Being dependent on only one (or just a couple) marketing channels isn’t very smart. It’s almost 2021 and today’s customers want to be able to hear about what other people think about your services, browse your site on their smartphones, and talk to your customer support team via social media. So, not using multiple marketing channels could hurt your brand visibility and cause you to lose business.
And since new trends keep emerging all the time, you should experiment and find the marketing channels that work best for your business.
In this article, we are sharing the best and most effective digital marketing channels you should try in 2021 and grow your business online.
Social Media
Social media remains one of the most powerful marketing channels for businesses of all industries and sizes. Today, if you aren’t interacting and engaging with your audience on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, Snapchat, YouTube, and even TikTok, you are missing out on an enormous market. Here are a few figures to illustrate just how enormous this market is:
- Facebook has 2.7 billion users and 1.82 billion daily active users;
- Instagram has 800 million active monthly users, with more than 65 million photos getting uploaded every day;
- YouTube has more than two billion monthly users and nearly 70% of them state that videos help them make a purchasing decision.
- The latest social media sensation TikTok has 850 million monthly active users. It is available in more than 150 markets around the world, in 39 languages.
Looking at this data, you can understand how robust the social media ecosystem is. Social media can help you boost website traffic, bring leads, increase conversions, build brand recognition and image, improve communication with your audience, etc.
If you want to know more about how to master social media marketing in 2021 you should check out these awesome social media marketing books. You’ll find plenty of tips and insights on making your social media space a powerful marketing weapon.
Email Marketing
Despite the popularity of social media, studies show that more than 85% of consumers are irritated with Facebook, as well as display ads and TV commercials. Instead, they prefer email marketing.
Email marketing remains one of the popular marketing channels and one of the most cost-effective ones, with $42 of revenue on a $1 investment. A report by McKinsey showed that email converts 40x more leads than Twitter and Facebook combined.
And when it comes to email marketing there’s a number of different email campaigns you could implement, ranging from welcome emails to cold emails, depending on your industry and which goals you want to achieve.
Influencer Marketing
According to estimates, the global Instagram influencer marketing market will grow by 15% in 2021 to $5.86 billion, which is up from $5.095 billion estimated for 2020. What does this mean? It means it’s time for you to join the bandwagon and reap the benefits of influencer marketing.
More than 70% of marketers claim that the quality of leads generated from influencers is better than email, paid search, social media, SEO, or PPC. This is because influencers have a very targeted audience in their niche. They can make your content more visible (even viral) and bring high engagement in a short period of time. It’s no wonder that 66% of brands are planning to increase their influencer marketing budgets in 2021!
Video Marketing
Video is at an all-time high. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, most outdoor entertainment options have been canceled and people are spending more time in their homes. This means they are spending more time-consuming video content. YouTube engagement has never been higher – content creators see 20% to 30% more views. People are also watching more video content on social media networks. According to stats, 56% of internet users watch videos on social media platforms every month. Instagram reported a staggering 70% increase in live streaming and TikTok has definitely become mainstream.
This video-consumption trend is likely to continue through the following year, which means marketers can’t afford to ignore video as a lucrative marketing channel. Platforms and software creators have recognized this and started developing new video editing tools and capabilities, making it easier for marketers to make video part of their marketing mix. Video marketing can be in the form of video presentations, vlogs, tutorial videos, product demos and reviews, live streaming, and testimonials.
Podcasts
Podcasting is one of the most prominent emerging marketing trends. Whether you decide to host a podcast or be a podcast guest, both strategies work great in terms of organic search, brand visibility, leads, and conversions.
Consumers love podcasts mostly for their educational value – about 75% of podcast listeners in the States say that they listen to podcasts to learn new things. The number of people listening to podcasts is constantly growing: as of 2019, more than 50% of US consumers listen to podcasts, which is more than double the number of listeners from 10 years ago.
Podcasts are a great way to reach people who are ready to make a purchase. Nearly 55% of listeners say they are more likely to consider buying from a brand after hearing an ad for that brand on a podcast.
SEO and Content Marketing
If you want to grow your business organically, you need to optimize your site for SEO. The overall organic SEO process is extensive and includes on-page SEO, off-page SEO, local SEO, technical SEO, and mobile SEO. In other words, what they say about SEO is true: it does require patience, time, and hard work. And still, a big number of businesses include SEO in their marketing mix.
The reason for this is simple: over half of the searches on the internet are from organic search only. Another important upside of SEO is that you don’t need to pay for the clicks and invest huge amounts of money to drive traffic to your website. SEO is free and its effects are long-lasting.
Launching Apps For Different Platforms
This is in fact the most-used channel these days to increase your visibility, popularity among your user base. Using apps, you can control how you use your customers like your product. You can make average ad revenue from mobile apps if you get your apps popular and get enough downloads.
Final Thoughts
These 6 digital marketing channels have been tried and tested by businesses of all industries and sizes. Consumers are now demanding more innovative interactions with brands, and if you don’t start delivering on their favorite channels, somebody else will.
Of course, not all of these channels will be equally effective for your business, but they will definitely help you broaden your horizons and help you stay ahead of the competition.
