The digital world has become flooded over the past few months, causing many marketers to adjust their messaging, budgets and strategies to align with the current landscape. The next year is likely to bring even more changes, with digital tactics becoming the focus of marketing leaders across the globe. Here we outline three ways we expect digital marketing will evolve over the next year.

Emphasis On Website Functionality

With new updates coming in 2021, Google’s algorithm will be placing a greater emphasis on the technical aspects of SEO. While publishing quality content will still reign supreme in the SEO world, the technical aspects absolutely cannot be ignored. Things like page load speed will take on greater importance. “Page speed is a direct ranking factor, a fact known even better since Google's Algorithm Speed Update. However, speed can also affect rankings indirectly, by increasing the bounce rate and reducing dwell time.” If your website is slow to load, it will have a negative impact on your rankings as well as your ability to convert visitors who have already made it to your website. The customer experience factor is the reason given for Google’s increased focus on website functionality.

Paid Online Advertising Becomes Essential

As digital channels continue to become more crowded, even the best content will struggle to break through the noise. This will result in an increased focus on paid advertising through both social media and search engines. It has become more difficult to reach your target audience through organic means alone. Using paid ads allows you to put your content directly in front of a refined audience of your choosing. With account-based marketing becoming so popular within B2B circles and potential budget constraints from recent events, the return on investment from sponsored content in particular will surely broaden in appeal. 

An Increase In Content Syndication

Syndicating content is another way to put your brand in front of a wider, more targeted audience. As traditional online channels become crowded, finding more targeted, niche websites to place your content will become a valuable tactic. “Content syndication is a method of republishing content on other sites in order to reach a broader audience. Syndicated content not only increases your reach and brand awareness, it also builds links and can help drive more traffic to your original article.” Some of the key benefits include:

• Gives your content maximum exposure.
• Builds traffic to your site.
• Promoting yourself as an expert.
• Receive quality links back to your site.
• Increase your search ranking.
• Better exposure of your brand.
• Build your following.

Some other trends to keep an eye on include the continuing growth of mobile search, the need for humorous content, a focus on a unified customer experience, and, of course, accelerated digital transformation.

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