The digital trends of 2021

During these months of the pandemic, small and medium-sized businesses have been among the hardest hit, particularly commercial activities that have had to completely rethink how they interact with customers in person. In this context, digital tools have proven essential in meeting the needs of consumers, who themselves have had to change their purchasing habits.

In the coming months, the adoption of digital skills and tools will be a key trend, especially to accelerate recovery during 2021.

Here are the digital trends for 2021:

The growth of e-commerce

It’s well known that e-commerce experienced significant growth in 2020: more than 1 million Italians shopped online for the first time, driving e-commerce trends up by 55%.

What does this growth mean? The average standards for e-commerce are rising. It’s no longer enough to have an e-commerce responsive website with streamlined purchasing processes. Content that fully meets user needs is becoming increasingly important. User experience is now essential, particularly for online stores.

Increased use of Chatbots

To provide and ensure efficient customer support, 2021 is set to be the year of chatbots, for both e-commerce and corporate websites.
Virtual assistants can help users around the clock, and with the ever-advancing development of Artificial Intelligence, interacting with chatbots will become increasingly valuable.

Phygital: The new dimension between physical and digital

Leveraging the growing convergence between physical and digital spaces will undoubtedly be crucial in 2021, a year where many activities will remain restricted or at least limited in the real world.

This doesn’t just mean transforming physical events into webinars but also enhancing online stores, especially when physical stores cannot be fully utilized. It’s about creating something new, an experience that feels like being there in person while engaging digitally.

Voice search

Voice search is revolutionizing our daily lives, driven in part by the advent of intelligent voice assistants like Alexa and Cortana.
Voice search is a critical factor for generating more traffic to websites, and digital professionals will need to create content (such as Google Ads campaigns) that caters to voice search, not just traditional search. As confirmed by data published by Statista: in 2020, 4.2 billion digital voice assistants were used on devices worldwide, a number expected to grow in the coming years.

Increased cybersecurity

With the growing volume of available data and the emergence of increasingly innovative technologies, companies will need to focus more on cybersecurity.

Businesses must safeguard internal processes, customer data, and even employee information. This will become increasingly important as the use of machine learning and artificial intelligence expands, requiring vast amounts of data.

More social than ever

Social Media has long outgrown its role as a platform for selfies. It’s now one of the most effective and widely used ways to buy or sell products, promote businesses, and share or gather information on any topic or sector.

However, a social media marketing strategy focused solely on promoting products no longer works, especially among younger audiences.
Integrating storytelling that transparently and emotionally conveys the company’s values will undoubtedly be more effective.

In 2021, a boom in user-generated content is expected on Social Media. Thanks to the virality of TikTok and Instagram Reels, brands now have a powerful new marketing tool. By encouraging users to create content, through challenges, story filters, and fun formats to reuse on TikTok and Instagram,brands can leverage this trend for increased visibility and engagement.

These digital marketing trends will help all businesses in 2021, especially SMEs venturing into the digital world and looking to transform their operations.

To continue growing and remain competitive in the market, it’s crucial to adapt and embrace the strategies suggested by the 2021 digital trends.

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