Biggest digital marketing trends for 2021
The last 12 months have changed the world – perhaps for good. We have had to deal with an unthinkable amount of change in a relatively short space of time, and very few industries have been left untouched. But what trends are we likely to see in Digital Marketing in 2021? So far it seems to be centered around two distinct, yet contradicting principles; becoming more human/personal to the user, while simultaneously becoming more sophisticated technologically, especially when it comes to optimization and campaign management. Inclusivity Users no longer want to see want to see the same homogeneous content we’re accustomed to from previous decades. In 2021, digital marketing includes media and subject matters that cover a variety of races, sexualities, religions, etc., as well as representation for people with physical disabilities and learning disabilities. This includes the content for your imagery and videos, but also the topics you discuss in social media and blogs, or even the line of products you offer. Featured snippets & no-click searches For many, many years, the goal of SEO has been to get your listing in the “position number one” spot of search results. Now, going into 2021, the end-goal is continuing to shift to more SEO visibility in “position zero.” Position zero refers to Google’s “featured snippet”, and 2021 SEO marketing trends are prioritizing it above all else. The featured snippet works differently than other search results entries—for one thing, it’s separated by a small box and located at the top. More importantly, it also displays extra, relevant information with the attempt at answering the user’s question without them needed to click on it, prompting the nickname “no-click search.” Sustainability: loud and proud Just like the digital marketing trend of inclusivity, people in 2021 are similarly passionate about environmentalism. They want to make sure the brands receiving their money are just as concerned for planet earth as they are. With 81% of consumers strongly feeling companies should help improve the environment, what we’re seeing is a popularity boost for sustainable and eco-friendly brands, especially for younger consumers. This goes well-beyond the market for green products—every brand can benefit by broadcasting their sustainable practices. Ad-blocker blockers The digital marketing trends of 2021 aren’t all about positivity and progress—it’s also about overcoming obstacles like ad blockers. With 27% of internet users expected to use ad blockers in 2021, many marketers are having their primary stream of traffic automatically cut off at the source, including PPC campaigns. If your ads do fall victim to ad blockers, your best strategy is to adapt—don’t waste time trying to convince potential customers to change their own preferences. Readjust your advertising budget to suit other, more fruitful campaigns, like influencer marketing or sponsored content. Younger audiences don’t respond well to display ads anyway, but they do respond well to influencer marketing, so making the switch is advisable in any situation. Interactive content Here’s a trend that’s technically been around for awhile, but it’s just now being recognized as a best practice. Interactive content doesn’t just promote more engagement, it also improves the user’s enjoyment. Interactive content like quizzes, open-ended questions, surveys, contests, giveaways, polls, calculator widgets, etc., can do wonders for your brand. At the very least, they increase the length of time users engage with you, which helps your standing in algorithm-based searches and feeds. Local SEO Google frequently updates their local SEO algorithm, so if you’re a local business, you should continuously update your business’ appearance in local results too. In a way, local SEO is even more powerful than broad SEO—people searching for a specific type of business with their geographic location have more intent to purchase, so it’s easier to convert them. For starters, you have to get verified by Google. You can do this by signing up for Google My Business and either claiming your listing or creating a new one. This helps you rank higher in Google SERPS, and also gives you the chance to offer additional information about your company to online searchers. Don’t forget we’re here to help so shout if you need anything! The Publisher Management Team
Change, they say, is the only constant
Welcome back! (although it feels strange to be saying this in early March). The last two months have felt oddly familiar being back in lockdown, home schooling the kids (again), and no social gatherings. Not the start to the year we had imagined. And yet, there are positives to be taken out of difficult situations. Change is certainly one of them. While our natural instinct is to rebel against change, the last year has taught me to embrace it. News from my side is that we are seeing a gradual uptick in the performance marketing/affiliate side of the business with several new campaigns coming on board the last few weeks. The travel industry remains under a lot of strain and it will be a while yet before international travel picks up, but with vaccines being delivered and rolled out I am positive we will see a change in the coming months. Meanwhile local travel has picked up as South Africans get tired of sitting at home. We are so fortunate to have wide, open spaces where we can distance and be safe while enjoying the outdoors and switch off the screens for a while. We have also settled in nicely into our beautiful new office space in Paardevlei in Somerset West. It is a move we have been considering for a while, and perhaps it was lockdown and working from home that gave us the nudge we needed since it showed us a) how much time can be wasted on unnecessary commuting, b) how flexible people can be in adapting to new circumstances and c) how important face-to-face interaction is. Although most aspects of a business can be managed electronically, a lot can get lost in the world of two-dimensional Zoom meetings. So, we are all very happy to be back – social distancing, sanitisation and all! We continue to grow our media consultancy arm and are currently in the process of hiring another Digital Account Manager to assist the team in running our FB and Google Ad accounts. If you know anyone who may be interested please ask them to look at the job description on our Careers page. I also have some exciting news about the digital media side of the business which is in the final stages of implementation – I hope to be able to announce this in our April edition so watch this space! As always feel free to drop any comments or feedback to me at daniel@admarula.com Onwards and upwards! Daniel Gross – CEO
How 2020 has changed Digital Marketing
2020 and the emergence of COVID-19 has altered the way we all live and work, including the world of Digital Marketing. While the pandemic’s full impact is still to be determined, its effects on Digital Marketing has been profound as people increasingly go online to meet their day-to-day needs. From SEO to the way businesses interact with consumers, the script is being rewritten for better and for worse. The way we interact with each other has significantly changed, so it doesn’t come as a surprise that companies also need to change how they interact with customers. From giving back to the community by offering free services to putting a positive emphasis on marketing messaging, most businesses have had to shift their digital strategy in order to adjust to this new world order. For many companies who hadn’t already gone online, 2020 was the ‘point of no return’. With customers spending more time online than ever and looking for information and safer ways to shop, online is now a ‘must have’ even for services industries. 2020 has profoundly changed online consumer behaviour. For lunch or dinner options, instead of searching for restaurants closest to our locations, we are searching for delivery options. We are more online than ever before. Online appointments are now the norm for many businesses. Online meetings and Zoom calls are on the rise while face-to-face interactions are on the decline due to the COVID-19 crisis. Consumers are hopping on websites and communicating through brand’s social media platforms more than ever. Digital marketing is one of the best and most cost-effective ways for businesses to reach their target audiences. New behavioral practices like social distancing are accelerating consumers’ use of e-commerce options, forcing traditional marketing to take a backseat. As interpersonal communication declines, businesses are becoming more reliant on digital tools and other accessories to accomplish their goals, I.e., Facebook Messenger, live chat on websites, text message marketing, etc. Brands investing in SEO may have initially seen a decline in revenue when the pandemic began but now may be seeing a rise. 2020 has been a challenging year for most businesses, and marketers have had to put their thinking caps on and adapt quicker than ever. The good news however is that many of these changes, are likely to be with us for the foreseeable future, and in a way this has been a year of accelerated learning and finally executing those plans many have been talking about, but just haven’t had the urgency to follow through on. What will 2021 hold? Only time will tell. The Publisher Management Team
AdMarula launches digital consultancy services
With AdMarula now in its ninth year of operation we are entering an exciting new phase in the business. Initially launched as an Affiliate/Performance Marketing network, we have built a solid reputation the past decade as South Africa’s no.1 channel for performance-based affiliate advertising, however due to our deep knowledge and understanding of digital we’ve more recently also been working with clients in a consultancy capacity, upon their request. These ‘new’ areas of Digital Strategy, Paid Search, Social Media and Mobile Advertising are fast becoming a real growth area for AdMarula. Digital is no longer a stand-alone item on the overall marketing agenda. The world is digital, and businesses are playing catchup with increasingly demanding customers who expect their online experience to be seamless, quick, intuitive yet not invasive or annoying. It is therefor only natural that clients who have experienced great success through their performance-marketing campaigns with AdMarula, want us to work closer with them on other aspects on their digital strategy in order to ensure a cohesive and integrated approach. This is an exciting yet natural development for us as a business, as well as an affirmation that our team is highly skilled and respected in the industry. For the performance network side of the business its business as usual, while we will be adding to our team to handle the expansion of our consultancy arm. On a different note, AdMarula will be relocating its offices from Technopark outside Stellenbosch to Paardevlei in Somerset West. This will allow our team to be more efficient by cutting out commuting time, as well as give us more direct access to major routes like the N2 towards Cape Town and the airport for meetings. We will of course communicate our new address to you in the appropriate time and manner, and aim for the move to be done by the year end. I trust that all our clients and publishers had a successful Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend and that it will in part make up for lost revenue during lockdown earlier this year. It is encouraging to see that some of our programs that were paused have been restarted, and that clients are starting to increase budgets and channels again. I wish you all a well-deserved break and time with family and dear ones, and look forward to taking on 2021’s challenging with you. Onwards and upwards! Daniel Gross – CEO
2020 the year that e-commerce explodes?
If it scares you to think that (e-commerce wise), everything you’ve planned, worked on, sacrificed and hoped for in 2020, depends on what happens in the next 35 days, it’s because it is. The end of October is upon us and with exactly 35 days to the Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend, it’s time for online businesses to shift into top gear, put on those running shoes and successfully execute what is left of their 2020 marketing plan. Personally, I find it hard to re-focus my mind on Christmas and the holiday season. The last 7 months have felt similar to a black hole swollowed up a big chunk of the year, and now we’re fast-forwarding to the busiest online shopping time of the year. But there is some good news. Analysts predict that 2020 will be the year that e-commerce explodes. “For the last four years, e-commerce growth has averaged between 13% to 17% increase, and last year it was up 14.7%. This year it will go ballistic, somewhere around 25% and it may go higher,” says Rod Sides, Deloitte’s vice chairman and U.S. leader retail and distribution. Given the uncertain state of the Covid infection rates, many people still plan to stay home (or close to home) this year for the holidays, which means that money will be diverted towards buying gifts, tech and home improvement items. Even those affected by the economic downturn said in a survey that they still plan to spend as much or more than they did last year. Of course this expected boom in online shopping will put retailers’ online strategies to the test. Those that use real-time data to understand individual consumer preferences, make changes the data shows are needed, and effectively leverage multiple channels will be much more successful in securing consumer spend this holiday season. Customers are demanding personalized engagement and get increasingly frustrated with retailers sending them offers for a recently purchased item and irrelevant offers, or failing to recognize them as existing customers. The expected boom will put a tremendous amount of pressure on retailer supply chains, as they need to shift resources out of stores and into fulfillment centers to process unexpectedly high numbers of orders. The physical supply chain may not be able to handle the flood of orders and making those deliveries. So while there lies a huge opportunity, there are also a number of big challenges for retailers, but if they get it right will reap the rewards this holiday season. Onwards and upwards! Daniel Gross – CEO
A changed world
The world we suddenly find ourselves in feels surreal – a bit like stepping into a sci-fi movie from the 90’s, and yet here it is, playing out right in front of our eyes on our social media rolls and in our neighbourhoods. Overnight we’ve all had to radically change the way we live, work, school, shop and do business. It’s scary to read about large, established businesses filing for bankruptcy, to see the Rand fall to over R19 to the dollar, and about South Africa’s new junk status. But from the ashes rises the phoenix, so what positive lessons can we learn so far from this global crisis? Perhaps the most prominent that comes to my mind is prudence. Something that seems to have become lost, even considered boring and narrow-minded in the modern world. The world before Covid-19 was one where more is never enough, fast is too slow, and where we were all victims of the break-necking pace that life and society has somehow come to expect of us. Made to believe that more equals productivity, we worked too hard, exercised too little, filled our children’s schedules with one structured activity after the next, planned our holidays a year in advance to some exotic destination, and lied awake at night thinking about how we can make more money to keep on affording that life. Instead of being prudent and investing for a rainy day, businesses that flourished focused their resources and energy on further increasing their size and profits. Large-scale events featured on everyone’s agenda, and large organisations were flying executives in from all parts of the globe for 2 or 3 day-long visits. With half of the world now in some form of lockdown, we are forced to take a step back and re-assess ourselves. Despite the initial disbelief when we learned about the lockdown in SA, we all eventually had to accept it. Whether we liked it or not, we had no choice but to change our behaviour. Suddenly instead of flying we are doing business meetings through Zoom, instead of going to the gym we are doing virtual exercise classes from the comfort of our homes, instead of sitting in hours of traffic we are working from our home office. Instead of spending our hard-earned money on stuff, we realise that we don’t really need all of that. Suddenly we are home schooling our children and spending more time playing and interacting with them than ever before. Just in the past week my two boys have learnt to make their beds, cook, unpack a dishwasher, operate a vacuum cleaner, play Rummi, read more books, use the garage wall to improve their tennis shots and build the biggest blanket fort I’ve ever seen. Would they have done any of these things if we had still been stuck in our old life? From a business perspective AdMarula has of course been affected by the lockdown just like every other business. Many of our clients in the travel industry have been hit hard, some even doubt they will survive. This is tragic. The retail industry, which was already struggling before this crisis, is fighting for survival and we will no doubt see many brands and shops disappearing from our malls in the near future. On the flip side we have seen businesses take amazing initiative to make certain products and services available to customers during this difficult time. From crisis often comes innovation. Online food delivery services, health stores, e-commerce, finance and tech clients are finding new ways to expand and adapt their offering to benefit clients. It really is amazing what can be achieved when the situation is dire. Someone else put it perfectly: “Companies and publishers who can work together to help bring solutions, products and services to people functioning in this new world will come out on top. In our industry, we have a chance to really help people stay healthy, happy and productive right when they need it the most”. Looking at myself, I now think twice before going to the store, and instead chose to order food online. I value space and distance and hygiene. I appreciate our beautiful blue South African skies and see every new day as a gift. I realise that as long as I have a roof over my heads, food on the table, and my loved ones around me, nothing else really matters. I realise that perhaps our life was too busy, and our priorities not exactly what they should have been. I realise how stressed I often felt, when I am now forced to operate at a slower pace. I realise that it’s rather nice not to hear any traffic outside my window, and that I actually enjoy having a wide, open schedule for the next few months. And perhaps more than anything, I appreciate my freedom. My final thought is how amazingly adaptable the human race is. When it really matters, when we have no other choice, we CAN turn things around and drastically change our behaviour in basically no time. We CAN find solutions where we never saw them before, and we DO have the intelligence and insight to learn from our mistakes. I’m sure that when this crisis is over we will all look back and miss the time we were forced to slow down, and maybe we will all come out of this with some positive changes and healthier habits. Stay safe, stay healthy, and keep innovating! Danie Gross – CEO
Make your customers the hero of your story
I sometimes have to pinch myself when I realise AdMarula is now in its 9th year of business. It feels like just the other day that me and the other co-founders walked into an investor’s office and pitched our idea: to start the first, truly transparent performance marketing company in South Africa. It was a little terrifying to be honest. We didn’t know much about the industry, only what we’d heard from various publishers and advertisers. But clearly there was a need for our idea, and we had determination on our side. Capital, determination and a good idea however, will only get you so far. We knew we couldn’t get the business off the ground if we didn’t have two other vital ingredients: publishers and clients. The problem was, we needed one to get the other – a real catch twenty-two situation. Did I mention we were determined? We figured that if we could get 5 brands on board, the publishers would eventually come. And so we set off on a mission to find 5 advertisers who were willing to be our first customers, and literally help launch our business with us. We thought it would be hard, and in some ways it was, walking into an established company’s office and asking them to become a client of a business that technically didn’t exist yet. But then the value proposition was pretty simple. All we needed was their buy-in, a bit of their time and their messaging, with virtually no risk, but potential for great up-side. A new sales channel not previously explored, so what did they have to lose? Such is the power of the performance marketing model. After a few weeks we had signed up 5 clients, and we could go ahead with launching the business, which in turn has created jobs, business opportunities and sales for hundreds of brands and publishers over the years. And our journey continues. I cannot wait to celebrate our 10th birthday next year, hopefully with a big bash where you will be invited. I am truly thankful for the past 9 years at AdMarula, and in our story our clients (especially those 5 founding clients) are no doubt the heroes. Had it now been for their faith in us and our idea we would not be where we are today. And so I encourage you to make your customers the hero of your story. Get to know them, go the extra mile every day to not only provide excellent service, but to fix things when they go wrong – because they will. Like any business owner I’ve had my fair share of ‘fire fighting’ over the years, but most clients are more forgiving than you think. As long as they see that you are truly sorry for your error, and that you are doing everything in your power to repair the damage (and keep it from happening again), you are likely to at least get a second chance. On a more serious note, the Corona virus pandemic has forced the businesses world into unchartered waters and we understand that many of our clients and publishers are heavily affected by this. I want to assure you that we are open for business, and we trust that by adhering to the advice given to us by the people who know best, we will all get through this together. No doubt this Easter holiday will be a more quiet one spent at home with your family. Wherever you are, take care, stay safe and please get in touch if you need help with any of your campaigns. Onwards and upwards! Daniel Gross – CEO
Two sides
There is a famous quote by American comedian, Daniel Tosh that goes: “No matter how flat you make your pancakes, they still have two sides”. This does indeed seem to be the case for the South African retail industry at the moment- if you believe the latest reports from experts and research houses. While the brick-and-mortar retail industry is predicted to basically show 0% growth in 2020, the e-commerce industry is expected to continue to grow at a a healthy rate. So, does this mean South Africans are finally catching on to the online shopping trend? Perhaps. It is generally believed that the busier your shopping malls are, the healthier your economy. This is probably true to some extent, but let’s not forget that many South Africans are heavily indebted, so while the malls may be filled with shoppers, it doesn’t necessarily spell good news for the economy. The growth in e-commerce is likely to be a result of shoppers moving their budgets from malls to online, as many buyers use the internet to search for discounts and deals – which will be even more apparent when the economy is slow. Personally I’m excited about 2020. When the economy is tough it forces digital marketers to be more focused and deliver tangible results for each Rand spent – which is after all AdMarula’s core strength. It is seldom that a client will actually cut a budget. In most cases it’s a matter of moving it around to find the channel mix that works best for their business or product. Our on-site remarketing and mobile traffic optimitsation products have been in high demand due to its transparent an performance-based nature, and I believe this trend will continue in the coming months. On a different note, we are currently looking for a Digital Account Manager and an SEO Marketing expert to join our team. If you think you fit either of those roles, feel free to send us your CV and a brief cover letter to careers@admarula.com. We’d love to hear from you. Onwards and upwards! Daniel Gross – CEO
Digital trends 2020 – what everyone is talking about
Welcome back! I hope you are rested and ready to take on the new year like we are. 2020 is bound to bring on a fair amount of challenges and opportunities for the digital industry. Whether it’s the fact that Google recently decided to phase out third party cookies, or US politicians pushing to break up ‘Big Tech’ firms like Facebook and Amazon, our landscape is ever-changing and the best thing we can do is to be prepared, look ahead, adapt and keep an ear on the ground. According to the World Advertising and Research Center, in 2020 Digital Advertising will for the first time ever make up more than half of the total global ad spend at $336 billion, with Google’s share of the global ad market being 23%, ahead of Facebook’s 13% and Amazon’s 2.5%. But what does that mean for you as a publisher or an advertiser? Below are some of the big trends in digital that you will need to keep an eye on: Companies relying on Google Analytics will get beaten by their competitors – Not that there’s anything wrong with Google Analytics, but things are changing. New channels are being introduced constantly, such as voice search, and transactions are no longer as simple as someone coming and buying from you. On top of that, there are so many different ways you can generate revenue for your online business, such as partnerships, affiliate marketing, and even webinars. In 2020, you will see more companies adopting business intelligence solutions. A central place where you can tie in all of your data and make better-informed decisions so you can optimize for your lifetime value instead of your short-term income. Conversational marketing – this is thought by many to be the most exciting trend in marketing today, bringing together rapid consumer adoption of smart speakers and innovation in search query processing, conversational interfaces and messaging. However, many of these technologies aren’t expected to become mainstream for another 5 to 10 years. Of those forecast to hit the mainstream within the next 2 to 5 years, the three most significant for marketers to consider are personification, real-time and conversational marketing. Consumer privacy – Repeated privacy faux-pas by Facebook, Google and security breaches at other brands leading to the release of customer details have highlighted to consumers that their data isn’t as safe with online brands as they may have once thought. Privacy regulations like GDPR have been enacted to improve data privacy with increased fines. This also means that the days of the cookie (and particularly third-party cookies) and digital fingerprinting may be numbered. Therefore businesses should be considering other alternatives if they aren’t already. Martech – These days, Marketing Technology presents a bewildering choice of software services for businesses looking to improve their management of digital media, experiences and supporting data. If your business and your agencies adopt the right blend of Martech, it can help give you an edge against competitors, but if not, you may be missing out on the insights and automation processes they are using. The only way to map, store, analyze and act on the complete end-to-end customer journey is having all the data in one place using a Customer Data Platform. But it is up to each company to decide which system (or combinations of systems) is the best fit for their business. It’s quite a lot to think about, but AdMarula is on this journey with you, as your partner in Digital. Upwards and onwards! Daniel Gross – CEO
Less is more – more or less
I often tell clients/marketers/start-ups: “Rather do a few channels well than all of them poorly”. While this statement applies to all areas of life, it is particularly relevant to internet marketing. Of course, if you have an unlimited budget and time, then definitely go ahead and design a new site, set up a pay-per-click (PPC) campaign, search engine optimization (SEO) campaign, content campaign, and blast everything on social media. However, most companies have a finite amount of money and time. Therefore, it is better to grow your marketing plan by starting small and adding on elements. Start with a website and then add-on core social media accounts your users actively use. Then, build your content up and begin to rank higher on search engine results pages. Once you have nailed search, expand to PPC and Affiliate Marketing. Finally, once you have mastered all of this, expand to newsletters, podcasts and videos. If you have a small marketing team, spreading resources thinly across several channels will unlikely yield the results you are looking for and will leave your team feeling frustrated and demotivated. From the user experience point of view, the less-is-more approach is also becoming more and more appealing as users are inundated with messages, ads, videos and emails. Marketers have been going full steam ahead, pressured by C-suite, high customer expectations, and the daunting selection of new innovations and tech tools, to adopt and master more channels in order to reach more customers and to create a more sophisticated multi-channel explosion. But when do we realize we’ve hit the point of over-saturation? How much is too much? Research shows that we are seeing a shift towards the compact and minimal in everything from lifestyle to home building. It’s the backlash from too much screen time, always being plugged in, and the personal device addiction. As a result, more people are unplugging, embracing minimalism, and decluttering their life. LESS OVERWHELMING IS IN. So, if your customers are simplifying and downsizing their lives, your marketing messaging will more likely come off as appealing if it is presented in a cleaner, simpler box. Good marketing means listening to society’s trends in order to keep brand messaging one step ahead of cultural shifts. Taking a more scaled back approach, rather than trying to do more with a multi-multi-channel CX, may be more appealing to your audience. For example, instead of creating 20 marketing videos a month to keep your social media channels active and your brand relevant, what if you created 2 really amazing videos that are more likely to go viral. Better quality video, better quality content. Of course there will be times that call for a more aggressive approach, whether you are launching a new product or pushing an offer, but for the most part keep it simple. Like Ron Swanson of the TV show, Parks & Recreation, said: “Never half-ass two things. Whole-ass one thing.” Daniel Gross – CEO
