Many digital marketers expected 2020 to move in a different direction. Challenges, on the other hand, always offer new openings and approaches to tactics and campaigns. Many moves and changes occurred in 2021, as well as the progression of various trends that were already changing the digital marketing world.
Let’s take a look at five mega-trends that are impacting digital marketing teams.
1. The aftermath of COVID-19
The global pandemic caused havoc on the global economy and had a huge impact on digital marketing.
Marketers have had meetings canceled, teams work from home, and tactics, marketing, and promotions change. Their emphasis shifted on how they could provide consumers with useful knowledge and ideas during a tough period. They became preoccupied with getting the right language and sound, as well as trying to be more important than ever before.
There is a sign of hope for the future. Vaccines have been developed by Pfizer and BioNech, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson. With the benefit of investments in data analytics and marketing automation, almost half of the CFOs surveyed by PWC predicts a return to growth in 2021.
B2B marketing and sales consultant Matt Heinz also said that this was not the new standard. Some of the pivots advertisers have created, on the other hand, will become the new standard. A renewed focus on strengthening customer relationships, as well as loyalty and interaction, will be maintained.
Perhaps recently, empathy has risen to the forefront of digital marketing, with advertisers putting themselves in their clients’ positions and wondering if they can assist.
2. The digital revolution is accelerating.
Virtual activities, animations, and digital marketing channels were used to engage with consumers where in-person events were no longer an alternative. Many users were spending much more time online as a result of lockdowns and other constraints. Forbes reported in March of last year that after the outbreak of the pandemic, internet use had increased by 70% and broadcasting had increased by more than 12%.
Marketers, rightfully, seek out the networks where their clients congregate in order to interact with them. Customers can be engaged across a variety of channels, including social media, email marketing, smartphone, portals, landing pages, blogs, webinars, and more.
According to a CMO Poll, 85 percent of advertisers saw an uptick in consumer responsiveness to emerging digital offerings during the pandemic, and 84 percent valued digital interactions more.
In order to keep up with their viewers, marketers must now rely on digital-first.
3. The use of big data
The planet now has more data than it has ever had before, and the number seems to be growing. According to NodeGraph, world data is expected to exceed 175ZB by 2025, which would take 1.8 billion years to download at current internet speeds.
According to NodeGraph, one minute online in 2020 will see:
- 480,000 tweets were produced.
- On YouTube, 4.7 million videos have been viewed.
- Google received 4.2 million search requests.
- 60,000 photos were posted.
- 200 million emails were received.
All of this data will help advertisers figure out how to better serve you. Big data can be used to predict the weather, recommend videos, music, and books to customers, and tell marketers which platforms and content they enjoy.
Of course, marketers can gain significant strategic benefits from big data if they can correctly collect, handle, and use it. It enables them to have a deeper understanding of their clients as well as more insight into how to solve their problems.
4. Anybody can create and publish content.
Any time they share something on social media, the world’s 3.7 billion users create content. Users of TikTok and Snapchat are uploading short video clips. Instagram is a photo and video sharing platform that showcases people’s lives, jobs, and brands.
There are over 500 billion blogs on the internet, and the number of self-published books reached one million for the first time in 2017.
There are a variety of publishing outlets available, and people use them to share their ideas, product awareness, fiction, poetry, and more.
In terms of content marketing, what does this think?
Content marketers must aspire to be more influential than ever before to capture the interest of their audience. The content must be both insightful and effective, as well as presented on the channel and in a way that is easily digestible to the user.
Content marketers would never run out of ways to use videos, webinars, podcasts, opinion leadership, immersive content, and infographics. However, they are vying for someone’s affection for nearly the whole universe. They must look for clarity and substance in order to win.
5. Global interconnections
According to Statista, 4.66 billion users are online, accounting for 59 percent of the global population. NodeGraph discovered that in 2020, there would be
- Owners of cell phones number 5.1 billion.
- 2 billion people buy online
- 3.7 billion people use social media
As the statistics show, people are more linked than ever before around the world. You can network with people from all over the world, go to online concerts with them, play online chess with them, join online book clubs with them, and more. The options are limitless.
Marketers would now understand their target markets. Who are the people who visit their website and blog, and where do they come from? Will they be able to reach a wider audience as a result of global connectivity? How would they have to change their digital marketing in order to do so?
According to language and cultural variations, an email sent to a North American audience could not work as well as one sent to a European audience. Is the thought leadership you’re writing available in another language so you have a global audience? Do you offer webinars and multimedia activities targeted at specific countries and regions?
Have an eye on the audience and how it develops. Expanding it or embracing diverse regions and cultures could reveal a lot of untapped potentials. As a result, the brand will stand out as something of a standard.
Digital marketing’s era is now.
As the year 2020 demonstrated, the developments we believe to have an effect on us will shift rapidly. The trick is to stay resilient, adaptable, and agile. A positive outlook will also go a long way toward assisting you in dealing with tough situations.
