10 Top Digital Marketing Trends for 2021 That You Can't Ignore

 Previously considered ambitious, innovative digital marketing trends like artificial intelligence and voice search engine optimisation have become the top priority of business owners. Moreover, with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we observe a huge surge in online products and services as businesses shift to online platforms to survive and thrive. The varied customer responses have given us insight into marketing trends that work best in this new normal.

What key marketing trends can retain current customers and generate more traffic, leads, and sales? Whether you are working with a digital marketing company or hiring in-house, here are 10 of the top trends so you can revisit your digital marketing strategy and get a headstart over your competition. 

1. Social Commerce:  Social media has changed the way businesses interact with customers. People spend an average of two hours on social media platforms every day, which offers brands an opportunity to engage with them more effectively. Social media posts provide a visual, more simplified way for customers to purchase products. Unlike social media marketing, which redirects traffic to your page, social commerce promotes and sells products by using social media platforms.

• Instagram Shopping

Brands realise the advantage of Instagram's popularity and photo-friendly concept and post creative images and short videos to give an idea of what the product looks like. Instagram also launched Instagram Checkout, a feature that allows in-app purchases.

• Pinterest

Pinterest was one of the first platforms to adopt social shopping to its features. Their Buyable Pins feature allows users to purchase directly from the pins they view without exiting the app. While brands are already promoting their products, this will enable them to conduct purchases as well. Pinterest has also partnered with Shopify so merchants can bring their products to the social platform and turn them into shoppable Product Pins. 

2. Voice Search: The increasing use of voice search supports the fact that people are looking for more convenient ways to gain relevant information. This has made companies rethink their strategy and optimise their content by using voice-friendly terms to increase searchability. 72% of smart speaker owners say that they use their device as part of their daily routines. 

• Nestle

Nestle launched GoodNes, a cooking aid that provides a visual guide and reads out instructions as you cook. Additional information like nutritional value, ingredients and fun facts are also accessible. 

• Johnnie Walker

Whisky sommeliers can boast about their knowledge, but new and inexperienced consumers need more personal and engaging interactions. Johnnie Walker Alexa skill offers the option to choose labels, make a purchase based on preferences, get cocktail recipes, learn more about the brand, and increase your whisky IQ by saying, “Alexa, open Johnnie Walker”. 

3. Video Marketing: It is one of the most important digital marketing trends on every platform and channel. Videos help to promote the brand, services, and products and attract customers for potential conversion. As an SEO gold mine, videos can help build backlinks and drive traffic to your site. People retain information better when they are in the form of videos, and they prefer it over text descriptions to learn about new products.

• Always

#LikeAGirl is a campaign launched by Always, and the creative team worked on a commercial that asked girls and boys of different age groups to perform tasks "like a girl", which later won an Emmy award for outstanding commercial. The video's objective was to highlight the continuous criticism and sexism faced by women from a young age and how the stark difference in their responses suggested vulnerability and the need for empowerment and confidence.

• Reebok

Reebok effectively conveyed their campaign objective without a word in their 25,915 Days advertisement. The video shows women running in different circumstances, with a random number appearing in the middle of each scene. At the end of the video, the number is shown to be the days left in those women’s lives. The brand created a scene of urgency using it as a wake-up call to ‘Be more human’ in our finite time here and make the most of it.

4. AI-Chat Boxes: Customers prefer a more human touch, and chatbots can engage in conversations to create better relationships and drive sales. Customers favour interactions using a chat box over speaking to a human associate. 

• Dominos

Domino's chatbot allows users to customise their pizza and order online. The ability to save and repeat orders drives the customers, and no sign-in or download is required making it one of the best examples of how a bot can replicate services and make it just as good, if not better.

• Arsenal FC

Can’t watch the matches featuring your favourite football team? Arsenal fans can now receive real-time match updates and breaking news through their bot to remain on top of things. It also provides upcoming football fixtures and team line-ups, so football fanatics don’t have to search for news articles and match results.

5.  Virtual Reality: Virtual reality or VR uses computer technology to create simulated environments, and it allows companies to bridge the gap between experience and action. Offering a digital experience can promote products and services and raise brand awareness. It can facilitate relationships by building new and retaining existing ones with impressive storytelling and product showcases. 

• Adidas

Adidas partnered with Somewhere Else, an emerging tech agency, to launch a VR experience providing 360-degree footage following the mountain-climbing journey of two athletes sponsored by TERREX. Users are transported to the Bavella mountains in Corsica to witness the athletes climb up to Punta di U Corbo and follow along with them by using a VR headset and holding a sensory remote control in each hand. 

• Volvo

As the first company to launch virtual reality test drives on Google Cardboard, Volvo launched a VR experience that is cheaper and more portable. Users can take the test drive after downloading the Volvo reality app and even request a Volvo-branded Google Cardboard kit. This brilliant marketing move is not only innovative but also provides a more accessible experience to the users.

6. Interactive Content: Humans love to interact, and actively engaging customers is a demand nowadays. Social games, quizzes and interactive landing pages are all part of this kind of content that has become more prevalent. Brands recognise that interactive content helps them get an edge over their competitors and use it to maximise engagement. 

• HubSpot

HubSpot's website grader allows users to get their websites graded just by entering their domain name and email on factors such as mobile readiness, performance, SEO, and security. By providing further advice for website owners with low ratings, they are able to increase their leads. 

• CNN

In 2018, CNN released an interactive timeline of all the Marvel movies right before Infinity War was released. Marvel is famous for its amazing comic adaptations and dropping easter eggs in the middle of their films and the post-credit scenes. Those who are new to the franchise or may have missed a couple of these hints can view the 10-year timeline put together by CNN. 

7. Programmatic Advertising: Programmatic Advertising has made transactions efficient and effective by streamlining the process of digital advertising. Automated buying and selling of online advertisements are done by utilising targeted tactics to segment audiences. So, advertisers only have to pay for advertising to the right people at the right time. These platforms help buyers and sellers to make data-driven decisions and remove the guesswork from the process.

• Amanda Foundation

The non-profit organisation Amanda Foundation partnered with Saatchi & Saatchi to create a highly personalised programmatic campaign called Digital Pawprint. It uses data to match pets with stores by creating profiles of the ideal human for pets at adoption centres. When someone's browsing data creates a match, they serve them an ad using programmatic digital media to suggest a pet that would be a great fit for them. 

• The Economist

To convert the younger reluctant readers, The Economist used first and third-party data within its data management platform to search for behaviour similar to their existing users who have been loyal for years. The Economist segmented their audience based on categories of interest. They tailored the advertisements to the preferences of each segment. The data from the comparison was used to direct these ads to those who exhibited similar patterns. For example, someone interested in Politics would see an ad featuring the publication’s latest or most popular article on the same.

8.  Augmented Reality

Augmented reality adds digital elements to the real world around the user using their smartphone or tablet. AR is creating a significant impact on digital marketing because of its high accessibility, and it does not require any special software or hardware to provide an interactive user experience. It is the most preferred type of Extended Reality since small budget businesses can use it and increase their engagement rates and sales.

• Lenskart

With a 3D Try On feature, Lenskart maps your face from various angles and allows you to try and view the frame of your choice from different sides so you can select the one best suited for you. The frames are well aligned, and while the experience is mostly basic, it is pretty smooth.

• IKEA

IKEA Place App lets you put digital furniture anywhere to try it out! Launching the IKEA Studio app allowed users to customise their rooms with furniture and decorations, but it was limited to those who used Apple’s LiDAR powered iPhones. The app detects any real-world objects in the frame and places a white box on them to help you focus. You can even stack multiple digital products and change wall colours. It got so popular that people even used it in random places like train stations and elevators. 

9. Social Messaging Apps: Social Messaging apps are useful to directly interact with customers as they allow personalisation and add value to the experience. It assists in providing updates to users, integrating AI chatbots, accepting payments or engaging in commerce through chat.  

• Facebook Messenger

As the most popular messaging app, its platform consistently attracts and engages users. Because of this, Messenger is easily integrated into most help-desk solutions. Many businesses have linked their ads to Messenger, and this encourages lead generation and provides a bonus in terms of customer service, which would not be possible if the ads directed the users to a landing page instead.

• Instagram Direct Messaging

Small businesses struggle to survive the competition, and with this marketing strategy, they can access the large pool of users on Instagram to promote their brand and product. Instagram DMs offer private, and group chat features so brands can connect with new followers, offer discounts, and send updates to boost sales. They can have one-on-one interactions with their customers or use Auto DM tools to send messages to a customised list of profiles.

10. Push Notifications: More people opt for push notifications than for newsletters since they are short and quick. 85% of online stores and e-commerce operations used push notifications in 2019. Notifications trigger behaviour used to re-engage and retain those who had shown interest but failed to convert. The ability to deliver a message even when the user is not currently browsing through your website is a big win. It makes it easy to grab the attention of any potential clients without the need to communicate contact details.

• JetBlue

JetBlue has adopted push notifications to alert the passengers and remind them when to check-in. They receive a notification the day before departure and get in-flight status updates that improve the flying experience. People appreciate being reminded about crucial details, and while this won't boost sales immediately, it makes them consider the airline next time they book a flight.

• Netflix

The popular streaming services platform sends push notifications to announce new arrivals or allows users to pick up where they left off and continue watching. They also notify users when a new season for their favourite show is available. Such personalised user-friendly notifications not only generate excellent content but give you an advantage over competitors.

Conclusion

Change is an integral part of digital marketing, and adapting to those changes is what makes a difference. If you can’t collaborate with digital marketing companies, you can still learn from these examples. While this may not be a complete list of trends, it is a great place to start! Brands will have to search for more trends if they want to stay on top of their game. Embracing new technologies, tools, and strategies are some ways that can propel businesses forward in a large competitive landscape.

Hire A Mobile Application Development Agency?

 

Today it looks like everyone has a thought for a mobile application. This isn’t surprising. The mobile industry is trending upward from both the buyer and business perspectives. But before you dive in head first and begin development, you’ve need to do some research. Determine what sorts of apps make the foremost money if you think that your idea could be subsequent big hit like Instagram or Snapchat.

If you’re trying to enhance your existing company, you’ll got to crunch some numbers to work out if it’s worthwhile to create a mobile app for your business.

• But most significantly, what proportion will it cost to develop a mobile app?

If you ask 10 people this question, you’ll get 10 different answers.

Your app will still cost you money even after development is completed. Remember to the car analogy. You’ve need to put gas in it, oil, get regular maintenance, change the tires, brakes, and far more. With numerous elements that influence the value of development, is it even worthwhile to rent a mobile app development agency?

As an industry expert who has many experience building mobile apps, I can help clarify a number of the pricing for you. Then you’ll be ready to decide for yourself if hiring a developer is worthwhile the value .

Factors that influence app development
It’s important to understand what you would like before you start. I wouldn’t recommend jumping into the event stages without a transparent plan, strategy, and goal for your app. Here are some things to think about to urge you started within the right direction.

• What’s the first function of your app?
• What is your budget?
• How does one plan on building it?
• What quite time-frame does one envision from production start to launch?
• You’ll also want to think about your launch strategy, so you'll get downloads and even come up with how to urge ranked within the App Store.

So start writing an entire business plan for your app development. This plan should recognize that there are different stages for developing your app. You’ve need to plan and budget accordingly for every stage. so as to form sure you’ve got enough money to buy each stage, you’ll got to consider where your funds are coming from. The last item you would like is to run out of cash halfway through the project thanks to poor budgeting. Then you’ve got a partially developed app that’s worth nothing and no thanks to get your a refund . If you own an existing business it's going to be easier for you to secure funding. you'll use money from your company’s bank account to buy this.

For those of you that are getting to develop a replacement app as a startup company, you’ll likely got to raise money from investors unless you’re independently wealthy.
I’ve come up with a guide that breaks down the factors impacting the value of mobile app development into six major categories.

• Overhead
• Complexity
• Server hosting
• Operation system
• Who builds it
• Type of App

Overhead
By definition, overhead consists of the indirect or fixed costs over running a business. As I said earlier, your app may be a business, so you’ve need to treat it intrinsically. i would like to backtrack and finish the thought that we previously discussed regarding the payment of employees. If you've got an existing company and infrastructure in situ , you'll not got to hire anyone else to assist you together with your app.

You can work together with your marketing team or IT department. However, if you’re starting a business from scratch and launching an app with it, you’ll probably need some help. the bulk of startup companies have 5 employees or less. So take that into consideration if you’re getting to hire people to assist you with this process. You’re getting to need to pay these people.

Nobody goes to return assist you for free of charge unless they need some kind of equity stake within the company. You’re also getting to need to pay people to perform general maintenance on the app even after it launches. the value will depend upon what proportion time and energy you’re expecting this person or these people to place into it. Maintenance may alright be a minimum of one full time position.

In order to create a successful app, you’re getting to constantly make changes and enhancements along the way. Nobody’s app is ideal . Even the very best performing mobile apps within the world have bugs and glitches that require to be figured out . Your business won’t be resistant to this. Marketing and promotional costs would also fall into the overhead category.

What’s your company’s marketing allow app promotion?

Your app won’t get any downloads or make any money if nobody knows about it. For those of you that have already got an existing business, the promotion are going to be a touch bit easier. You’ve already got marketing channels set in situ like email, your website, and social media platforms. Using those methods will help keep marketing costs down, but it won’t be completely free. Promoting a fresh app from scratch without an existing business in situ are going to be costlier .

Complexity
How complex is your app? Your answer will impact the value . This graphic displays how complexity also can impact the length of development additionally to the value . i feel the graph may be a bit modest also . Some apps can even run up to a $1 million. So how does one know if your app is straightforward , moderate, or complex? Here are some basic differences.

Simple mobile apps:
Basic features like email subscription, social media login, calendars Doesn’t have any back-end standard UI components Could cost up to $40,000 to develop.

Moderate mobile apps:

• Completely customized UI features
• Accepts payment
• Has API integration
• Adaptable for headsets and tablets
• Back-end server
• Roughly $80,000 to create

Complex mobile apps:

• Third party integration support
• Multiple languages
• Customized animations
• Complex back-end
• Real-time results
• Designed by professional developers
• Costs $150,000+
• So take a glance at the structure, features, and functionality of your app.

If you’re just trying to find something super basic with minimal features, you'll get develop it at a coffee rate. except for those of you that have a more intricate design, the complexity goes to be costlier .

Server Hosting
We briefly touched on this subject within the last section, but it’s worth going into a greater discussion about it. Your server and hosting plan will factor into the value of development. As we just saw, any app that features a back-end server are going to be costlier to host.

Even if you would like to develop an app without a server, it'll still cost you a minimum of $25,000 approximately if you would like it done properly by knowledgeable. You’ll find self hosting services or an AWS or cloud hosting service for your app.

On one side of the spectrum, you don’t want to overpay for something that you simply don’t need. But you furthermore may don’t want to only accompany the most cost effective option.

Don’t let your app suffer by selecting a server hosting plan that’s inadequate. Believe your company’s website as an example. Selecting the proper hosting service ensures that your site runs smoothly without interruption.

Operating system
The OS also factors into the worth . There are pros and cons to both hybrid and native app development. Native apps focus more on the user experience. They work fast and are optimized for performance. you'll also process many features at an equivalent time if you've got a native app. counting on what percentage different platforms you would like to support, native apps are going to be costlier .

Native apps also are easier to seek out within the App Store and Google Play Store. They use an equivalent code for every platform, so generally, it’s less costly to launch a hybrid app. If you've got alittle or medium sized lifestyle application, communication app, or simple game, you'll want to think about developing a hybrid app.

Who builds It
If you’ve never built an app before, I don’t recommend learning the way to roll in the hay from scratch immediately. Sure, you'll take the time and learn to code and roll in the hay all yourself if you would like the most cost effective option. But that’s an extended road with many obstacles along the way. Your finished product won’t have an equivalent quality because it would if you outsourced it to knowledgeable. You’ll go a few of various routes with finding a developer. if they combat too many developments directly , they'll not put full effort into building your app. So instead, you discover an app development agency.

Type of app
The primary function and sort of app will factor into your development costs also .

A standalone app like clock or calculator with basic functions would cost up to $50,000. Apps like this will function without being connected to a network. Since the complexity is minimal, the worth are going to be low also. An app that uses data consumption like a calendar, stock exchange watch, or a weather application would likely fall within the $50,000 to $100,000 range.

If you would like to require that user experience one step further and develop a social media app like Facebook or Snapchat, it could cost up to $500,000. Ecommerce apps have a good price range counting on the corporate . These can run anywhere from $200,000 to $1,000,000. An on-demand app where users get leads to real time like Uber or Postmates are often one among the foremost expensive apps to develop. On-demand apps can cost up to $1,500,000 to create .

Hidden final costs
While you'll have spent quite you originally anticipated building your app, you’re almost out of the woods yet. You’re getting to pay legal fees. like all good business, you’re getting to got to hire a lawyer.

The lawyer will help protect your copyrights, trademarks, property , and everything else that you simply need while ensuring you’re not infringing on anyone else’s business. Legal fees also will cover filing any paperwork required to launch a replacement business if you don’t have already got one in situ .

Don’t ditch subscription fees for external functions either. I’m pertaining to third party services like SMS, email, and push notifications and API integrations.

Make sure you've got some breathing space in your allow these hidden costs and anything which will surprise you or come up along the way.

Hence its best hiring a mobile application development agency.