Digital Marketing Trends You Shouldn’t Ignore In 2021
Running a successful digital marketing campaign is a matter of consistency, quality and innovation. In order to keep up with the most efficient digital marketing trends, you need to be on the lookout for all the latest statistics and guideline changes in the industry. Sure, the formats may remain unchanged in some segments but even the slightest shift can indicate a bigger turn somewhere around the bend. With that in mind and without further ado, here are the top six digital marketing trends that you definitely shouldn’t ignore in 2021.
1. Content Marketing
Producing a piece of content was a trend that took more to produce with every single year. For instance, in 2014 it took 2 hours and 24 minutes. In 2019 it took 3 hours and 57 minutes. The trend of growth seemed uninterrupted until 2020 when it took a small, 2-minutes-long, decline to 3 hours and 55 minutes. While some like to develop theories of why this was the case the truth is that this was a trend that just couldn’t expand indefinitely. Keep in mind that this is an average and that there are still a lot of people spending 6+ hours per post. Still, take your time.
2. Microcontent
While traditional content takes quite a bit to write, there is a huge portion of your audience that completely lacks patience and focus for long content pieces. This is why we’re currently experiencing a pinnacle of microcontent’s popularity. What is Snapchat? Well, by definition, it’s a piece of content that takes between 10 and 30 seconds to consume. An image, a short bullet list or a short infographic fit this category. Most prominently, Instagram or Facebook stories, Tweets and TikToks also fall under this group. In other words, the majority of social media content can rightfully be considered microcontent.
3. Grabbing Attention
Previously, we’ve praised the effects of short content formats and now it’s time to further explain why they are so effective. You see, people online don’t have much of an attention span. This means that you have to captivate them visually in a matter of 2-9 seconds. Why visually? Well, because 90% of the information we get come from visual means. Because we get visual information 60,000 times faster than verbal and because the majority of learners are visual type. According to experts behind Orion Creative, a suitable web design can help make your online presence more dominant.
4. Pinterest and LinkedIn are underrated
When talking about social media marketing, the majority of people will immediately assume that one is talking about Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok or Snapchat. The truth is that when it comes to marketing and direct sales, Pinterest and LinkedIn are quite underrated. People are more likely to trust a company whose content they see on LinkedIn. As a result, they’re also more likely to buy from the given company. Second, LinkedIn targets professionals, while Pinterest mostly targets the female audience. In other words, it’s an easy way to find your qualified leads here.
5. Adjust To All Screen Sizes
Every screen has its user base and advantage. For instance, your content may be seen on smartphones, tablets, laptops, desktop monitors or smart TV screens. This means that you need to make sure that whatever you create is available and responsive for all those devices. Otherwise, you either miss out on a massive portion of your audience or your content doesn’t impress the people you were trying to impress. It’s hard to say which of the two is worse, which is why you need to do your best to avoid them.
6. Podcasts
All the surveys indicate that people are listening to more podcasts than ever before. There are also podcasts in more than 100 languages, which means that your local audience may be receptive even if you’re not a native English speaker. The biggest problem lies in the fact that proper podcasting equipment tends to be quite expensive. So, make sure to consider whether you’re really going to use it. If the answer is yes, the investment is more than worth it. Splitting the cost into the number of episodes that you’re going to record will help you put this into perspective.
In Conclusion
At the end of the day, it all comes down to what fits your style and what can fit your schedule. As we’ve mentioned, it takes hours to produce a quality piece of content. In fact, even a quality piece of microcontent may take a while to edit. Podcasting is incredibly skill-dependent and requires specialized equipment. Now, you’re expected to combine methods but chances are that you won’t be able to do it all. So, make a list, name all the pros and cons and try to prioritize the best you can. Remember, you can always expand, upgrade or pivot if you change your mind but for results, you need consistency.