The Online Marketing Trends In 2021

Yes, you can talk about online marketing trends for 2021! Even if the economic development is largely in the stars and different industries are affected by the crisis in completely different ways – or to different degrees: Online marketing will take place; probably in many cases with significantly modified content, but sometimes even to a greater extent than before due to the external circumstances.

Do Companies Always Have To Follow Digital Marketing Trends?

The online marketing trends 2021, like all trend forecasts, are neither dogma nor corset or an obligatory blueprint for your marketing measures. You don’t need to overturn a marketing strategy that may be working perfectly because it doesn’t seem to match the current hype.

Nevertheless, it makes sense to look at trends in online marketing. For example, when you are discussing the key data for new campaigns. Or if you want to give ongoing campaigns more drive. Or if you want to set up a new online shop and want to put a marketing strategy to the test first place.

But keep an eye on: “One fits all” does not apply to online marketing trends in 2021 either. A certain trend may sound so sexy – if it just doesn’t fit your company profile when implemented, then keep your hands off it: There are reasons why you can hardly find an undertaker on TikTok.

Seven Trends – What Will Count in Online Marketing in 2021?

There are further developments and new developments in almost all sub-areas of digital marketing, and sometimes what is said dead remains – surprisingly – successful as always. So, we’re going to focus on some key trends that you really shouldn’t miss.

1. Purpose: This is about a general attitude that has grown in importance across all marketing content and channels in the face of the crisis. The current marketing study by Deloitte highlighted this prominently. So spread with a clear edge what you stand for, what sense your offer and your company, in general, have right now, work the – also: human! – Bring out the value of your brand and generate sustainable customer loyalty.
2. Content: The long-running hit is getting more and more weight, not just because of the purpose above. Content marketing is also at the top of the list for search engine optimization with a view to Google. The latest Google updates strongly suggest that the search engine will interpret user-friendly “quality content” more and more intelligently and rate it more positively. You can find more about this in our e-book “Content Marketing for SMEs.”
3. Omnichannel marketing and marketing automation: Target groups cavort on different platforms and channels. The time when you could reach the majority of your potential and active customers with just one Facebook Page is long gone. Omnichannel marketing is the name of the strategy for countering this development. And marketing automation also helps, among other things, not to get bogged down in omnichannel marketing.
4. Georeferencing and local marketing: The crisis of 2020 has certainly also brought new interest to stationary local retail – not only Amazon & Co. It is important to use the various tools and channels for local marketing using local SEO ( Google My Business, Directory Services, Facebook Places, etc.) to pick up the “Support your local” movement. Georeferencing means “attaching” a location marker to as much data as possible.
5. Social commerce: This type of customer loyalty existed long before any online marketing (keyword “Tupperware”), and the relocation of this distribution channel to the Internet naturally experienced a huge boost in 2020. Generating sales via social media recently worked on a whole range of channels from Facebook shops to shoppable ads on Instagram to video pins on Pinterest. We recently showed the unique content and strategies for social commerce in a separate article.
6. TikTok and other snippets: Short, shorter, shortest – whether TikTok, Instagram Reels, or YouTube shorts, it seems that this trend towards snack content has come to stay for a while. The extreme sharpening of brand messages, which is necessary due to the format, is just as much a challenge for the concept developer as choosing the appropriate channels.
7. Personalization: CRM systems and other tools that allow customers and target groups to have an almost purely individual user experience are becoming ever faster, more differentiated and smarter, across different touchpoints to the company. Personalization in online marketing may not be brand new, but there is very clear room for improvement.

Always In Trend

What has not just been important since yesterday and will also play a major role in the context of online marketing trends in 2021 are, for example, video and podcast contributions, the entire field of conversational and affiliate marketing, voice search, influencer advertising, etc. Some Experts also see trends emerging that the last word has not yet been spoken of. For example, the experience with the pandemic should bring about a return to old-school and so-called nostalgia marketing – developments that are entirely plausible but are not suitable for building the pillars of the marketing strategy here, of all places.