At one time, artificial intelligence, data-driven marketing and voice search engine optimization (VSEO) were ambitious concepts bordering on the ridiculous. Today, these are some of the top digitalmarketing trends.
And why wouldn’t they be? After all, if your business intends to remain competitive in this crowded online landscape, you must adapt to the latest innovations.
In this article, we’ll go over the 38 most important digital marketing trends you can't ignore this year because they will help your business not just survive, but thrive in this age of never-ending marketing changes.
1. Digital Changes in Consumer Behavior Are Here to Stay
McKinseyfound that the pandemic accelerated ecommerce adoption by 10 years in just 3 months.
In fact, 60% of companies across sectors witnessed new buying behaviors over this past year.
The time to pivot and keep up with the demand for quick and easy onlineordering, curbside pickup, and contactless delivery has passed.
Now, companies are looking to build security and resilience for the future.
IBM’s most recent Institute for Business Value report finds that transitioning to more resilient infrastructure is a priority for 52% of retail brands, alongside deploying contactless mobile payments (47%) and creating more robust digital selling platforms (45%).
There’s no point in waiting for a return to “normal” and, according to research from my company, vaccine and re-opening are already driving new onlinesearchopportunities.
Plans you had put in motion (or shelved as low priority) prior to the pandemic must be re-evaluated and reprioritized.
Put it all on the table – timelines, budget, scope, and order of priority. Some initiatives may need to be accelerated and others entirely scrapped.
Plan now for where you want to be five years post-COVID – not where you thought the organization would be by now before it ever happened.
2. Tell a real story
Storytelling is always key for brand marketing. But when it comes to selling your product in the modern landscape, consumers are tired of just hearing about how you, the brand, believe your goods or services are better than the competition. They want to know how have you delivered on your promises in a way that has lived up to their needs and expectations.
This doesn’t mean brands should take a step back and let their reviews do the talking. Rather, your marketing should shift its focus to storytelling—don’t just tell the consumer the benefits of their product or why it’s better than their competitors, businesses should show through stories and customer testimonials how the product or service can help to solve a specific problem.
It might not result in direct