The lockdowns during the global pandemic have altered the way we consume media, shop, and find information. And with a change in consumption comes a change in marketing. 

In 2021, marketing will look different than it has in the past. Businesses can take advantage of the changes the past year has caused and grow their profits and brand with certain digital marketing strategies.

1) Launch a Shopping Campaign with Google Ads 

Many businesses have added online shopping options or fully transitioning to an Ecommerce business lately. Ecommerce stores have been gaining traction for a while now, but the pandemic’s lockdowns caused a surge of online shopping. 

Nowadays, people buy products on the internet more than in person. If you don’t already have an online shopping option, take the time to set up an Ecommerce website. Once that is done, you can use Google Ads’ Shopping Network to promote your product and boost sales.

Shopping Ads include a picture of the product, its price, product name, and brand name. They appear at the top of the Google Search results, which helps your business gain new customers and build brand awareness.

Another great benefit of Shopping campaigns is Shopping Ads also appear in the Google Search results at the top of the results page. People who use Google Search have intentions behind their search terms.

For example, someone who types, “buy dog food,” is clearly planning to buy dog food online. If your dog food business has a Shopping Ad with the keyword “buy dog food,” this person is very likely to purchase your product. Shopping Ads have high conversion rates and can boost traffic to your site.

Ecommerce businesses should advertise on Instagram with the shoppable posts feature. Sponsored posts can be directed towards Instagram users who have visited your site before or users with similar interests.

The post will appear in their feed or in their explore page, and users can buy the products directly on Instagram or head over to your website. Therefore, make your website mobile-friendly so Instagram users can shop on your site after seeing a post. 

2) Start Video Marketing 

People turned to video content for entertainment throughout the pandemic. Boredom from lockdown resulted in YouTube surging in popularity and TikTok surpassing 2 billion downloads.

With video content being consumed more than other forms of social media, marketers should look towards video marketing strategies to grow their business in 2021.

Google’s Video Network helps businesses use marketing videos to grow their business. YouTube advertisements are link to Google Ads accounts. They are either played before, during, or after a YouTube video. They can also be shown in YouTube’s search results or in its videos section.

YouTube ads generate traffic and conversions through creative video content. Most YouTube ads can be skipped after 5 seconds, which means Video ads must grab the audience’s attention immediately. This results in a highly effective and engaging advertisement that helps viewers remember and trust your brand. 

Since video marketing is becoming more popular, a Video Campaign can help your business remain competitive. YouTube ads can also be use for remarketing towards past customers or visitors to your site.

Businesses can advertise on TikTok with sponsored ads that appear in users’ “For You” Pages. People will come across your video ad while they scroll through the app and can click on the account to find the store’s website.

3) Collaborate With Influencers for Affiliate Marketing 

When you think of influencers, teen YouTubers and beauty gurus may come to mind. It’s common for fashion and makeup brands collaborate with YouTubers all the time by gifting some products with the promise they show their audiences.

Teaming up with influencers for digital marketing is not limited to fashion and beauty brands anymore. Nowadays, there are social media influencers for any niche you can think of.

If you own a resort, connect with a travel blogger. If you make protein cookies, collaborate with a fitness or vegetarian YouTuber. Even if you sell phone cases, you can find an influencer from Instagram, TikTok, etc., to work with. 

Business-to-Consumer (B2C) brands can collaborate with an influencer with a similar niche to reach an appropriate audience. 

Your B2C provides an influencer with an affiliate link, which works differently than Pay Per Click (PPC). Rather than paying a set price every time someone clicks on the advertisement, you pay the influencer each time someone buys the product through the link they shared with their followers. 

The influencer will make a video or post discussing their positive experience with the product and include a link for their fans to use. If a viewer decides to buy the product and uses the affiliate link, the influencer receives a small portion of money, and your business earns a profit.

For example, Bestdressed is a popular YouTube and Instagram account run by a 22-year-old named Ashley. Her content revolves around fashion, with a focus in buying second-hand and sustainability. She often posts about the business thredUP, an online consignment and thrift store. She has YouTube videos and Instagram posts and stories with products she bought from thredUP, along with an affiliated link.

Fans of Bestdressed tend to be interested in thrifting, which is why partnering with her helps thredUP find potential customers. Ashley shows her followers the items and their prices and tells her followers the benefits of shopping with the company. She often provides a special discount code as well. Her followers see the great prices and vintage pieces Ashley finds and click the link she gives them to shop for themselves. This drives traffic to thredUP’s website and boosts sales.

In general, collaborating with a social media influencer helps build brand awareness. Someone who is a fan of a YouTuber will watch their weekly posts, but they may not have found your business on their own. Some people may see the influencer’s post and search for your business to make a purchase another day. 

4) Email Marketing 

Most people check their emails at least once a day. It’s part of some people’s morning routines to read through the emails in their inboxes.

Gmail is currently the most popular email platform, with an impressive 1.8 billion users worldwide as of July 2021. One of the methods Gmail uses to keep their users on the app and reading their emails is sending push notifications to people’s mobile devices. This results in people opening their emails throughout the day, no matter the time.

To dominate the market in 2021, use a Google Ads account to set up Gmail ads. email marketing allows your business to send engaging advertisements and messages directly into people’s inboxes.

To set up your Gmail ads quickly and easily, first set up an entirely new campaign. It must be customize to suit Gmail in order to be successful.

Once your campaign is created, you can use one of the predesigned templates. There are: 

• Single image ads: One image of the product. 

• Single product promotion: The ad has an image or video accompanied with text featuring a product. 
• Multi-product promotion: Images and videos with text for more than one product. 
• Catalog creative: Features more than one product with text in a magazine format. 

After filling out the information the template requires, you choose your targeting, placement, and bidding settings.

Gmail ads are useful because they can be sent to previous customers or people subscribed to your service. You can also discover people who receive emails about similar topics by targeting keywords found in people’s inboxes.

People check emails constantly, and a Gmail ad can help your business earn new and returning customers. If you get an email marketing service for your business then click on Capital solution.

5) Launch a Google Ads Search Campaign 

If you haven’t started a Google Ads Search campaign yet, it’s time to start one. In June 2021, Google held 87.76% of the desktop search engine market share around the globe. When people have questions, want to buy a product, or need a service, they turn to Google for help.

Launching a Search campaign helps your ads rank at the top of the Search Engine Results Page (SERP). Organic traffic is becoming more and more competitive as people learn how to improve their Search Engine Optimization (SEO) skills and methods.

SEO can take a long time to begin producing results, which makes it difficult for new businesses to grow on organic traffic alone. Google Ads can produce immediate results. People usually click on the first few links in the Google Search results, so a Search campaign can help your business can rank higher in the SERP with the help of keywords and match types. A well-run Search campaign will generate more clicks and conversions faster than SEO. 

Similar to Shopping campaigns, Search campaigns are beneficial because people have strong intentions behind their searches. Someone searching for a cleaning service has the goal of hiring a cleaning service. Therefore, Search ads have high conversion rates. 

6) Know the Changes to Google Ads Search Campaigns 

Google Ads has recently updated, and marketers should pay attention to these changes in order to stay ahead of the curve. Google has now added close variations to the ranking process. Regardless of whether your keywords are Phrase or Exact match, Google will match you to a “close variant.” This means match types are less strict and relevant search terms will generate your ads.

This change can cause an increase of conversions, but it can also raise your bid prices if your Exact keywords are matching to more general search terms. Google is also phasing out modified broad keywords. This will give advertisers less options when choosing keyword match types.

Your business can combat this by limiting the number of Broad match terms you create and bid on. If Exact and Phrase are becoming less specific, there is no longer a need to spend money on broad match terms. Most of your marketing budget should be spent on Exact and Phrase keywords in 2021.

Selecting match types and creating a keyword list for Google Ads can be challenging. Your business can team up with Google AdWords management agency for additional help. 

7) Create Mobile Friendly Ads and Content 

People are increasingly using their mobile devices more often that computers. As of April 2021, 54.8% of all global internet traffic came from mobile devices, and this percentage will only rise in the upcoming years. This means it is crucial for your advertisements, landing page, and website to be mobile friendly.

Upgrade to expanded text ads and include appropriate ad extensions for optimal performance of your Google Ads on mobile devices. Expanded text ads give your ad more real estate and appear better on mobile devices. Sitelink, location, and call extensions are mobile friendly and boost quality score. 

All video advertisements should be of high quality when watched on a mobile device. If the video is blurry or difficult to see on a smaller screen, the ad will not perform well.

People use their phones to search on Google, watch YouTube videos, and respond to emails. No matter what type of marketing your business is conducting, ensure it works properly and looks great on an iPhone or Android.

Conclusion 

Whether your business struggled to stay alive during the pandemic or the lockdown resulted in some benefits for your company, these expert-trusted digital marketing strategies can help boost your profits in 2021. All you need to do now is roll up your sleeves, put in the hard work, and watch your business grow.