- brought so many unpredictable situations, but also made us show the creativity, ability to adjust to current circumstances more than ever before. It was everything but certainly not boring or predictable. COVID 19 crisis has changed the communication of most companies from the root, so more and more companies sell their products online now, and most meetings, events happen on different online platforms. In this blog post, we will try to cover the changes 2021 will bring.
In June, we wrote about trends that marked the first period after pandemics, now we will try to predict new trends in digital marketing in 2021. Speaking from this point, the upcoming 2021 doesn’t look like a predictable period strategically defined, so we think you should keep pace with current and upcoming trends without any surprises.
Instead of working on strategic planning, creating monthly and quarterly plans for the upcoming year, we think the ad hoc approach will work better. One of the crucial skills you will certainly need in 2021 is crisis management.
We have read a few predictions of the world-famous experts in digital marketing and created a short overview for the upcoming year and the most important points related to digital marketing. We crafted a guide for digital trends in 2021 based on our own experience and the information we read and gathered.
1.Social media channels are still a crucial part of the strategy
Companies should prepare bigger budgets for social media campaigns. During the global pandemic, people started spending dramatically more time on social media networks and the Internet, which changed the way they got information on products, but also the way to purchase these products.
The sudden switch from offline to online shopping opens new opportunities and chances for brands to connect with new target groups and to reconnect with old target groups. For a relatively small amount of money, brands get the chance to connect with new buyers. Social media managers will help to create a quality posting plan, post on a daily basis, answer the comments of the followers and create a community of happy customers. If you, as a small business owner, didn’t want to get into social media, now is the right time. Contact us, book a meeting with our team and make a fresh start in 2021 with a strategic plan about developing new communication channels with potential clients.
2.Popularity of Influencers is constantly growing
If your products are interesting to a younger target group, a so-called generation Z, the one that is most active on Tik Tok, then you should be interested in their idols, and find a way to hire them as your brand ambassadors. This could be especially interesting to small businesses, the ones that still have to break through and position themselves on the market. With help of Influencers, their vision could become a reality.
Influencers are interesting not only to generation Z but to the older population as well. Because even the older population follows certain VIPs on Instagram, so you should note all Influencers with at least 10 K followers for potential cooperation. Though Influencers with fewer followers but more influence could be a good choice for attracting leads.
Studies say 60% of small businesses increased their budgets dedicated to Influencers in 2020. We are wondering how much this % will grow in 2021.
3.UGC (User Generated Content) has never been so important as now
Content created by users of any brand could be an essential part of the marketing strategy. Whether videos, photos, reels, short Tik Tok forms, or comments only, all are equally important, especially for small businesses, as they bring the necessary buzz on networks, support the interest of other followers, and create free content for the brand. If you are a small business owner, each time a satisfied user mentions you in their IG stories, it’s an amazing opportunity for you to use that content and share it on your profile.
This type of promotion proved to be incredibly successful, so 86% of companies use UGC in their marketing campaigns.
4.More interactive content
Inserting interactive elements to the site or social media could be a fabulous way to offer quality content to your followers, encourage them to connect with your brand, and learn more about it. Let’s illustrate this trend in one example – let’s imagine you’re selling insurance to your users. It would be useful to add a calculator to your site so they can instantly make calculations.
Interactions on social media in the past few years have become even simpler, as there are loads of stickers, quizzes, fields for asking questions, etc., all these elements enable interaction with your followers. The more interactive content you share in IG stories, the algorithm will expose you more to your followers.
Another great way for the exponential growth of your profile on social media is competition. Sharing posts that announce a competition, is the best and cheapest way for spreading the story about your brand on Facebook or Instagram. Be aware of the fact people like free presents, and they will do what they can to get them – share posts, mention friends, tag them, etc. It is up to you to attract them with great presents.
4.More interactive content
Inserting interactive elements to the site or social media could be a fabulous way to offer quality content to your followers, encourage them to connect with your brand, and learn more about it. Let’s illustrate this trend in one example – let’s imagine you’re selling insurance to your users. It would be useful to add a calculator to your site so they can instantly make calculations.
Interactions on social media in the past few years have become even simpler, as there are loads of stickers, quizzes, fields for asking questions, etc., all these elements enable interaction with your followers. The more interactive content you share in IG stories, the algorithm will expose you more to your followers.
Another great way for the exponential growth of your profile on social media is competition. Sharing posts that announce a competition, is the best and cheapest way for spreading the story about your brand on Facebook or Instagram. Be aware of the fact people like free presents, and they will do what they can to get them – share posts, mention friends, tag them, etc. It is up to you to attract them with great presents.
What should we do with this knowledge?
Though these 5 trends don’t represent the complete list of potential happenings in 2021., this is still a good start or a reminder related to strategic planning of your social media or online presence in general.
You must be wondering about the benefit of these trends in increasing the sales of your products. If you dedicate your time to developing social media strategy, after a few months of posting, you will already see positive results. Always be present where your buyers are. This implies spending time on social media much more than ever before.
Influencers could be a magnificent communication channel between you and your buyers because people trust them. If you start cooperation with any of the Influencers of your choice, we, be sure the results will be visible.
Encourage your buyers to send you the content where they mention your products. Not only other buyers will see your product is popular but they will also like the idea to be mentioned by their favorite brand on social media. It takes little effort to make someone happy, afford that happiness to your followers.
Finally, increase interaction with your followers, communicate, ask questions, include them in the decision-making processes, let them know they matter. After all these actions, sales will jump, and you will be happy because with lots of work and effort, and interaction with your followers you got real results in the end.
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