Let's take a look at 8 Buzzworthy Digital Marketing trends that are shaping up to be dominant players and are likely to continue into 2021 and beyond.
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Buzzworthy Digital Marketing Trends in Singapore in 2021
In Singapore, 2020 was the year we saw companies invested more and worked harder than ever before to engage, convert, and retain consumers.
With the current economic times, many brands struggled to keep their businesses afloat. And for those that managed to navigate through this tumultuous period, it has been difficult to manage marketing efforts due to constraints as a result of budget cuts.
But these challenging times also catapulted the digital marketing landscape to a new level, enabling companies to reposition their focus and adapt their strategies in new ways to engage and create value for their consumers.
Let's take a look at 8 Buzzworthy Digital Marketing trends that are shaping up to be dominant players and are likely to continue into 2021 and beyond:
Viral Short-Form Videos (Tiktok Marketing)
At present Tiktok boasts 689 million users, a staggering number that is likely to grow even more in the coming years. With this many users, it's no wonder why brands are shifting their digital marketing strategy towards shorter viral videos.
What's really attractive about this platform is how easy it makes marketing for brands to resonate with their audience using fun, entertaining content that consumers seek.
It pays for brands to start exploring this platform now and support user-produced content. For the most success with Tiktok marketing, first, you must know your crowd, what hashtags they follow and what your competitors are doing.
Influencer Marketing
Influencers are the new rock stars of today. Influencers are social media figureheads that influence how their audience perceives brands online.
Research by Rakuten Marketing in 2019 reveals that over two-thirds (61%) of respondents interact with an online influencer at least once per day, more than one-third (35%) interact with them multiple times a day and almost half (42%) admitted that influencers they follow encouraged them to shop in some capacity.
It is not surprising to hear that consumers are discovering new brands and products weekly thanks to online influencers.
Influencer marketing is all about sparking that word-of-mouth fire. It's a way to get the word out there in an authentic and knowledgeable voice, which when done well can prove a valuable strategy for any brand or company.
Product Reviews and Long-Form Content
Today's knowledge-based consumers will require brands to become curators and content-generators. Curating not just brand-specific content but providing your customers with relevant information through a variety of different avenues is one of the digital marketing trends we see dominating in 2021. Long-form content such as extensive product reviews, how-to's and DIYs, comparison-or-VS type of blog posts should play a more active role in your content marketing strategy.
The best content is not all about you or your product, but one that resonates with what the consumer or audience seeks and provides valuable or helpful information to them.
Paid Advertising (Google, Facebook & Instagram Ads)
The total ad-media spend for Singapore is set to grow to SGD1.2 billion by the end of 2021, a significant increase on its 2019 figure of SGD470 million. This shows how powerful paid traffic is for businesses at the moment as it builds brands, increases awareness, and generates sales and leads faster than other types of marketing channels.
Paid ads will continue to be a significant driver of sales and revenue. The majority of spend is projected to go towards social media advertising (Facebook/ Instagram and LinkedIn ads) followed by search and display marketing (Google Ads).
Utilizing digital marketing services to implement both organic and paid methods in your online campaigns still proves to be a winning combination. When used together, they have more power than either of them alone. Tailoring a digital marketing strategy that can span across multiple platforms like SEO, PPC, and social media all plays an important role in positioning your brand online.
Voice Search Strategy
There are trends that marketers should prepare for in the coming years as more consumers turn their attention away from desktop devices, one of which is Voice Search. It is important to prepare for emerging trends that are currently on the rise, and voice search is also making its way into the digital marketing scene.
Voice commands make searches quicker, and many of these technologies are now able to recognize a range of voice patterns, dialects, and accents. Many people find this easier than typing or tapping out long strings of texts on their mobile device screens. Voice assistants for home appliances such as Google Home or Amazon Echo can yield instant results for quick queries and add to the convenience of the end-users.
Some SEO agencies in Singapore are already embracing this technology by developing voice search strategies that make it easier for consumers to find their products or services through natural speech patterns rather than text-based searches. This will provide brands and businesses another opportunity to widen and/or diversify their tactics in advertising products and services.Ecommerce Social Media Marketing
Another noteworthy trend in digital marketing this year is e-commerce social media marketing. There are many companies that rank well on search engines but lack a strong Facebook/ Instagram presence or any other form of social media following. This means they have no way to reach out and connect with their target audience through these channels and are missing out on the opportunity to generate more revenue.
E-commerce social media marketing is a complete social media presence where direct sales can accomplish within the social media platform or through an integrated online shop, enabling customers to purchase, share products with friends and followers and review recent purchases through just a single click.
E-commerce social media marketing works great with brands in partnership with influencers as it allows the target audience to see the connection between the brand and influencers they follow.
E-commerce Platforms (Lazada & Shopee)
Setting up an e-store on leading e-commerce platforms like Lazada and Shopee can be a marketing strategy that is worth considering. The number of users of e-commerce platforms has increased rapidly in the last few years and it is predicted to grow further. If you are a retailer or product-based business, there may be an opportunity for your business to list on these leading e-commerce platforms.
Omnichannel Marketing
One of the most compelling trends in marketing is the omnichannel strategy. The term "omnichannel" refers to an approach towards the business that strives for providing customers with a satisfying overall experience across all platforms (online & offline). The idea behind it lies in providing a seamless customer experience when shopping, no matter what device they are using or where they may be doing their purchase from--online to mobile devices and tablets, laptops, or even brick-and-mortar stores.
The ultimate goal of this strategy is to have a presence and provide optimal customer experience to every aspect of their interaction with your brand. Creating one cohesive narrative and giving them what they need during each stage or step of the buyer journey.
The key to an omnichannel strategy is the process of personalization. To be successful requires a deep dive into customer behavior and preferences. This means you need to gather as much data about them, their needs, and buyer behavior--their digital footprint in today's world. Mapping the consumer's journey will help you understand how to best meet their needs and how to interact with them on every touchpoint.
Last year, many digital-forward brands were outperforming the rest with their proactive and agile approach to digital marketing. As we edge closer to the end of 2021, the digital marketing landscape is shifting. Brands and companies need more than just an online presence; they also need to create a marketing strategy with impact and synergy in order to captivate audiences. Creating effective touchpoints that allow consumers to be active contributors to their brand is key to capturing the attention of today's digital-savvy consumers.
