COVID-19 pandemic has absolutely upended the way businesses operate. Products and service companies have moved online, and employee work structure has shifted to working remotely or in a hybrid setting. Consumer behavior showed drastic evolution and has paved way into understanding some vital insights into the marketing trends that are working in this post pandemic new normal and what you can expect in 2021.
As a digital marketing agency in Dubai, we have identified some key digital marketing trends for 2021 that your business needs to consider, to engage and retain current customers, improve traffic, generate leads, and maximize revenue. Of all the very many fads floating around, here are six industry trends that may help you to get the best from every buck you spend.
Customer Engagement and Retention through Social Media
Social Media Marketing is that one channel that should be invested in and optimized for all thriving businesses. The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically increased the average time people spend online. Which means, what has essentially changed is the way your target audience researches products, looks up for your brand and your competitors online as well as check for the credibility in the information they find about you.
The increase shift to everything online has opened up opportunities to build new customer pipelines and constantly establishing a connect with existing customers. Being a digital marketing company in Dubai, we help clients develop a content plan, chart the posting schedules, monitor performances, and attract new business.
If as a business you have put off making a strong presence on social media platforms, now’s the time to get your engines roaring.
Local SEO and Google Listings
If your business has a physical store, then you most certainly need to keep your local listings updated and verified. The Google My Business listing provides crucial information about your store hours, services, and geographical location.
One very practical and result driven tip is to ensure you have a defined geographical service area within your local listings. This will help your business show-up in the ‘near-me’ searches. In several search engine algorithms, especially Google, they prioritize relevance. You might always wonder, why should you limit your area of operations to a certain radius, but trust us, by doing so, you’ll get deeper market penetration in the search results.
Voice Search
While you might show counter-intuitiveness on voice search strategy since Google has still not included them in the algorithms, research data however states otherwise. The time is not far when consumers adapt and switch over to the said medium and hence it is a good idea for businesses to be equipped with voice SEO. Voice search queries often yield different results than a text-based search, which makes it imperative for the content to be specifically optimized. To state it precisely, it requires content that is very conversational and direct to be accurately synced with search terms.
Interactive Content
With millions of searches happening in a minute’s span, standing out as a brand is getting tougher, each passing moment. Including engaging or interactive elements on your website or social media is a great way to interest visitors and provide value. This way you get them to engage with your brand and learn more about them through their journey. For example, if you are an Interior designing company, adding a simple dashboard to upload a customer’s room pictures with a feature to test and try color and furniture offering will serve the customer a WOW factor. While adding value to their needs, in the process you get to learn more about them based on the data that they enter into the dashboard. This information, in the course of time, can help you refine your personas and segmentation.
Quizzes, polls, interactive videos, games, surveys, and contests are other examples of interactive marketing. In order to exponentially increase your reach and visibility, contests always serve a great way. One of the fastest and cheapest way to get your brand in front of lots of new audience, is to have your existing customers share a Facebook post of a contest. Taking it a notch higher are our clients putting to use referral contests, where attractive rewards are given to the customers who help bring in the most new business.
Retention via Segmentation
Collecting data and segmenting your customers, saves costs while delivering on your products and services to customers who are most likely to make purchases. Once you have identified your ideal customer persona, targeting and delivery ads to this segment, allows you to stretch your marketing dollars accurately. It is an open secret that it takes less money to keep your existing customers than earn new ones, and so marketing experts always recommend investing more efforts into later stages of the buyer’s journey. Satisfied customers tend to tell their acquaintances and provide referrals to increase your revenue. They’re also more likely to give your straightforward and honest feedback about issues that will only strengthen your brand.
Google Ads automation
Google Ads experts constantly monitor and adjust campaigns, bids, and keywords to get the most for your advertising spend. While PPC marketing is much complex that it seems, entering automated bidding is an option for businesses. Automation allows to adjust your bid in real-time with prior moves which is backed by significant supporting data insights. Automated bidding tactics although not new to the market, its adoption means that we can allocate resources to optimize other aspects of PPC performance, which ultimately helps in delivering a better outcome at a lower cost.
The Journey ahead…
While the above digital marketing trends certainly doesn’t represent a complete list, it most definitely serves as a great place to start when planning your 2021 marketing strategy. It aides your decision making while allocating resources and helps you make informed strategy changes to help you increase your site traffic, generate more leads, and grow sales, all while retaining and servicing your treasured existing customer-base.
For a more detailed and tailored approach to propel your business forward in 2021, contact one our digital marketing consultants today!