Last year, companies worldwide had to change their shopping and business experience due to COVID-19. After adapting over the past year, people have learned how to effectively and efficiently shop online, and companies have enhanced their online presence to keep up with their customers. Due to the influx of companies’ online presence, competition on the internet has skyrocketed recently. Many startup companies have been employing digital marketing companies to help them compete in today's digital advertising market.
Digital marketing has been around for years, so it isn’t like there is a brand new strategy that is taking the world by storm. However, due to the foundation of digital marketing, many companies have been able to leverage it to use efficient channels to reach potential customers that need to stay at home. Today we are going to go over some new and “newish” digital marketing trends and the old reliables that have been effective in 2021.
New 2021 Digital Marketing Strategies
In-email Purchases
Email marketing has been around for years. Originally companies would add links to the email to direct traffic to their blog page, landing page, or specific products. MailChimp has taken it a step further. Now MailChimp is offering an experience that is similar to apps, embedding videos and other interactives. MailChimp has access to more user data, which allows them to do specialized targeting, based on the user’s purchase history, Google searches, most visited websites, as well as the apps’ customer service, and more.
E-Commerce companies leverage email to let users learn more about their products, receive feedback and generate sales. Companies are starting to make this transition on a small scale. Being able to reach out to customers and obtain sales through email is incredibly relevant in 2021. It also helps increase your business opportunities through cross-channel marketing.
Virtual Reality
Virtual reality (VR) is the use of computer technology to create a simulated environment. VR lets people experience and interacts in a 3D world. This technology allows consumers to dive into the authenticity of products, promotions, or videos and allows them to feel the experience. If VR is used properly, you can develop a range of competencies and talents.
YouTube VR is a standalone app optimized for VR specifically. We already know what kind of powerhouse YouTube is. YouTube VR allows you to choose a video and dive right into that specific VR experience. This app also has a “theatre mode” which allows a bit screen experience. You can even watch the video and search at the same time. Pretty amazing right?!
Fulldive VR (FDVR) is different from YouTube VR. FDVR is as close as it gets to real life. This technology moves farther than a headset and allows a user to merge with the interface of a Brain-Computer Interface (BCI). For example, someone that plays video games would be able to dive completely into the game they are playing and experience it from a true first-person view. Imagine being in the matrix, everything your character does, and getting to live all the senses, like hearing, taste, touch, and smell from the game you get to experience. The possibilities of this technology are endless. You can use this for leisure, training, or to show a property. Elderly people can set back the clock and dive into a world where they are back in their youth again.
Artificial Intelligence
Around 42% of marketers are not confident about segmentation for digital marketing. It is important for marketers to know their audience and most segmentations assume that people prefer one thing over another. AI helps marketers analyze behavioral and demographic data. So much so that it can do it more efficiently than most humans can manually. It can learn every detail of the user from profile information, purchases, demographic information, even browser history and apps used.
Google has had an AI system in place for years, but only in the past few has it truly been integrating and pushing users toward using this effective advertising tool. Artificial intelligence can crunch numbers quickly and reliably and because of this and the proven success it has had, many companies are starting to employ it.
Voice Search
The great thing about voice search is that, as a consumer, your query is answered without needing to type, look or scroll through the results to find your answer. With voice search, the user is inclined to go with the first thing that pops up, which is usually the correct answer.
As voice search becomes more popular it won’t be enough to be on the first page anymore. The top spot of search results will be an even bigger priority than it is currently.
App Personalizing
With the power of AI and the massive amounts of data that it brings, you can create app personalization. The app stores, Google Play Store, and the Apple App Store are highly saturated as of now. Statista reported the number of apps on the Play Store and Apple App Stores were 2.9 million and 1.84 million in 2019. If a user installs your app there is a high chance of them deleting afterward due to an unsatisfactory first experience. If users find companies’ apps useful, there is an attention rate that needs to be applied to have users who are dormant become active again.
It's important to make sure that apps provide a smooth and personal experience to your consumers. Personalizing the app helps you stand out from the crowd, and helps consumers enjoy their experience of the app.
AI integrated apps are being used to improve app performance. And most app developers consider AI as an integral part of app development.