Accounting to the escalating consumer base and the flourishing e-com, industry estimates suggest that market-size of digital advertising in India was ₹ 7,044 crores towards the end of 2016 at a growth rate of 15.5%. By 2020, the numbers would cross the mark of ₹ 25,500 crores with a compound annual growth rate of 33.5%. Despite the low investment share of 12.7%, digital marketing is amongst the fastest growing mediums. The number of professionals with digital marketing training are also increasing slowly and gradually. If you are wondering about the reason behind all of this, here is your answer.
Why Will Businesses Shift from Traditional Marketing to Digital Marketing by 2021?
In the current age of digitalization, there is more number of mobile devices on the planet than humans. By 2020, the number of internet users is expected to cross the mark of 600 million. Even demonetization proved how we as a country have begun to embrace technology on all fronts.
This digitalization impact has also entered the marketing industry. With the developing influence of internet and smartphones, consumers are now using digital media not just for communicating with friends but also with brands. That is why businesses should now begin to theorise the concepts of digital marketing and manoeuvre social media for creating brand awareness. Efficiently utilising engaging content can revolutionise the success rates of brands.
Not just e-businesses but offline retailers can also avail measurable tools for marketing. It is easier to track the activity of the ‘Call the store’ button or the ‘Store directions’ button. Robust technology for measurement and conversion optimisation can cater to the specified needs of offline sellers.
Top Channels Which Bring New Business to You by 2021
These days, your customers are following you every second. They watch a video, see a review, and even they read your blogs carefully. So, if you want to attract them, you should share valuable, interesting, personalized, and quality content in all your channels including your blogs. Nowadays, the markets are crammed with many personalized tools that you can use in order to create customized content which will target and attract your specific audiences. Once you get the relevant audience, it will automatically enhance your business growth and profit.
The Economist Intelligence Unit Survey, 2016, came up with some data and statistics which represented the influence of various marketing channels by the year 2021. Surprisingly, the conventional marketing media, television, print and radio, were the last three on the list with an aggregate respondent percentage of a mere 36%. With such numbers, the new gen entrepreneurs should totally disregard the utility of conventional marketing tools for business growth.
However, the survey does mention some new marketing channels which would be industry leaders by 2021. The leading four channels listed in the survey which are expected to bring the most success for you are Social Media (63%), Web (53%), Mobile apps (47%) and Mobile Web (46%). This data evidently proves the gravity of the influence of digital channels, or digital marketing to be specific on the target audience of various businesses.
The Major Trends to Emerge
The Major Device Shift
By 2021, we can expect a major shift from the use of desktop devices to the use of smartphones. Accordingly, more detailed personalization can also be expected. We can even observe this gradual shift in our everyday lives. People are relying more and more on smartphones instead of their desktops. This shift will be beneficial for marketers as it will help make the brand-consumer interactions more frequent and personal. Since the reliance will now be on smaller screens, the dominance of social media marketing on digital marketing will also grow. The biggest plus point of this is that companies will be able to analyze consumer behaviour in a much better way. This will come very handy for designing targeted marketing campaigns.
The Emergence of Predictive Analysis
One major advancement that digital marketing will see by 2021 is the emergence of predictive analysis. By this time, we will be able to understand and predict the success of a marketing campaign with empirical data. Thus, the predictions would be more accurate and reliable. Companies will start focusing more and more on ROI (Return on Investment). Analytical data and marketing strategies would determine the ROI of a company. Newer analysis factors like page visits, time spent and cookies would come into play providing reliable information.
The Growth of The ‘Video Trend’
While we are already seeing the emerging ‘video trend’ in digital marketing, by 2021, this trend would be one of the most dominating ones. Increased use of mobile devices would promote the influence and demand of video content. The ‘storytelling’ trend is already gaining popularity. In a few years, similar user-generated videos will form an integral part of the digital marketing content of companies. The main reason behind this is that videos are one of the most personal, informative and interesting types of content. That is why brands will focus more on generating consumer-based content.
Just take a look at the below statistics so that you can understand the importance of incorporating video into your digital marketing strategy and plan in 2019.
- 70% of consumers claimed that they have shared a brand’s video.
- 72% of companies said that video has improved their conversion rate and business growth.
- 52% of consumers feel that watching product videos online makes them more confident regarding their purchase decision.
- 65% of executives visit the marketer’s website and 39% call a vendor after watching a video.
The Entry of Artificial Intelligence in Digital Marketing
Post the victory of Google’s Alpha Go AI on the World Go Champion, Artificial Intelligence has caught the attention of many. People from various industries and domains are now looking forward to making efficient use of it. By 2021, even marketers would begin the use of Digital Marketing. With a smart combination of creativity and technology, AI will be able to provide a lot of innovative marketing opportunities.
The focus of marketers is gradually concentrating towards ROI. This seems apt as the prime objective of any marketing campaign is to achieve quicker ROI. Measuring it to measure the success of a marketing campaign only seems sensible. But if you think that by 2021, we will be able to successfully measure marketing ROI, why don’t we start now?
We already have all the required technology that can easily help us measure accurate ROI. So why wait to begin this? If you think that ROI measurement will help you in the coming years, you should probably start now to stay ahead in the market competition.
Chatbots
Chatbots are one of the most implemented and applauded forms of AI. They play an imperative role in customer interaction as they are available 24X7. This instant message will help you to stay connected with your customers throughout the day or night. A plethora of statistics has claimed that by 2020, more than 80 % of businesses will use a chatbot to improve their customer interaction. By 2022, chatbots will help businesses (the healthcare and banking industry) to save over nearly $8 billion per annum. These virtual assistants are responsive and provide answers very quickly. Moreover, they never lose patience. Basically, chatbots offer astounding customer services and meet all the expectations of your customers. Moreover, they are one of the easiest and simplest two-way communication channels which will help you to stay connected with your valuable customers.
Use Social Media Channels Wisely
These days, social media is a buzzing word. It is estimated that more than 4 billion+ users who are just glued to various social media channels all day long. So, you need to create an effective social media strategy and need to promote your products or services wisely on various social media platforms. First, know your customers well and then, create social media pages and share valuable content on them to attract your customers. You can also take help from social media influencers to enhance your brand’s image and mileage.
Voice Search
This seems impossible until the invention of Amazon Alexa and Google Home. These two have made life easier through their voice search enabled devices. Now, with the help of these devices, you can do a lot of your daily activities like order food, book a cab, ask information and many more things. Google Assistant on your phone always provides great help to you. As per Gartner, by 2020 around 30% of web searches would be through voice-enabled devices.
Influencer Marketing
One of the most prolific channels of digital marketing is Influencer marketing. It is defined as a type of word-of-mouth marketing that works by using key leaders to augment any brand message directed to a larger audience base. It is not just the celebrities, but Instagram or YouTube personalities with a huge count of followers will so work. The moot idea is to spread the word about the brand or business through their social channels. When you complete a digital marketing course in Ahmedabad, you will understand how this form of marketing is beyond just a trend.
Did you know that influencer marketing is counted more authentic than any corporate advertising? This is because 63% of consumers trust influencers’ opinions of any service or products much more than what brands say about themselves. A new study showed that 58% of people in the last six months bought a new product because of an influencer’s recommendation. A Mediakix study forecasts that the ad spends for influencer marketing can get beyond $10 billion by next year.
Social Messaging Apps
Did you know about 1.3 billion monthly users are active on Facebook Messenger? And you thought this is just about sending emojis? With more than 10 billion messages sent per month between people and businesses on Facebook Messenger, this has emerged as one of the most powerful tools. Similarly with WhatsApp, 55 billion messages are sent every day! WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and WeChat show the popularity of social messaging apps and their staggering figures make it one of the best platforms to stage your products and services. With the scope for personalization, Social messaging apps is a direct and easy way to interact with them. It helps to:
- Create better contact
- Deliver information directly
- Improve sales
- Involve people through direct feedback
- Provide support and assistance
Omnichannel Marketing
The buzzwords of 202-21, this is a process of marketing across multiple platforms to help you connect with prospects on more than the general touchpoints. This is one of the best ways to offer an enhanced user experience that can drive your customers to action. This first thing you need is a seamless, consistent voice for your brand that will prevail across all physical storefronts, social media channels, catalogs, and anywhere needed. It can give 18.96% engagement rate rather than 5.4% on single-channel. Interestingly, It has about a 250% higher purchase rate with omnichannel vs. single-channel. Users demand personalization is a concern for competitor brands and AI and big data can help you with a better understanding and analysis of customer data.
Google Lens
A promising visual search, Google Lens recognize objects and landmarks with the help of a camera app. Here’s how it can help:
- Find similar products of your listed apparel and home goods and where to buy them.
- Use a barcode to get details about a product.
- Save phone number or address to a contact.
- Get a summary and authentic reviews of your searched book.
- Add event to your calendar with an event flyer or billboard.
- Learn about species and breeds of flora and fauna.
Automation
Gartner predicts 30% of businesses will use artificial intelligence (AI) in their sales processes in 2021. This will help in:
- Improving Customer Retention and Loyalty.
- Forecasting Customer Behaviour.
- Improve User Experience.
- Boost Search Ads with Audience Insights.
- Get better with Content Marketing and Highly Personalized Website Experience.
- Measure Performance of Marketing Campaigns.
- Cut Costs and Save Time.
Conclusion
These are the top digital marketing trends that you should implement to stay competitive and ahead of your competitors. For this, you should hire some digital marketing experts who possess certified digital marketing course in Ahmedabad from eminent digital marketing companies in Ahmedabad.
Traininginseo is a reputed digital marketing training institute which embraces the aspirants with numerous digital marketing courses in Ahmedabad (Digital marketing training, social media training, Google Adwords, PPC training, Analytics training, etc.). If you want to pursue a bright career in digital marketing, get in touch with them for the best courses.
Our Google Adwords & Analytic Certified professionals provide following classroom training to help you grow your business or professional career.
