The world has changed and so have we. What used to trend and become popular before isn’t working as well today. And so as we humans always do, we create new paths, new trends, and ways to attract the populace again.
This time, marketers have created ingenious new digital marketing strategies to attract customers and create more revenue than ever before. 2021 won’t know what hit it when faced with these top seven digital marketing strategies in small businesses.
These small businesses won’t be feeling so small anymore when they implement these new trendy marketing ideas.
#1 Optimize Your Search With Voice Search
Every piece of content written for the web is or should be optimized for SEO. All the best marketers know how to arrange their content in a way so their target audience finds them easily and quickly. It’s just the way of the digital marketing world.
But the problem is the way keywords are searched for is changing. The world is evolving and the act of typing out words is becoming a tad too time-consuming. Why type when you can just speak?
Voice search is quickly becoming the face of search engines and digital marketers have hurried to learn how to optimize their content for this research method. It’s been prophesied that 70% of research in 2021 will be done by voice search. Especially since new gadgets such as smartphones, tablets, and other such devices have voice assistants.
To make your content voice search-friendly, make sure to add voice search snippets to posts, FAQ, and a more conversational and casual tone to the content. It needs to be more approachable.
#2 Turn Your Content Into A Conversation
Turning your content into a more engaging conversation is best done by making it more interactive. Compel your target market to interact by creating videos, polls, podcasts, lives, webinars, and seminars. Use every digital weapon in your arsenal.
You can even include VR, AR, graphics, infographics quizzes, maps, and other types of visuals. Once you start using these interactive modes of content, you’ll find your conversation ratings doubling. And if your audience is interacting, this means there is brand interest, which means sales and profits also rise.
#3 Use The Google Snippet Optimization Tool
Google introduced featured snippets in 2014 but is becoming more widely used today due to its new and improved algorithm. For those who don’t know what this is, have you ever found a small box with the answer to your question when you search on Google? That is a Feature snippet. Cool right?
Now, this snippet only comes about if your on-page SEO strategy is rock solid and checks every box. Make sure every inch of your content on your blog posts and website is SEO friendly.
You’ll find that once your content has a featured snippet, google traffic will automatically be guided towards you. If by any chance your content is not SEO then the work you put into it to make it that way will certainly be worth the effort.
#4 Video Marketing Is All The Rage Now
Video marketing has taken the digital world by storm. All small businesses have taken to it like ducks to water and if you haven’t, then you need to get on the bandwagon right away.
Researchers have found that over 60% of customers (for any type of brand) love to watch videos of the product they are buying before making any commitments. It gives them a better sense of the product and also a certain sense of security over not being scammed.
If you aren’t making videos to enhance the digital presence of your product, research states that you are dropping sales and conversation by over 80%. Make use of YouTube, your website, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram but also take a step ahead.
Create some live interaction. Do some podcasts, webinars, zoom sessions, and conferences that provide in-group and out-group experiences for the customers. Make sure to record the whole thing so that you can post it later for all those who missed out, which increases conversation statistics even more.
Another video marketing idea is to host live streams or live Q/A sessions where you could dedicate an hour or two to your customers, show off your product, and answer any questions your customers might have.
#5 Best Way To Personalize Is With AI
If you haven’t noticed already, businesses have started taking advantage of AI. This is one trend you do not want to let pass by. Every audience in the world wants a personalized experience in every facet of life.
If the ads showing on their screen aren’t relevant, the reader will block them ASAP. AI helps your product reach its perfect customer.
The AI simply studies your target customer and then, analyzes the audience, making sure that your product and marketing strategies reach the right people.
An advantage of AI is that your customer will always see optimized and personalized content, and you will always be able to keep an eye on where your buyer is in their journey towards your products.
With the help of AI, you can be sure that the content you have created gets optimal engagement. Always be sure that the AI you are using is set up correctly. Be sure to input the correct data sets or else you will need to overhaul everything and start anew.
#6 Chatbots Make Life Easy
Customers today want immediate assistance. Research has stated that over 83% of customers want their queries to be answered the minute they ask. Otherwise, they lose interest and walk away from a product that may have been very good for them. This is where chatbots come in.
Although this particular digital tool has been around for quite some time, it has recently become more popular and trendy.
Some might say that being available 24/7 and handling every question at every hour of the day can be a bit difficult. There might not be enough manpower in the company to have someone ready to answer the questions all the time.
A chatbot can be programmed to answer common questions. They can also be set to hold live conversations, ask questions, respond with detailed answers, and could even solve complicated issues.
If the issue turns out to be too complicated for them, the chatbot algorithm can automatically be set to pass the conversation on to a live available agent.
The chatbot has a constant learning algorithm so the conversation data can be used to further improve the data handling of the chatbot. So we repeat, this is one trend that you and your business would want to get behind as we head into the unknowns of 2021.
#7 Micro Influences Hold A Lot Of Sway Too
When we talk about Influencers, we usually think about the major Influencers of Instagram. But sadly, these influencers don’t always provide good revenue for every business.
In addition, it can also be quite difficult to work with the mega influencers, especially if you are a small business.
This dilemma led smaller businesses to using Micro-influencers. These are influencers who aren’t as famous but who are able to bring a personalized and more approachable touch to the product.
A micro-influencer usually has between 1000 to 100,000 followers. When you begin searching for one, always make sure that the influencer works within the niche you want. Otherwise, find someone else.
Even big brands like Coca-Cola have worked with Micro-influencers. This digital marketing trend allows businesses to improve their engagement as well as increase their brand awareness, while providing a better customer experience, which results in a higher ROI and provides a certain authenticity.
Marketing Is Ever-Evolving
Marketing like all other fields is ever-evolving. After all, life moves and change is the only constant. This is why it is so important to keep up with change, otherwise you will be left behind.
When creating a digital marketing strategy for your business or brand in 2021, keep these trends in mind. Use them and you’ll find they will help your business in a way that it never has before. It will elevate your SEO, leads, sales, profit, and customer base.
Scott Hall writes about digital content marketing and business software for entrepreneurs and small businesses on ScottHall.co. As a content marketer and search engine expert, his book on social media ‘The Blog Ahead' was published in 2006.