We’re nearing the halfway point of 2021. Through the first few months of this year, we have seen a number of new digital marketing trends emerge, as well as accelerated growth amongst trends that have been around for a while. We’ve compiled a list of trends that have taken hold so far this year, as well as trends to look out for through the rest of the year.
1. Micro-influencers Reign Supreme
This is in the category of trends that are not new but are growing at very impressive rates. Influencer marketing has had a strong hold on the digital marketing field for a few years now, and micro-influencers in particular have been a popular choice for smaller companies to work with. These smaller, but still influential, accounts tend to be more affordable to strike deals with than A-list celebrities or accounts with millions of followers. Working with a handful of really solid micro-influencers can help word about your brand spread like wildfire.
So far in 2021, we’ve seen brands’ preference for micro-influencers over huge celebrities intensify more than ever before. Some 90% of marketers now say they want to work with micro-influencers, a 10% jump from 2020. With many companies still reeling from the impact of the pandemic, and pursestrings still relatively tight, this is a trend you can expect to continue throughout the rest of the year.
2. Videos in Email Marketing
Videos and email marketing are both trends that, on their own, have been huge in digital marketing for the past couple of years. Video content captures audiences’ attention better than still images. Email marketing, when done well, can drive tons of conversions and be a very cost-effective way to reach your customers. With both of these methods proving to be quite successful on their own, it was only a matter of time before they were brought together.
Just like on social media, videos in emails can capture and keep your audience’s attention more effectively than still images. With so many emails flooding consumers’ inboxes daily, yours needs to stand out to make people look twice. Additionally, people do not want to read long, text-heavy emails. Videos are a great way to tell a long or more complex story for your brand in a captivating way.
3. Webinars
Businesses have really been hopping aboard the webinar train in recent months. Webinars as a whole are not a new trend, although their popularity has grown substantially over the past year or so. Businesses using webinars to educate their customers, on the other hand, is a new and growing trend. More and more consumers are becoming very conscious about what they are consuming and purchasing. They are looking beyond the flashy product features and promotions to the business practices, commitment to sustainability, and other ethical concerns of their purchases. As more and more consumers want to be informed, more and more businesses are beginning to use webinars as a way to get that information out.
4. Omnichannel Approach
It has become increasingly clear in recent years and months that brands need to meet consumers where they are. No matter how catchy your copy is, how eye-catching your visuals are, or how persuasive your ad is as a whole, it doesn’t matter if it’s not being seen by the right people. For that reason, more and more businesses have adopted an omnichannel approach to their digital marketing. People are consuming digital media across so many devices and channels that focusing on only one or a handful of those is no longer enough for a successful digital marketing strategy. The more channels you can advertise through, the more your digital marketing will succeed. You will reach more people, and even more importantly, you will reach the same people multiple times across channels, making a stronger impression on them.
5. Emotion is Everywhere
Marketing has always been an emotional field. Some of the best campaigns and advertisements of all time have succeeded because they found a way to tap into viewers’ emotions. The recent pandemic and rise in social consciousness because of world events has only served to heighten the importance of emotion in marketing to a higher level than ever before.
As we touched on above, consumers are becoming more concerned with the moral and ethical implications of the products they are buying. Brands are needing to, more and more, not just tap into consumers’ emotions, but also their own. Companies who show how much they care about issues that are important to them are attracting tons of new customers.
Baring emotions, sharing values, and being transparent about business practices are some of the best new ways for businesses to attract like-minded customers. And once those customers feel an emotional connection to your brand, they are way more likely to become a loyal, repeat customer. All of the trends above have displayed huge growth in the first half of 2021 so far. Whether they are completely new, or just exploding in popularity, these trends all look like they’ll be sticking around for a while. As we head toward the second half of 2021, we can’t wait to see what other new trends emerge.
