick in social media usage. If your business hosts online profiles on numerous platforms across the board, from YouTube to TikTok and LinkedIn, consider which accounts work best for your business model. Which profile (or profiles) has the most engagement? Reach? Impressions? Assess which profiles you should keep and get rid of everything else that is irrelevant or does not benefit the company. If no one follows your TikTok account, why hold on to it? Just because it’s one of the marketing trends doesn’t mean that it’ll work for you. Define what engages your audience, home in what works best for your business, and go from there.

Increased Employee Morale

Let’s be real: COVID-19 has made a colossal impact on most businesses in some way or another. That includes shaking up everything from clients to employees. When WFH (work from home) started en masse in the spring of 2020, not only was it an adjustment, but it was also terrifying for most workers who wondered if they would end up losing their job. With many people on-edge, motivation went to an all-time low. After a few months, cabin fever set in. In 2021, that’s all about to change, if it hasn’t already.

Within organizations, leaders are making significant improvements to boost motivation, apply connection, and increase communication with employees — including executive actions such as breaking up large projects into smaller chunks and setting milestones for the future. Discussions about employees’ successes, concerns, and goals are once again at the forefront of executive leadership teams. It’s essential to ensure that each employee has a voice now that employee morale is more important than ever.

These trends are just a drop in the bucket compared to what might come next. We don’t know about you, but here at Momentum Creative Lab, we’re very excited to see what the future of digital marketing trends holds. Did the pandemic set you or your business back from reaching full potential? Our creative gurus are here to help you get back on track and prepare to prosper! Ready to get started? Please schedule a consultation or visit our website to connect with our team.