It’s been one heck of a ride this year, hasn’t it? I, for one, can’t wait to kick 2020 out the door and start with a brighter outlook in 2021. Lucky for me, work hasn’t stopped, and based on what I’ve been reading, researching, and learning from gurus like Hubspot, I wanted to share five umbrella trends I see impacting marketing in 2021.

1. Google is changing how cookies will be dealt with. This is sort of a big deal because third party cookies will stop being supported by 2022 in major browsers like Chrome. I know 2022 is a long way away, but 2021 is our platform to figure out how this is going to impact ad buys, how we’re measuring campaigns, and what the long-term plan will be moving forward. Keep an eye on this through Cookiebot and get ready, because marketing and ad buying are going to shift in a big way.

2. User-generated content is still ruling the WWW. Videos, images, customer reviews, and testimonials are the most authentic forms of marketing, which support a company’s brand – be it good or bad. This isn’t a new trend – but since COVID has basically jailed us in our homes this year, as brands look to their customers to enhance the digital landscape B2C customers must make a run at this. What’s this going to do for your brand? It helps increase your authenticity and relatability since social media has become an endless stream of sponsored content.

3. Content is part of the buyer journey, which means that content is and will continue to be king in all sorts of digital marketing. People of all ages are web-savvy now, and everyone expects a quick answer (getting back to them tomorrow is not an option), or you will lose them to the next click of a mouse. Content that can solve pain points for your customer in a B2C and B2B atmosphere is still a thing. If you don’t have a content calendar to start the year, check out this HubSpot editorial calendar, and their social media content calendar to get you started.

4. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is and always will be a moving target because algorithms are constantly changing, but there is a trend that is starting to pop up as a necessity - User Experience.

   UX is no longer a buzz word. It’s been around a long time, but now, SEO depends on it. Designing a digital experience to enhance a customer’s journey is now becoming a #1 factor in ranking for search algorithms. What does this mean for your company? It means UX is now just as important as on-page and off-page SEO, and maybe even more so. UX and SEO go hand-in-hand. You can have the best rankings, but if UX makes it hard to navigate, then SEO will fail. Just make sure your website is up to par and welcomes users with an easy-to-navigate experience.

5. Omnichannel marketing is here to stay, but you can’t treat all channels equally. What I mean is, what worked in an email campaign might not work on social. What this means to a marketer is that you must understand what every channel value’s and optimize your content to fit perfectly. You can no longer use a large brush stroke to cover all channels. This is a very personalized approach to marketing, and it must be these days, otherwise, your brand, your message, and your ROI will get lost in the shuffle.

   This also means data drives everything, which isn’t new, but artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming an even bigger player in the data mix. In an article written by Crouznant Technologies, they stated, “AI picks up where humans leave off, with success hinging on the ability to extract the correct insights from the data we already possess.” If your company has dabbled in the AI field, you’re well on your way to a better message with a higher rate of return.

While my list of five could easily turn into a list of 20 for every channel made available, I hope these are items your company is thinking of as you roll out your 2021 strategies. Happy planning!