Businesses or the starting of one’s venture is a challenging yet exciting process. There are a large number of people who are drawn to the idea of being their own employer, and hence there are a large number of businesses that keep developing. The success rates of each of these ventures are different and determined by several factors. Marketing is one such factor that bears a significant impact on the growth of a business. It refers to expanding the boundaries of one’s business by increasing awareness about it and garnering support for it. Marketing is the driving force behind any entrepreneurial venture because if people are left unaware of a brand, they will not be able to avail the services or products offered by it. It thus helps expand the scope of a business’s operation.
DIGITAL MARKETING
Our lives today are dominated by technology. This change has been accompanied by a wave of digitization, which has rendered us largely dependent on digital platforms. This new trend has found its way into the marketing field and has given rise to a new form of digital or online marketing. It involves using the internet, social media, and any other digital medium of communication to market one’s business. With just the click of a button, advertisements and other promotional content for a brand can be put out on countless platforms. Every individual in today’s day and age relies on technology, and hence the reach of the digital world is colossally wide. By opting for digital marketing, a brand can significantly increase the number of people who are exposed to their promotional activities.
Besides its convenience and efficacy, digital marketing has gained a special significance in the dire times of today. The coronavirus outbreak, which struck the world in 2019, has changed every aspect of our lives and livelihood. Even two years later, its effects are still being felt. The pandemic caused many basic activities such as education, careers, etc., to be shifted to digital platforms. People can no longer go door to door to promote their business. Hence for the current times, digital marketing is not a luxury but rather a necessity.
DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS 2021
In the wake of the pandemic, there is an increasing need to resort to digital marketing tactics to expand one’s brand. If these tactics are mastered and chosen wisely, the enormous power wielded by the internet can be used to benefit a business. Some of the most viable and valuable of these digital marketing trends 2021 have been enumerated hereinafter:
Search Engine Optimization (SEO):
SEO is a digital marketing technique that focuses on getting one’s business in the top search results produced by a search engine. It focuses on increasing the visibility of a brand, which will thereby result in more traffic for the brand’s website and more people becoming aware of the work done by the business. SEO has been proved over time to be a highly effective and valuable way to market one’s businesses digitally. Statistically, it has been established that SEO drives more than 1000% of web traffic compared to conventional social media. There are certain other elements associated with SEO that can optimize the practice. These have been elaborated hereinafter:
1. User Experience:
Connecting and appealing to the users is a fundamental requirement for any marketing practice. Similarly, it is essential that the practice focuses on the User Experience (UX) for SEO. The UX quotient is determined by factors such as ease and speed of operation of a website or whether the content is engaging and interesting. Search engines lay a lot of emphasis upon this User Experience and accordingly rank one’s business in their search results. Hence, it is necessary for a business to enhance the experience provided to their users to avail the full benefits of SEO.
2. Semantic Search:
Due to advancements in technology, search engines have developed highly sophisticated mechanisms to understand the demands of their users. Semantic Search means that along with the primary keywords entered for a search, the engine also interprets the context in which some words are used and then analyses the user’s true intent. Businesses must thus focus on aligning their content with the requirements of Semantic SEO.
3. Search Intent:
As the name suggests, this search engine element aims to understand the actual intent or meaning behind a search undertaken by a consumer. The algorithms of search engines have been programmed to delve deeper into the searches made and arrive at the true intention of the customer behind doing the search. To effectively use the digital marketing trend of SEO, businesses must aim to optimize their content to align with the standard commercial intents for the target keywords.
4. Zero Click Searches:
This is a unique form of search engine results wherein users have their queries answered in entirety by the search results so that no further clicks are required. The complete information relating to a query is provided at first glance by the search engine. The SEO strategy adapted must hence be devised in a way that can provide people with complete information about the work done by the business and market it despite not receiving web traffic through clicks on their website.
5. Google My Business:
This feature allows businesses to control and manage how their venture is displayed in search results. It entails uploading specific pertinent details of the business upon Google’s platform, which will then help the digital marketing process due to higher visibility in search results. Google My Business has been established as the biggest driver of local SEO searches., and hence is a highly potent marketing tool.
Pay Per Click (PPC)
PPC is another model of digital marketing that can be applied to boost a business. In essence, it may be described as the process by which businesses attempt to purchase more visits for their site by paying a fee for every click that their website or other promotional content receives. It is a widely adopted practice and has been advocated for by approximately who have experienced the highly beneficial outcome that PPC has had for their business. By adopting this practice, a business can secure a steady stream of traffic for their website, as it will be displayed more in search results due to the fee paid to the search engine for every click on the brand’s website.
Responsive Search Ads are an upcoming new feature in the practice of PPC. The standard procedure while implementing PPC is for a business to give a pre-prepared advertisement with a headline and description, which is then displayed by the search engine. Responsive Ads are a variation from this, wherein instead of a prepared advertisement, a number of headline and description options are provided. The algorithms of Google will then work around permutations and combinations of these to find a perfect match of a headline and description which can direct the maximum user attention towards the business. This system has proved to be highly beneficial, as a result of which 80% of businesses now focus on Google Responsive Ads for their PPC digital marketing.
Digitization and automation are making their way into almost every aspect of the world today. It is the future of technology, using which mammoth and cumbersome tasks can be achieved in a matter of seconds. The marketing practice of PPC has also seen the emergence of these trends, as a result of which PPC Automation is now being largely sought and adopted by most marketers. As the name suggests, this new trend refers to the automation of pay-per-click advertising, which makes the marketing campaign more efficient, smart, and hassle-free. By delegating specific tasks of the PPC campaign to third-party applications, marketers devote their attention to more relevant parts of their business and allow automation to take over their advertising campaign.
Social Media Marketing
Social Media has become an integral and inalienable part of our lives. What was once conceptualized as a means of entertainment has today assumed many different forms and played diverse roles. The most significant of these is the role played by these platforms towards the growth of businesses. Many ventures are started, advertised, and operated solely through social media. Such a system offers an advantage to both the consumers and the entrepreneur. The former can get acquainted with the diverse range of products and services provided by various ventures simply through their mobile or laptop screens. For the latter, they can save on costs of maintaining physical stores and carry out a thriving business through a social media page. Hence, it is necessary to include the digital marketing trends 2021 to cash in and optimize the use of social media. Statistically, it has been proved that up to 94% of marketers use social media platforms for their promotional and marketing activities. There are two distinct yet interconnected ways in which social media can be used as a tool of digital marketing. The first is through paid advertisements, and the second is by creating a virtual sales store across social media platforms.
Paid advertisements on social media platforms are a vital inclusion to a business’s digital marketing strategy. By cashing in on the vast number of users of such platforms, a business can create advertisements on various social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Linked In, etc., which will allow them to reach new customers. By choosing a suitable social media platform for paid advertisements, businesses can specifically target potential customers and boost their sales. This marketing strategy has been tried and tested over several years and has hence earned the reputation of being highly beneficial for a business. Social media marketing has increased exposure for almost 90% of those businesses which have undertaken it and has substantially increased web traffic for up to 75% of the businesses.
Besides creating these advertisements, marketers can use social media platforms to their advantage by converting users of these sites into direct customers for their business. This can be done by having the products or services available for sale on the social media page itself. The marketing tactics used by a venture should also include creating a digital catalog and having easy purchase procedures on social media platforms. This will exponentially increase their sales, as people can have their needs met by a social media store.
Video Marketing
Video marketing is the process of integrating video content with the marketing strategy of a business. Through videos, a brand can engage better with its customers while also providing comprehensive business details. The birth story of a business, customer testimonials, information about the products and services, etc., can be showcased to the general public in a graphic video form, which will expand the reach of a business’s marketing content. The importance of videos in digital marketing can be estimated from the results of a survey conducted, which proved that 90% of consumers rely on videos while making a purchasing decision. For effective marketing and promotions, it is necessary to include video marketing in a business’s digital marketing strategy.
DIGITAL MARKETING COMPANIES TO LOOK OUT FOR
The process of undertaking digital marketing for one’s business is often a daunting and challenging process due to its nuanced and technical nature. However, certain companies specialize in this work and can aid a marketer in promoting his business in the best way possible. We are one of these notable digital marketing Agencies :-The Go-To Guy!
Our agency can help a business get a grasp on the nuances of digital marketing. Besides marketing, we offer a variety of other services that can enable a brand to grow.
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