2020 has been an interesting year at that, and we have seen so many changes in every aspect of life over the last 12 months. Digital marketing trends have been no different. Below we are going to outline how 2020 has given us an insight into how digital marketing is going to develop and change throughout 2021 and what trends we will see in the near future.
Social Media
Marketers should be prepared to invest more time and money into their social media marketing strategies heading into 2021. In fact, social media accounted for 24% of the total budget across the United states marketing budget. That’s a 13% raise since last winter. This owes thanks to COVID19 and the fact that the whole world was in Quarantine for the majority of 2020. The pandemic saw a huge rise in the amount of time that people spend online, due to being quarantined. Apps such as TikTok reached popular levels throughout the last few months with Generation Z taking over the platform. Snapchat saw a major revamp and Instagram saw the introduction of Reels to get in on the action. So it is no surprise that budgets within businesses have been shifted to accommodate the changes in how companies market on social media.
The shift in who and how many consumers are flocking to your site, can open up multitudes of opportunities for digital marketers. The increase in reach to new customers as well as remarketing to long term customers means that with very little money, a good social media strategy and a great campaign, the success of your social media accounts will flourish into the new year and continue to grow month to month throughout 2021.
Invest in your Local SEO
Having your business be easy to find locally online has never been more important or prevalent than throughout 2020 and heading into 2021. The COVID19 pandemic has drawn attention to local business and many more people are taking a shine to shopping locally. It is important to have your local listings being accurate, including correct opening times, that may still be fluctuating due to covid. Up to 18% of online local searches lead to a sale in one day, so will continue to be prevalent in order to increase traffic to your site heading into the new year.
We know that 2020 has bought far more people into the world of devices like smartphones, Amazon Echo, and Google Home than ever before. These devices pave the way for voice search to be one of the primary avenues that has increased the use of local searches. It’s easier, for both the older generation, as it is for people with extremely busy lives. For example people can say into their phone “find a ……. near me” than it would be to type ‘…………. in my local area.’ So it isn’t surprising that we have seen a rise in local queries based on conversational voice search.
Search Intent
Marketers that focus on their customers needs and wants, and understand what their target audience are searching for will achieve better organic search rankings than those that don’t. Since rolling out the BERT update back in 2019, it is no secret that Google’s search experience has become a lot more conversational, and that it has helped improve companies knowledge in what questions their returning and potential new customers are asking.
If you are looking to start your 2021 with new and improved search engine optimization, contact our team at Colewood today.
