Looking for key digital marketing trends for 2021? Here are the 13 hottest marketing trends for this year that you can’t ignore. Know more about social media trends, email trends as well

It’s the start of 2021, and just like every year, I have a list of predictions to share with you. 2020, even though a rather forgetful year, was a great year for digital trends and new updates.

This makes 2021 a tad more interesting.

I believe in practising before preaching, so all these trends have been practised by me extensively before suggesting them to you. So want to know the trends and elevate your brand?

Scroll down to read more.

List of 13 hottest digital marketing trends for 2021 that you can’t ignore

1. Mini-Videos Will Take the Platforms by Storm

30 seconds to 1-minute video content will take 2021 by storm. YouTube shorts, Instagram reels, & Tik-Tok will drive brands crazy in 2021. Even Snapchat is working on bringing this feature to compete in the market. So, if you are not there yet, time for you to be.

2. Brace Yourself for Educational Content

Education-Based Funnels Will Rise. Considering pandemic and post-pandemic Digital addiction, people are now used to an e-learning environment. This will give scope for brands to create webinar-based, course-based communities and drive sales via communities.

3. Add YouTube Ads in Your Brand Strategy

YouTube Advertisements will be on the rise in 2021. The lockdown phase saw many Live streamers make content and get a massive audience hooked to their channel. And through the live streams, it became easy to make YouTube shorts, videos, and other such content. Considering YouTube will capture more screen time than usual. The ads are definitely gonna play a big part.

4. Ads for Ott Content Platforms

Exclusive Advertisement and Content Campaigns will be on the rise with platforms like Netflix, Prime, Hotstar, Sony Liv, Zee5 and more. Expect more product introductions in the floating internet entertainment zones.

5. Make Way for The Influencers

Influencer Based Advertising in 2021 will become prominent. Pandemic has given birth to a lot of influencers and creative, engaging content ideas. Expect them to invest in growing their followers, subscribers and visibility in 2021.

6. User Generated Content Will Be Critical for Brands

Brands will Focus on User Generated Content. Expect a high rise in Influencer marketing and affiliate marketing programs by most brands as that will become a cheaper mode of conversion than direct advertisements and also, you can expect influencers to add a lot more creative and credible value to the brand.

7. Digital Awareness Will Prevail

Socially Conscious Marketing Will be on the Rise. The Digital Consumer is becoming more aware regarding equality, sexuality, environment, education, mental health and more. These areas would become part of a brand’s core communication, and mission-led marketing will win hearts of millennials.

8. Storytelling Will Finally Get Its Due

Conversational Marketing will change the way brand interacts with consumers in the coming years. Personalization of content through calls, chatbots, social messaging will help brands build better relationships, and most of this would-be AI-driven.

9. Featured Snippets Will Feature on Top

From a Search point of view 2021 would be the era of featured snippets and zero-click search. The results will be majorly shown on SERP.

10. Voice Search Will Finally Be Heard

Voice Search and Voice Devices got its big break in 2020 and will continue to evolve in 2021. Expect a lot more smarter voice-based inventions in 2021.

11. LinkedIn Will Be on The Radar

LinkedIn will become a replica of other social networking sites and will get difficult to define the thin line between professional and personal content. Also, to sustain and encourage people to post on LinkedIn, expect LinkedIn ads to get cheaper.

12. TikTok’s Global Rise

Tik-Tok though banned in India will ace the game globally with more and more influencers being involved. These 30 seconds clips will make brands to be creative and to the point, and the marketing content that comes out of this will be worth watching.

13. Local Businesses Will Shine with Google My Business

Local SEO: Expect Google to make Google My Business page a lot more interactive in 2021. More priority will be given to local business as seen at the end of this year.

In the end, I would just like to end this with one question. Why are these trends necessary? From my perspective, Digital is very dynamic; it changes every day and minute. So it is very important to adapt to any new trend to be relevant in the industry and to do that, it is better to be equipped with such trends beforehand.

This, I say with personal experience. With the onset of the pandemic, 2020 has been a roller coaster ride for me. And the only thing that helped me sustain is going with the trends that changed overnight, than sticking to my regular practices.

This has been true for my agency, echoVME Digital, and my institute, Digital Scholar. But in the end, it’s always digital to the rescue.

Which trend are you waiting to try out for your brand?

Let me know!