If you want to stay competitive as a business in 2021, it’s essential to have an effective digital marketing strategy in place. Digital marketing is more important than it ever has been when it comes to drawing in new customers and driving sales. 

One of the reasons for this is that the government-mandated COVID-19 lockdowns across the country forced businesses to close while people stayed indoors. This resulted in a major eCommerce boom, as many consumers turned to online shopping and other web services. 

But the truth is that eCommerce has been growing for a while now, and the pandemic only accelerated its rise. To capitalize on this transformation in the way people shop and consume, it’s crucial to have a digital marketing strategy that aligns with modern trends. That’s why we’ve come up with this article to help you identify the digital marketing tactics that will be most effective in 2021. 

Content Marketing

Content marketing has been a cornerstone of most major digital marketing strategies for years, and it’s not going anywhere anytime soon. It’s important for your business to continue creating content that both develops your brand and builds a relationship with your audience. And in 2021, there are a lot of different avenues you can go down when it comes to content marketing. 

Why is content marketing so important? You can build your brand and boost your reputation by consistently creating good, relevant content for your audience. Try to create content that’s useful for your target audience — for instance, Shareable for Hires, a company specializing in pre-employment background checks, regularly posts articles aimed at recruiters and HR professionals on their blog. Even if the topic isn’t directly related to a background check, they’re still drawing traffic to their website by creating content that’s relevant to the needs of their target audience. 

Image courtesy of hires.shareable.com

So how can you update your content marketing strategy this year? Creating video content is certainly nothing new, but it may take on a special importance for 2021. That’s because the lockdowns related to the COVID-19 pandemic have made people crave live events and shows. As it seems no large-scale live shows are going to be returning anytime soon, many people have turned to social media and the internet as an alternative. 

Live streams in particular were especially big this year. The live streaming platform Twitch experienced a surge in popularity, while Facebook and Instagram saw activity increase by more than 50% during lockdown periods. With that in mind, do some brainstorming about if and how your company could utilize live streams in your digital marketing strategy. 

Voice Search Optimization 

Voice search optimization is exactly what it sounds like — it means optimizing your webpage so that individuals using voice search will be directed to your content. And with the rise of virtual assistants like Alexa and Siri, more and more people are beginning to search and shop using voice commands. In fact, 43% of people who own voice-enable devices use the technology to shop. 

As voice recognition technology gets more advanced, it will be increasingly crucial for digital marketers to recognize their importance. And while voice search doesn’t currently factor into Google’s search algorithm, you can still make a positive impact on your search rankings by tailoring the content on your company website so that it’s more accommodating to voice search. This means adapting to the conversational way in which people use voice search and taking into account common colloquialisms and turns of phrase. 

One of the best ways to optimize for voice search may be to include a comprehensive FAQ on your company website that answers the kind of common questions and inquiries that people would use voice search to get the answers to. 

Emphasis on Interactive Content 

Instead of simply reading a blog or watching a video, interactive content invites your audience to take action and participate in something. This type of content is huge, especially on social media channels like Facebook and Twitter. Interactive content includes things like:

  • Useful calculation tools (such as mortgage calculators for real estate agents, investment calculators for finance apps, budget calculators for accounting software, etc.)
  • Fun quizzes, tests, and assessments
  • Social media polls
  • Games 
  • Interactive videos 
  • Contests and sweepstakes 

To make interactive content part of your digital marketing strategy, include it on your company’s website and social media channels. The type of interactive content you publish depends on your company and the industry. This can include relevant calculators, quizzes, or other resources that your audience can benefit from.

Quicken not only uses this free tool to bolster their SEO strategy, but also to engage with their audience, provide them with value, and make their product more appealing. A visitor just has to provide some simple information and the calculator gives them a budget, showing them how easy budgeting could be if they used Quicken. And of course, now that the visitor is on their site, it’s very likely that they’ll take a look at the premium features that the company offers, and they may even purchase a plan. 

That’s only one example of how interactive content can provide value for your company. You could also host an interactive webinar, create a quiz for social media, set up a contest — the possibilities are virtually endless! Do some experimenting and see what works best for your company. 

The landscape of the digital marketing industry seems to change on a daily basis. That’s because, as new technology is invented, new trends emerge, and consumer preferences change, digital marketers have to keep up with the best practices. The most elite marketers, however, are able to get ahead of the curve and anticipate what consumers will want next. So try to use this guide as a jumping off point — these are the hottest trends in digital marketing right now, but what do they suggest about the future? Because if you’re able to anticipate these future trends, you, and your brand, will be able to capitalize on them in a big way. 

Jacob Dayan

Jacob Dayan graduated with a Bachelor’s in Business Administration from the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business. He began his career as a financial analyst at Bear Stearns’ industry leading Financial Analytics and Structured Transactions group. In 2010, he co-founded Community Tax LLC, a tax company dedicated to helping customers nationwide with tax resolution, tax preparation, bookkeeping and accounting services. As CEO of Community Tax, Jacob Dayan has assembled a strong team of attorney practitioners, CPAs and enrolled agents to deliver superior customer service and expected results.