2020 has been an awakening year for everyone. With the current COVID-19 pandemic and other social issues, indeed, businesses changed drastically how they run.

Below are the 7 Digital Marketing Trends to expect in 2021.

1. Inclusivity

As the world continues to be aware of social issues – race, sexuality, religion, etc., more and more consumers, especially younger audiences and marginalized groups, are now looking for brands that fit in their values. This includes the brand’s content – images, videos and even discussions on social media pages.

A study by Accenture revealed that 41% of shoppers shift away from brands which don’t reflect their views on identity and diversity while 29% are willing to switch brands completely if they don’t show enough support on social issues.

Brands that are seen to be impassive will likely see impacts in 2021. In contrast, those brands which openly support equality will most likely develop deeper connections with consumers.

2. Featured Snippets & Zero-Click Searches

Zero-click searches refer to search results that appear at the top of the first search engine results page (SERP). These answer questions that allow users to see relevant information without making any further clicks.

Google introduced this experiment in March 2020, with the aim to eliminate multiple results that searchers don’t really need and to satisfy the user intent.

According to SparkToro, 50.33% of all searches are zero-click searches. It means that now more than half of all Google’s searches result in no click.

Google decides which keywords and content to select to show on position zero.

For businesses that produce content and SEO, this can mean losing meaningful website traffic, leads and conversions since they reduce the number of clicks. This creates a new challenge for businesses to upgrade their content game for featured snippets.

3. Sustainability

From the 2018 report of Neilsen, 81% of consumers strongly feel that companies should help improve the environment.

Younger consumers are now leaning towards sustainable and eco-friendly brands. This goes well-beyond the market for green products – every brand can benefit by broadcasting their sustainable practices.

Levi’s launched their innovative Water<Less® collection where the goal is to reduce up to 96% of the water normally used in denim finishing, the final stage in making a pair of jeans.

Online platforms, especially in this time of pandemic, are the best way for brands to communicate their sustainability share.

4. Visual and Voice Search

Due to the evolving technology, more households are now using voice-activated tools such as Alexa, Google Assistant and Siri. These tools aren’t just for turning on and off the lights, but now act as assistants to do basic input of text search using voice.

On the other hand, Google Lens allows people to take a photo of the item they intend to buy and get search results that lead directly to product pages.

5. Interactive Content

The benefits of interactive content are quite clear – to encourage customers to engage and get valuable insights based on their preference. These collected data will guide the brand on its content marketing efforts and eventually win loyal brand advocates.

This effort of interactive content is part of the greater trend towards personalization. It will make consumers feel heard and creates a more personal connection to the brand. Don’t forget it can also be used to collect data on user preferences, such as for product or site improvements.

6. Customer Segmentation

Segmentation involves dividing the whole market into clearly identifiable groups that allows brands to learn more about their consumers. It is split based on meeting certain criteria or characteristics (shared common behaviors, interests, needs, wants and demands) that lead to having the same product needs.

As seen above, the two aviation ads identify its ads placement through segmentation. It placed its ticket sale ads on social media as more of its consumers use the platform. On the other hand, Business Class promotions are sent to its frequent flyers through email. This strategy works best for personalization and customer engagement, as your followers receive content hand-picked.

7. Local SEO

Brands should ensure that local listings are verified and up-to-date on various search platforms. In a way, local SEO is more powerful than broad SEO – people who search for a pet grooming shop within their geographic location have more intent to purchase that leads to easy conversion.

Register through Google My Business, incorporate local keywords prominently as SEO strategy. Obviously, prioritize the name city or town as a top keyword followed by related keywords. Tip: make sure to include famous landmarks for better results.

What’s Next?

Plan your 2021 Digital Marketing Strategy! While these digital marketing trends don’t represent a complete list, hopefully, this can serve as a guide to increase site traffic, generate more leads, and grow sales, all while retaining hard-earned customer-base.