Digital Marketing 2021...A Year In Review

The digital marketing world is a driving force that is ever-evolving. Trends, technology, and strategy are never one in the same, and digital marketing in 2021 was no different.

The challenges we have faced this year was momentous, COVID-19 and the global pandemic wreaked havoc on the business world, ultimately changing many aspects of how the world did business.

The need for online presence soared, businesses needed to remain open and functional, while keeping the customer experience at its core. Let us look back on 2021 to see what trends and technology really stood out and kept the digital marketing industry thriving.

Table of Contents:

• Video Marketing Is No Longer An Option

• Video For Sales

• Webinars Of All Sizes

• Social Media Advertising

• Marketing In Messaging Apps

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Video Marketing Is No Longer An Option

If your business has not already used video marketing in 2021, you should be jumping on board. Text-based content simply cannot compete with the power of video, especially when it comes to trying to sell products and services online. You cannot compare the power of the video with text-based content, specifically when it comes to selling products and services through the internet. In today's day and age, more now than ever, the world is completely dominated by mobile devices.

‘People are 1.5x more likely to watch video daily on a smartphone than on a computer.’ -Facebook

So many people around the world are for better or worse isolated and frankly bored, people are becoming more obsessed with video than ever before.

‘Over 2 billion logged-in users visit YouTube each month and every day people watch over a billion hours of video and generate billions of views.’ -BusinessofApps

More and more consumers are now sharing videos about a brand. Some of them claim that watching brand videos boosts their confidence and online purchasing decisions. Meanwhile marketers believe and now know that video content can improve their conversation rates.

‘Video has become the most commonly used format in content marketing, overtaking blogs and infographics.’ -HubSpot

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Video For Sales

This was a massive trend in 2021.

‘84% of people say that they’ve been convinced to buy a product or service by watching a brand’s video.’ Wyzowl

About 60% of people identify as visual learners, meaning they prefer to watch than read. People can drown in emails, and video cuts through the clutter.

Videos are no longer just a medium to show all your content but an effective way to educate and influence consumers.

‘People are twice as likely to share video content with their friends than any other type of content.’ -Wyzowl

In 2021 videos dramatically dominated social media platforms to engage visitors and drive more website traffic and sales to the sites.

93% of brands got a new customer because of a video on social media. -HubSpot

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If your business is not using video to increase sales you are missing out, to help you get on your way here is a list a the top video marketing and sale software:

• Biteable

• Vimeo

• Video Marketing Blaster

• Vidgeos

• Hippo Video

• Powtoon

• Wistia

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Webinars Of All Sizes

It is no secret that webinars had a resurgence in 2021, and you can expect that to continue in 2022. The trend here was not webinars, it was creating interactive content that you can deliver via the webinar format.

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Bigger webinars consisted of longer agendas and richer content sets. In cases of small ones they went the small route, and it worked.

By providing more accessible office/weekend hours and question/answer sessions they killed it.

‘39% of people said they were drawn to one of the webinar formats that included a Q&A.’ -HubSpot

People are open to hopping on a webinar with 10 other people like them and asking the experts questions or discussing a specific point or product and service together.

Webinars also generate high-quality leads for sales. Webinars come with a ton of information about your prospects you can use to identify high-quality, sales-ready leads. With each webinar registrant, you can collect lead and engagement data your sales team can use to initiate personalized outreach.

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Social Media Advertising

People are much more engaged on social media today than they were pre-pandemic. Social media is the glue that keeps people together today, making the platforms even better for digital marketers.

‘Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter lead the pack as the most common social media platforms used by marketers.’ -HubSpot

All the major social media players jumped on the pandemic train and made the buyer journey better and more attainable than ever. For example Instagram just launched Shopping in Reels, its TikTok competitor.

The new feature was announced in October as something the company had in the works, as part of an ongoing series of shopping-related updates to the Instagram app.

With the launch, both businesses and creators will be able to tag products when they create Reels, The update makes shopping an even larger focus for Instagram than it already was, and arrives at a time when video-based shopping is seeing increased adoption.

In particular, a growing number of startups focused on live-stream video shopping are finding traction.

‘The number of global social media users is expected to reach almost 3.43 billion in 2023.’ -Statista

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Marketing In Messaging Apps

Businesses in all industries have taken a significant interest in apps like Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp in recent times, and it is no surprise when you consider the year we have had.

In the next 5-7 years, messenger marketing is expected to be the number one marketing channel in the world. Therefore, it is a logical step for brands to start connecting with people on these platforms. Marketing through Facebook Messenger generates 10 to 80 times more engagement than organic posts on the Facebook News Feed.

1.3 billion monthly users are active on Facebook Messenger, sending more than 10 billion messages every month. WhatsApp has 1.6 billion active users, sending over 55 billion messages every day.

Digital marketers were on top of this trend in 2021 for good reason.