The year 2021 and the next two years may not be like anything we have seen so far: the end of the corona plague may already be in sight, but there is no doubt that our habits of using the web have changed beyond recognition.
On the one hand, this is good news for technology companies and social networks that have gained even more power and ways to gather information about us, which may be helping some of the digital marketers. But, on the other hand, there is no doubt that more and more countries and regulatory bodies will try to finally put an order in this jungle to try and protect the citizens and users (of which we are ultimately a part).
So without exaggerating, here are our forecasts for the trends and trends that will continue with us into 2021
Entry of social networks into the field
Many businesses have had to make drastic changes to their online sales system and even reopen contingency plans that were supposed to take about three years or five years in just a few months.
There is no doubt that this is good news for consumers, but many businesses, especially the smaller ones, are not always prepared to do so from a logistical point of view. And if we thought that Amazon’s entry into Israel would change anything, it turns out that most local stores are still not enthusiastic about it. Instead, we are seeing collaborations and the establishment of virtual malls that incorporate within them a large number of local stores.
Less dependence on Google for websites
It is not surprising that Google’s algorithm is getting more innovative and more advanced year after year, but it turns out that this is not necessarily good news even for those who rise in the rankings… One reason is that today Google can display direct answers to questions Can lose entries. Also, more and more businesses are entering the category of local companies, and surfers are seeing them in local results which occupy significant volume from the display of organic results at the expense of businesses that have invested in marketing through their site and promoting it to the first page.
Better analysis of Data
We have already hinted that the big platforms can gather more and more information about users than ever before. For example, this year, Google has publicly released Analytics 4 . It is a more capable system that uses AI to present the user with smarter insights and predictions even when browsers (like Safari) and the users themselves limit the amount of information collected about them.
For example, the system can give you an estimate of the amounts that buyers who come from different channels (such as a mailing list) will spend and so you can focus your marketing efforts in the right places. It will also show you which channels the same users are coming from and which users have gone through many different media along the way (multi-channel marketing). Other enhancements include adding events that we previously needed external tools or integrations to use—for example, scrolling the screen or watching a video.
More advanced automation for a variety of needs
With an endless list of platforms and social networks, it is sometimes difficult to keep our activities anywhere. Generic automation systems such as Zapier can meet a significant part of our needs, but not all of them, and it is sometimes difficult to keep track of everything they do, and we feel a bit that things are getting out of hand.
Video marketing across YouTube
Until recently, we have used video advertising = YouTube advertising. So no other sites offered advertisers so many options to advertise in different and unique video formats. But the growing popularity of social networks that contribute to upload “mini-videos” such as Instagram or tic-tac-toe should make advertisers think about it again. It is especially true for advertisers who want to appeal to teens and young people whose ad has been copied from television as it simply does not speak to them. By the way, at least in tic-tac-toe and Instagram, there is quite a bit of exposure to non-sponsored videos as well, so there is no need to jump in and spend inflated budgets on video ads (although they are more prominent).
conclusion
The world of marketing is changing from moment to moment, and we must also be aware of entirely new trends that may come from an unexpected place and the strengthening of tendencies that we have already seen in past years. Within marketers, there is no doubt that in 2021 we will need to make use of advanced tools to save money and mainly to cram in operations that we used to perform in a few weeks to a few days. In addition, businesses that have operated offline will have to think about how to increase their online sales volume and their presence in various online channels. But no less important, knowing how to produce the right insights and not just settle for the dry numbers.