Most Impactful Digital Marketing Trends For 2021

In an article that I wrote for Quadigy Blog, I had shared the list of the digital marketing trends that I think are dominant now in 2021 and will dictate the efforts of marketers around for the coming months. 

This article takes into account the huge difference that Covid pandemic has made to our lives and how businesses, people and the world in general will behave in post-Covid era. 

The pandemic has completely changed the way people search for, access, and utilize information, communication, products, and services.

I will use this opportunity to summarize the Top Digital Marketing Trends for 2021. Build your marketing strategies around these to tap into the potential of enhanced reach and consumer buy-ins. 

1. An explosion of user-generated (& short) videos and micro-influencers

This trend will continue to grow rapidly in 2021. For brands and marketers, these micro-influencers will continue to be the preferred low-cost alternative to TV and radio Ads.

2. New social media networks and user platforms

Related to the previous one, this trend of new social media platforms mushrooming all over will see brands and marketers experiment with many new platforms in an attempt to gain an early advantage. 

 

3. Core Web Vitals – The New Page Experience Update from Google

Figure out the areas of improvement and start getting your website in order so that you don’t end up losing all your website traffic to a bad user experience score!

 

4. Increase in selling on social media platforms

Social commerce or social-selling is not necessarily new but it has become all the more powerful as a means to market, sell and build brand loyalists in today’s Covid-19 pandemic era. 

2021 will see more and more social media marketplaces come up, allowing people to buy directly from their phones, through recommendations, shared products, etc.

 

5. Personalization and Hyper-targeting

Personalization (and hyper-targeting) in paid digital promotions and content marketing is a trend that will continue to grow in 2021.

The technological advancements made in AI and real-time data gathering is giving a lift to personalized, targeted shopping experiences as well.

In 2021, it will be very important for brands and marketers to target their audiences with data-driven and personalized messaging (as much as possible) and targeted campaigns.

 

6. The rise of AI (Artificial Intelligence) in Marketing

Some key areas where AI is and will be a disruptor are personalized communication (through chatbots and consumer behavior-driven content feeds), product/service recommendations, email personalization, and transaction assistance. Another key use is of AI-powered voice assistants – more prominently used by mobile users.

 

7. The acceptance of AR (augmented reality) in Marketing

AR Marketing still remains a novelty; been used by a few of the top brands such as Ikea, Facebook, Sephora, L’Oreal, Hyundai, Mercedes, and Uber.

However, as AR technology keeps improving, we will find more brands experimenting with it in order to provide something new to their consumers in terms of experience.

 

8. Brands that have values and can be trusted will have more loyal customers

The Covid-19 pandemic of 2020 has been one of their toughest times for the modern world post World War II. Humanity has been tested in many ways in 2020, bringing values like Trust, Social Responsibility, and Humanity to the fore.

Brands that are seen to be making efforts for the world’s good, in general, are enjoying more respect and loyalty from their consumers.

 

9. Digital ABM with LinkedIn

Over the past few years, LinkedIn has become the best platform for organizations to test various ABM strategies.

Features like the Sales Navigator and InMail allows LinkedIn users to target accounts with highly personalized engagement. It also allows us to target multiple accounts with pre-planned offers, schemes. LinkedIn is also very useful when it comes to upselling new services/products or renewals to existing clients/customers.

 

10. Demographic changes to the digital audience 

Well, the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 has thrown the old systems awry. The world has shifted to the new reality of minimal contact (or contact-less in many cases) based existence.

This shift also forced a new demographic – the Baby Boomers to get used to the online world and even make their first online purchases (mostly out of necessity) for buying essentials and so on.

This development has presented brands and marketers an easy opportunity to access this new addition to the digital audience to engage and sell to them.

 

Final Word:

So, that's it! You have the top 10 digital marketing trends for 2021 – make sure that you figure out what’s relevant to your market and business and accordingly stitch together your marketing strategy. 

You may also read the complete article here

Not so sure about how to leverage some of these trends? Or are you looking for help in your digital marketing to meet your business objectives? Write to me.

 

Cheers!

 

 

Getting Back...The Voice Of A Marketer - Wiser With More Grey Than Before!

Hello Friends, 

After ages, I am here, on this blog of mine, ready once again to share what I have learned, the knowledge that I keep acquiring every day.....with young professionals or students yet or with anyone who seeks. 

Let me bring this space up to where I am today, let me cover those lost years in words little yet not diminished in value... 

I have stayed true to the space of digital marketing. However, in the last seven odd years; I have gravitated from online writing, copywriting (and even creative writing!) to shouldering the responsibility of helping voices, stories and propositions be found by an audience that is willing. 

Almost 18 years in the field has allowed me to cover its vastness and still stay eager to learn more. 

With this new attempt to be be regularly conversing with you, I intend to share my two bits on almost everything - from how to successfully run a business, to building growth strategies, on digital marketing, on writing, and even on professional growth and more. 

Also an update - Since 2017, I, along with three of my very good friends and workmates, am running a digital marketing firm named Quadigy. We are growing and we aim to keep growing very fast. 

Wish me luck. Wish Quadigy luck!

Ten Things That You Can Do To Become The Leader That People Love To Follow

(image source: google.com)

For a leader to become a good leader, a leader of choice, he or she needs to enjoy the respect of the people whom he/she will be leading. And, respect only comes when it is mutual – a leader first needs to learn to give respect to his/her team or people in order to enjoy their respect. 

I am sharing my thoughts, which are based on my life experiences, right from the time when I was a small boy, following my elder brother, trusting him completely that he will do the right thing to today when I have the fortune of guiding friends and team members discover their own path and leading successfully to their destinations.

I believe, more than the capability, it is the attitude that makes a leader. So, the question that is more important is, Can we develop the right attitude for becoming the leader that we would like to follow in our life? The answer is a big YES!

There are a few things that a person can do to be the choice leader rather than be an imposed leader. Let’s dive straight into them….these are:

1.    Focus on inculcating self-discipline and not control

2.    Guide, help, show them the path, the destination, but let them do their own running

(image source: google.com)

  3.    Be involved, but not all the time

  4.    Trust them to the job, it’s okay if there are a few mistakes

  5.    It’s important that you talk but it is equally important that you listen well

6.    Stand up for them and not up to them

7.    Be fair, at all times

8.    Be an inspiration to them; and make sure that they shine too

9.    Let them know that you don’t have all the answers but are ready to seek them

10. Learn to celebrate together! (image source: google.com)

This article is tuned more towards leadership situations that we experience in our careers and workplaces, although the suggestions are applicable to all aspects of our lives. Tell me what you make of these 10 points. In my future articles, I will try and discuss each of these points in detail. In the meantime, also please share your thoughts on what makes a good leader. I look forward to your valuable comments.

Thanks for reading through this post! 

Letting the Leader in You Lead Your Life!

(image source: google.com)

Everybody is a leader; you, me….all of us. What differs is the range of influence that each one of us might enjoy….it can be limited to self, or might include family, or friends, or a team that you work with, or a large group of people if you are a social personality...and so on. Please bear in mind; the range of influence is fluid…and keeps changing, depending upon our conduct in life. 

Leadership is all about leading a towards a better tomorrow, it can be by overcoming a crisis, dealing with a situation, successfully managing your work, achieving personal goals, getting success, meeting aspirations and in being happy. The impact of being a good leader or a bad leader will change depending upon your range of influence.

I am currently part of a mid-sized organization, which has grown 11 years old, and is in the middle of a transformation, transformation of a collective mindset of being a startup to moving towards the awareness that we are no more a startup but a robust organization that needs to tackle competition, and focus on growing rather than surviving. This situation also provides me a great opportunity to understand what makes and breaks a project, how goals are set and achieved and how, in all of these, the quality of leadership makes a difference.

In the following few posts, I will attempt to share my understanding of Leadership…., and the worth of it, if any. J

Top 5 Business Mobile Apps for iPhone/iPad and Other iOS Mobile Device Users

Well, it took a long time in coming but I guess, the delay has not been bad – after all I get to talk about some new, awesome business apps from the iOS App Store…so here I go (as promised) – following are the Top 5 iOS Business Apps for this year so far…

 Microsoft Office 365 – Your Office in Your Pocket!

Microsoft made big news when it launched Microsoft Office 365 for the iOS platform, thereby lending enhanced capability to the iPhone users. The version of the app available for the iOS device users is similar to the one which has been available to the Windows device users and now to the android phone/tablet users. Now, even iPhone users can easily read, edit & create documents (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) without worrying about doc formats!

(A note: the android version of the app has just been launched!)

Download the iOS version here: https://itunes.apple.com/in/app/office-mobile-for-office-365/id541164041?mt=8

Evernote – Note-Making Made Easy

For me, Evernote makes the grade as one of the top iOS apps as well. Like I mentioned in my post on top Android apps, Evernote is immensely popular not only as a business app but also as a consumer app because of its simple note-making capabilities. This note-making mobile app has also managed to keep up with changing times with timely updates (so far), ensuring that new features are added as needed. The latest, updated version (version 5.0) came up with plenty of new features. Some of the prominent features in the updated Evernote iPhone mobile app are:

Multi-shot camera mode – it allows users to shoot multiple images with their phone camera and then save all of them to a single note.

Sync support – it allows users to use the same Evernote account across different device/platforms.

Page Camera function – a special feature that lets you use your SmartPhone like a scanner.

Here’s where to click if you want this cool app: https://itunes.apple.com/in/app/evernote/id281796108?mt=8

Genius Scan – The Trusted Document Scanner

It is amazing to see a phone develop exceptional capabilities when we spruce it up with power-packed mobile application. Genius Scan is one such iOS based mobile application that will turn your iPhone into a PDF Document scanner!

The way it functions is pretty simple – you don’t have to do more than use the app, Genius Scan; it does the rest. Genius Scan features a highly advanced scanner technology that allows it to easily scan documents via smart page detection, to do perspective corrections, to do image post processing and you can also create PDF documents with multiple scans! This iOS-based app for iPhones & iPads lets you easily scan documents and mail them through your phone itself. You can send the scanned documents across either as a JPEG image or a PDF document.

Wanna download the app or simply want to know more? Here is the link: https://itunes.apple.com/in/app/genius-scan-pdf-scanner/id377672876?mt=8

Dragon Dictation – You Say It, Your Phone Will Type It!

Taking mobility to the next level, Dragon Dictation mobile application turns every word that you speak into text, which means now no more actually typing messages or writing emails on your phone, you just have to say it and the phone will do the rest!

Well, voice recognition applications aren’t really new to us but this cool app has simply taken it to the next level; like I said before. Created by Nuance Communications, this amazing app is a dedicated iOS mobile app and turns your iPhone, iPad, and other iOS powered mobile devices into a handsfree typing machine. Adding more power, this app can type 5x times faster than your keyboard. Plus, it features support for many languages from around the world. It works not only for your messages or emails but also for your blog posts and posts to social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, etc.

Here’s where you can check it out: https://itunes.apple.com/en/app/dragon-dictation/id341446764?mt=8

Trip It – An Amazing Trip Planner!

Another amazing mobile app that makes the cut on both – Android & iOS; Trip It is deservingly the favorite travel related app for seasoned business users, new entrepreneurs & top executives.  

Simple, easy-to-use interface and the capability to sync all your travel details make this mobile app extremely useful for people who travel frequently for work. Trip It mobile app comes equipped with various features that lets it plan your business travel schedule with precision. This iOS mobile application supports more than a thousand booking sites and provides a one-stop solution for scheduling and managing travel. You can access maps, reservations, flight details and more. It can sync your calendar with your travel entries and allows you to share your trip plans with office, family and friends.

Download the app here: https://itunes.apple.com/in/app/tripit-travel-organizer-free/id311035142?mt=8

So that’s for the top 5 business apps of 2013 (until this time) on iOS platform!

It is exciting times for the digital world, especially for handheld devices, which are the focus of all major digital innovations. Applications being the main driving force behind these innovations, we can safely say that our mobile devices; be it a sleek smartphone or a swanky tablet; will be gaining more power, more capabilities in the coming days. And, we will be happier for it! J