How to Win at Digital Marketing in 2021

The lockdowns and economic hardship caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has made it more crucial than ever for digital marketers to innovate. Troubling and disruptive as it came to be, social distancing caused by the pandemic has turned out to bring a huge boost to e-commerce in Africa. According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), African e-commerce platform Jumia reported a 50% jump in transactions during the first six months of 2020. 

With more people on the continent turning to the online marketplace, we can expect the influx of new technologies such as voice search, visual search tools and artificial intelligence that will better bridge the physical distance. 

There’s also a prevalence of scepticism about buying things online in Africa due to endless cases of fraud on the internet, and as e-commerce becomes the norm, only the brands that are able to gain the trust of customers will continue to thrive. 

Digital marketing in 2021 can no longer rely simply on analysing data originating from ads and customer purchases. With new channels and new trends in customer behaviour at play, a new approach must be taken in order to connect effectively with prospects. 

Let’s look at how you can up your digital marketing game in 2021.

Less Google Analytics, More Business Intelligence

While Google Analytics and other similar applications can be helpful, it does not take into account new channels that customers are using. Take artificial intelligence-driven tools like Pinterest Lens, for example,  it allows customers to find products online simply by taking a picture of them. With Google Analytics, you can’t get data on visual searches and thus can’t optimise your content for it. There’s voice search, which is another source of traffic beyond the reach of regular analytics software. 

Digital marketing guru, Neil Patel, suggests a shift to robust analytics software such as Amplitude or Google Data Studio which account for new kinds of customer data. Better still, using Business Intelligence will be a more proactive approach. This involves using various technologies and strategies to analyse customer data.

Emails May No Longer be Enough

Email marketing works and is probably going to be around for a long time. However, new technologies like chatbots and push notifications are transforming the process of digital marketing. You can choose to automate basic processes like contacting customers and getting their information, while you focus on crafting digital marketing strategies. 

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