Can you believe the 2021 holiday season is just around the corner? Before we know it, the eCommerce marketplace will be full of the latest trends, Black Friday ads, and organized listicles with the latest gifts to buy for your loved ones (or yourself).
Although it seems early to start thinking about winter, this is the best time for retailers to begin reviewing their marketing tactics and updating technologies. If you’re a business owner hoping to stand out to your customers during the busy holiday season, you should familiarize yourself with the latest consumer trends sooner rather than later. As you start to think about Thanksgiving, Black Friday, or New Year’s Eve, don’t ignore these major digital marketing trends:
1. Optimize for mobile devices.
Nearly 40% of smartphone users around the world are more likely to use their devices to shop online instead of a laptop or desktop computer. Since people always have their smartphones with them, many online shoppers believe mobile-friendly sites are faster, easier, and more convenient to use. Retailers without a responsive web design or a PWA should begin looking into mobile optimization to avoid losing customers or missing out on sales. At this point, if a smartphone user can’t easily search your website and navigate your checkout process using their device, that may be enough to convince the customer to go to a competitor’s page instead.
2. Create more videos.
When the pandemic hit in 2020, video content exploded in popularity. It outranked both blogs and infographics as the most popular content marketing format, and videos have been proved to be more highly effective as well. People are twice as likely to share a video than any other type of content , including articles, social media posts, and photos! 85% of video marketers said that videos boosted their web traffic, while 84% of online shoppers reported that they chose to buy something after watching a video about it.
3. Leverage customer data to improve personalization.
Thousands of companies collect tons of valuable customer data, but a lot of this information is underutilized. To effectively reach potential customers and maintain consumer loyalty, sellers need to be able to create personalized content and send it to the right people at the right time. As Broadsuite Media Group CEO Daniel Newman explains, “[T]here’s a big difference between creating content that ‘agrees’ with someone and providing them with a personalized shopping experience.” In other words, an email with links to similar products that a customer bought before might align with a customer’s search history, but it might not offer them relevant information for their current situation. Leveraging real-time data is key to building effective, personalized campaigns.
4. Host virtual events, live streams, or webinars.
Although in-person concerts, classes, and events have made a comeback this year, many people have shown an affinity for virtual events, even after receiving the Covid-19 vaccine. The convenience of learning new things or enjoying a performance from home has become a much-appreciated trend for everyone from college students to business professionals to busy parents.
Online events are cheaper and more accessible for guests and hosts alike. People don’t have to take time off work, arrange travel plans, or spend time away from their families to attend events, and businesses don’t have to shell out thousands of dollars to reserve space for physical guests. Furthermore, arranging an online event means that people could still access and enjoy the content after the live stream airs, if you choose to record it.
5. Start podcasting.
With millions of audiobooks, articles, movies, and TV shows accessible with just a few clicks, it’s somewhat surprising that podcasts are so popular in this day and age. In 2020 alone, over 155 million people listened to a podcast every week, and about 68 million listened to multiple podcasts each week. By 2023, podcasts are expected to reach more than 2 billion people around the globe.
The beauty of podcasts is that they allow listeners to multitask. They can listen to their favorite shows while doing routine tasks, such as cleaning, driving, or cooking. The vast variety of podcasts ensures that there’s always something for everyone to enjoy, no matter how obscure the topic is. If you start a podcast about your specific industry niche, for example, there’s a good chance that other business leaders, marketers, and entrepreneurs will want to tune in!
6. Use chatbots to help customers help themselves.
About 56% of online shoppers would prefer to send an instant message than call customer support if they encounter a problem on a website. The majority of customers want to be able to get their problems fixed quickly, using self-service tools before having to resort to contacting an actual representative. If a customer has to wait hours for a response, they’ll likely give up and go to a different site instead.
For many small businesses and online companies, 24/7 customer service simply isn’t feasible. However, advanced chatbots equipped with AI or machine learning capabilities are becoming valuable investments for all kinds of businesses. Chatbots today can quickly learn and adapt to address specific questions and consumer needs and point them in the right direction. Even if the chatbot can’t directly answer a question, they can refer the customer to the best team member to contact.
7. Create answers for voice search.
Optimizing your content for voice search differs from traditional SEO tactics. Instead of getting an entire search results page full of potential answers, someone using voice search will only receive one clear, straightforward answer from the search engine. Even if you have a brilliant blog about the user’s question, it’ll be overlooked in favor of a short response that provides a clear, direct answer.
When optimizing for voice search, use conversational language and brief phrases. Emphasize everyday language and avoid overly technical jargon. Furthermore, if you’re trying to appeal to users in your local area, make sure your business information is accurate on Google! Voice search algorithms tend to prioritize companies in the same region as the user.
Conclusion
As you figure out a marketing plan, remember that quality content will always outweigh the quantity of content you produce. It doesn’t matter if your competitor posts 5 blogs per week if they don’t offer valuable information for their customers. Just focus on delivering highly relevant and well-researched content for your target audience, whether that means posting once a week or twice a month.
That being said, if you want to be able to post more frequently, Content Cucumber is here to help! Our professional writers will create high-quality written content for your social media pages, blogs, product pages, or whatever else you need. You can order a sample of our work here.