Top Digital Marketing Trends to Look Out For in 2021

Fast-changing technology and user expectations can make Digital Marketing professionals obsolete rather quickly if, they do not keep a tab on the latest developments.  Not many summers back terms like artificial intelligence, data-driven marketing, voice search engine optimization (VSEO) were not in the dictionary of a digital marketer. Lo and behold, today, these innovative digital marketing tools are the must-haves in the digital marketing toolbox.

Programmatic Advertising

Programmatic advertising essentially involves using AI tools to automate ad buying/capturing, real-time bidding is one such instance. This automation is much more efficient, effective and fast, resulting in higher conversions and lower customer acquisition costs. Brands like Netflix, StubHub, Kellogg, Sprint, Proctor and Gamble, Intel amongst others have already entered the Programmatic Advertising foray. Display advertising purchases in the United States, worth almost $50 billion, were made programmatically in 2018-19.

Influencer Marketing using AI

The world’s top influencer, Kylie Jenner gets paid $1.2 million/ post on Instagram. She is followed by Ariana Grande and Cristiano Ronaldo each earning $ 1 million per post on Instagram. Social media influencers who promote brands need not always be celebrities, innovative content creators like Banza or the Butcherbox, are big brand builders in their own right amongst their millions of followers. AI has taken away the guesswork in the selection of brand influencers. Artificial Intelligence-based tools help in identifying influencers with targeted engagement, detect fake followers and accounts thereby ensuring a positive return on investment (ROI).

Micro-Moments

As more and more people are indulging in online activities using their Smartphone, tabs, and other gadgets, they leave clues and footmarks all around the web. They might be looking for a product, service, information, or entertainment on the web. By leveraging this data, brands deliver on their needs in micro-moments and continue to keep the brand at the top of their mind. Brands like Clorox, Booking.com, CVS Health have leveraged these micro-moments in their marketing strategy effectively.

Interactive content

Welcome to the world of 360 degree VR experience, online live quizzes and polls, embedded calculators, VR videos, etc. which marketers are using to engage customers. E.g. Addidas came up with an interactive Snapchat competition where the users could customize and show their designs of the product, and 4 winners stood a chance to turn their designs into a real Adidas collection. VenturePact, a software company built a calculator that helps its users estimate the cost of building an app, which also happens to be their target audience’s most common concern. In both the above instances there was a spike in user traffic and conversion.

SERP Position Zero

For the past couple of years, voice search has caused disruption in the market; it has immensely changed the way search engine optimization (SEO) functions. Remarkable is the rise of the featured snippet, which features in the highly craved for “position zero” in Google’s search engine results page.

Rank zero snippet or position zero, is the holy grail of modern-day SEO practice, as it straight away responds to user search queries without needing the user to click on any link. VSEO (voice search engine optimization) can give you an enormous competitive edge and credibility in the long run (notwithstanding, this can be a piece of amazing news for only one brand…and that brand can be yours, as Zivanta Marketing can help you scale those heights and let you attain the position of a market leader).

These were just a few snippets to give you a heads-up on the recent trends in Digital Marketing, but because of the ever-evolutionary nature of this field, the trends are dynamic and shall bring challenges and opportunities for any digital marketing agency.