Big Reach Marketing

Marketing Trends for Hertfordshire Businesses in 2021 What's Changed & What to Expect

We have taken a look at some of the most important trends to consider for 2021.

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As the negative effects from the pandemic continue to surge through the country, we have also seen how this may be impacting digital advertising in a positive way. This due to many businesses switching from a conventional model that uses physical stores into an eCommerce set-up where sales are made over the internet. Anyone looking to steal a march over their competitors within the online sphere will need to know which trends are currently shaping the industry to get the best possible return on any investments.

In an ever-changing world, where the methods used to entice customers is altering all the time, we endeavour to be a digital marketing agency in Hertfordshire that focuses on forward thinking and progressive strategies which have the potential to develop strong brand awareness for regular sales. To see how the marketing world is likely to take shape over the course of 2021, why not take a look at some of the most important trends to consider below.

Local SEO

The internet is largely dictated by the ever imperious Google, which completely dominates compared to alternative search engines, with a whopping 5.6 billion online queries made every single day (kenshoo). That’s not to say things like DuckDuckGo and Bing shouldn’t also be considered, but following Google best practises should always be the main point of concern for any local SEO efforts.

Getting your company website into the upper echelons of Google is a goldmine for leads, giving you instant exposure to people who will always be searching for common terms related to your specific operation. If someone types “SEO Agency in Hertfordshire”, then being among the first to appear on Google means you are likely to generate an enquiry, especially since 71% of internet traffic never looks past page one (forbes).

Making sure your website is SEO friendly is often a long-winded ordeal, but we have a slew effective search engine optimisation solutions that can give you significant traction in the on-going fight for Google supremacy. Some of the prominent areas we focus on would be keyword targeting, making sure search terms are mapped out correctly across your site, and developing a robust link structure for the best possible user experience.

Social Media

You may have noticed how social media often receives bad press, but this is still one of the most effective tools that continues to drive more traffic into websites. It’s all about discovering where the main bulk of society find themselves these days when they are engaging with online content marketing in order to decide what is considered contemporary. With new innovations like Tiktok making a huge impact after building up over 115 million downloads in a single month (socialfilms), the evidence is pretty clear that people are always interested when brand new technological advances are brought into play.

Since the birth of the social media phenomenon in the early part of the century, we have seen the big players like Facebook and Twitter accumulate over 5.279 billion (sproutsocial) and 321 million (businessofapps) total users respectively! The demand for video content is also fairly prevalent as many companies may want to look into creating material for YouTube in order to take advantage of the platform that sees 500 hours of new footage added every minute of the day (tubefilter).

Using social media can boost engagement and helps you to communicate with your customers using content that is geared towards their specific preferences. Keeping up a consistent profile online gives you the opportunity to relay key messages, and also ensures you can build-up any promotions or events that aim to enhance the interest in your business. Making sure content is of high quality and scheduled with precision targeting are just some of the ways our social media specialists in Hertfordshire can ensure this channel is utilised to the best effect.

Voice Search

Something that many of us are now accustomed to would be devices which use a voice search function. One of the most popular products which adopts this concept would be the Amazon Alexa, but we are also seeing how companies like Virgin Media are distributing TV remotes that allow people to navigate channels through the process of speaking. Needless to say, this could be the biggest shift in the way people operate technology, which is why it must be considered with any marketing plans.

Good old Google is also something that now deploys voice search, which means you need to think carefully about how content is crafted to ensure you are not missing out on customers. Around 55% of users now use voice search to ask questions into their smart phone (Perficient), so it’s vital you think about frequent queries that relate to your business and ensure this is incorporated within the overall layout of the website.

Using more conversational words may also prove to be beneficial, as well as placing stronger focus on local listings. When people search for something, they are likely to either ask a question or enquire about the nearest businesses to them that satisfies their needs. As more people become acclimatised to using voice search compared to typing out queries, there will be even greater need for this to be built into your online presence.

Mobile Friendly

Where on earth would we be without our trusted mobile phones by our side? This device above all else serves as a prominent part behind or overall identity, giving us instant answers to online queries and the means the keep up to date with any relevant news. With this in mind, it’s paramount that the user experience you have for your website fits the dimensions of typical mobile phones so that customers are not put off by poorly designed layouts.

There are lots of ways that can enhance mobile friendliness with websites, most of which centre on how you keep any designs streamlined. Not using unnecessarily large fonts and keeping images within a very specific size range can also make a real difference. It’s also important that people can navigate the site just as easily compared to computer usage, so make sure menu bars and buttons are large enough to activate with the use of a simple touch.

In June 2019, it was reported that desktop searches had dropped down to 45.53%, whereas an increase was overseen for mobiles which rose to 50.71% (smartinsights). It’s important to remember that having a strong ranking in desktop results doesn’t necessarily mean the same will be translated over to mobile. As the numbers keep increasing for mobile searches, many marketing agencies in Hertfordshire are prioritizing this over strategies that are focused more on computer users.

Chat Bots

Over the course of 2020, we saw chat bots account for 85% of customer service (singlegrain), showing how AI is really starting to dictate the user experience for people when they are visiting websites. It’s not hard to see why considering how much time this can save business owners, who would probably rather spend their days away from customers who prove indecisive or even troublesome whilst making any interactions.

Chat Bots provide websites with permanent customer support no matter what time of day they want to get answers. Any queries are likely to be resolved almost instantly, which can be greatly enforced if people typically enquire about similar topics. It can also be a proficient way to keep your overall spending down as there won’t be any need to hire someone to carry out these tasks.

We all know that the key to success online is having total understanding of your core audience. Any experienced Hertfordshire SEO agency will know that this means collecting as much concrete data as possible to ensure informed decisions about content creation and outreach campaigns can be made. With Chat Bots installed, you will be able to gather important information all the time and ensure its categorised for maximum efficiency when executing any marketing.

Influencer Marketing

It doesn’t matter if you are new to your field and don’t have the audience needed for optimum exposure across the internet. One of the most commonly used tactics which is certain to be crucial over 2021 would be influencer marketing, where well-known individuals that are seen as authoritative figures endorse certain products and services to provide more interest.

A platform which has been used to great effect for influencer marking would be Instagram, since this platform has seen a plethora or models show off clothing products to a large audience. Certain individuals have millions of followers and therefore seen as experts in their field, so its little wonder companies want them to promote their range.

Having a mascot always promoting the products you provide means you have an almost permanent stream of positive reviews coming in, helping you to establish more stature over your main competition. This is something that has always been a major component behind effective marketing, especially with the likes of Nike, who have often called upon the biggest sporting stars of the day to use their equipment during major events.

If you would like to see your business fly online, why not get in contact with our team today.

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