Digital Marketing Trends We’ll See in 2021
It might seem hard to believe, but 2020 finally came to a close. It’s been a long and strange year for most people, with the pandemic and intense political division defining 2020 in many areas of the world. For many people, it’s been hard to focus on anything except the bare essentials.
As always, however, the world of marketing continues to shift and evolve. It’s very sensitive to changes in society and has definitely been impacted by recent changes in the way we live, work, and buy.
So what does next year have in store for digital marketing? Which techniques will rise to the top and start trending? Here are the top 5 trends you can expect to see as we move into 2021 and start to leave the pandemic behind.
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More Incorporation of Web Development Into Content 
Visual elements have become increasingly important in marketing and digital media over the years. Today, the line is beginning to blur between web development and content, as development tools allow for more advanced user interaction and responsive content.
Written content, images, visual design, and programming all have to work together to impress today’s consumers. Because visual effects have become so advanced, it’s getting harder and harder to “wow” people. That’s why we can expect to see even more blending of content and web development—to make the experience of consuming content both interesting and effortless.
Programmatic Advertising
With so many organizations looking to streamline their marketing budgets, it’s no wonder that many are turning toward automation in 2021. Artificial intelligence can now take on the more mundane, repetitive tasks that don’t require much skill or supervision, freeing up marketing professionals to concentrate on creative tasks.
Programmatic advertising is one example of how AI is being used for automation in modern marketing. AI systems can be programmed to automate ad buying and optimize who is being targeted by which ad. This type of automation can consider specific variables in real-time bidding and deliver ads at the perfect time while staying within budget.
Like Them or Not, Virtual Meetings Aren’t Going Away 
We’re all familiar with “Zoom fatigue” at this point, but it’s looking like we’re going to have to deal with nonstop virtual meetings for at least a while yet. In marketing, this could change the creative process and the reality for customers all over the world. Marketers will have to continue leaning into this new normal for workers and take it into account in their campaigns.
Marketing messages changes depending on what’s going on in people’s lives (or at least, they should!). With more people working from home long-term, that will mean changes in collaboration and positioning for digital marketers in 2021.
Digital Marketing Trends 2021: Ads Get Even More Personalized
About everyone responds well to marketing that caters to our exact needs. In fact, 90% of people say they enjoy personalization in advertising. Marketers can’t afford to ignore the power of personalized advertising anymore.
In the past, the most effective marketing could only appeal to the majority because there was no way to personalize print ads. With digital marketing, there are so many incredible possibilities for personalization that can increase sales and customer loyalty. It is an incredible use of consumer data that can make a huge difference in campaigns’ success across all platforms.
As we move into 2021, expect more brands to use data to deliver personalized offers and connect with their customers. Personalized ads are more likely to get the right kind of attention and will ultimately become necessary as consumers come to expect them. This comes with one caveat. Apple is taking extra measures to prevent advertisers, such as Facebook and Google, to use their customer’s data. We will have to see what this does to personalized messaging in the future.
Customer/Consumer Becomes Even More Important
The golden rule of marketing has always been to think about your customer’s needs and to market your product or service as a way to fill those needs. It’s no surprise that every year, catering to the customer experience is a top priority for marketing experts all over the world. Marketers know that it’s difficult to build trust and easy to break it.
In 2021, the difference is how much marketers know about their audience. We have access to more data than ever before. We know what people were through in 2020 and that they want to be taken care of. With that knowledge, marketers are preparing to enhance the customer experience next year in any way they can.
Superior Customer Relations
When it comes to the sales and profitability of any online business, customer relations play a significant role in how effective you’re able to convert leads into transactions.
By maintaining a great line of communication with customers and clients, whether with social media or a Mass Notification system to have easy access to communicating with everyone involved in the sales process. According to statistics, companies with superior customer relations often show greater profits and happier customers overall, so why not invest in it today?
Digital Marketing Trends 2021: Voice Search Will Continue to rising
As mobile and in-home devices continue to take over the globe, more who, what, when, and where searches will continue to rise as well. Alexa and Siri are both hitting a 95 percent accuracy rate, the highest they have ever been to date. This is on the back of nearly 50 percent of all searches that are voice-activated.
So if you haven’t started optimizing your site and content for voice search, you better get started right away, because these numbers are going to continue to rise.
