Facebook is the ROI leader, while every other company has a chatbot. Marketing Trends 2021 from HubSpot

Table of Contents:

• You Need to Get People Talking
• Social Media Budgets
• Focus on Video Content
• In S&P Arms
• Email Marketing Is Alive
• Focus on Attribution
• Bots, Get to Work

• Why increase brand awareness?
• Why is social media essential in 2021?
• What content does your audience need?
• How has SEO changed? And what is the priority today?
• Why are email newsletters still effective?
• Why do you need to prepare an attribution report right now?
• Why use chatbots, and how can they help in sales?

HubSpot surveyed over 1,500 marketers worldwide to find out how marketing approaches have changed after a year of remote work. The questions covered marketing campaigns, customer communication, and sales of goods and services. We've highlighted key findings from the study and gathered expert opinions, including marketers and SMM specialists. These insights will help you better understand current trends and adapt strategies to the new reality.

You Should Be Talked About

In 2021, the priorities of marketing strategies have changed significantly. For most professionals, the emphasis has shifted to lead generation, which involves generating interest or inquiries from potential customers. This shift in focus has led to an increased trend toward developing brand awareness. Companies have realized the importance of attracting attention to their product or service, which not only helps expand their customer base but also improves their brand image in the marketplace. Thus, effective marketing strategies now focus on building trust with the audience and increasing brand loyalty.

In today's world, companies are increasingly associated with their social media presence and interaction with influencers. Increasing brand awareness is becoming a key goal of marketing campaigns, not just increasing sales. Effective social media strategies play a vital role in shaping a company's image and connecting with its target audience.

Social Media Budgets

In 2021, social media has become a key marketing tool for businesses. Eight out of ten companies are actively investing in promoting their accounts, confirming the growing interest in digital marketing channels. Furthermore, 39% of companies plan to include social media spending in their budget for next year, demonstrating the importance of these platforms for achieving business goals and maintaining a competitive edge. Investing in social media helps brands strengthen customer engagement, increase awareness, and boost sales, making it an integral part of modern promotional strategies.

Most companies actively develop their pages on Instagram and Facebook, which account for approximately 80% of the total. Twitter and YouTube remain less popular platforms, with activity at approximately 60%. More than 40% of marketers emphasize the importance of a brand presence on LinkedIn, demonstrating the significance of this network for professional networking and business connections. Modern brands cannot ignore these platforms, given their impact on marketing strategies and engagement with the target audience.

Social media is an essential tool in marketing strategy. They cover the main stages of the customer acquisition funnel: here we build an audience, direct them to our profile, and through interaction with subscribers, convert them into customers. Anna Odintsova, Head of External Communications at Factory5, emphasized the importance of this channel for successful marketing. Proper use of social media not only increases reach but also enables high-quality communication with your target audience, which ultimately leads to increased conversions and business growth.

In terms of ROI, leading social networks demonstrate high effectiveness. 42% of marketers cite Facebook as the most profitable promotion channel. Approximately 30% of marketing professionals also consider Instagram an effective tool. These data highlight the importance of using social media to achieve business goals and maximize return on investment.

In 2021, marketers recommend focusing on three key tools for effective social media promotion: social listening, hashtags, and live streaming. Social listening analyzes user opinions and discussions, which helps better understand your target audience. Hashtags play a key role in increasing the reach and visibility of content, allowing users to find publications on topics they are interested in. Live streaming creates an opportunity for direct interaction with the audience, which helps build trust and brand loyalty. These tools will help businesses strengthen their social media presence and achieve their goals.

Social listening is the process of monitoring brand mentions on social media. By analyzing user discussions, you can identify their real needs and preferences and determine effective ways to engage with them. This not only improves communication but also turns users into loyal brand advocates, which contributes to a positive brand image and increased sales. Using social listening is an essential tool for developing a successful marketing strategy and maintaining competitiveness in the marketplace.

Focus on Video Content

In 2021, companies significantly increased their investment in content marketing. Over the past year, the number of brands actively creating and distributing useful and interesting information increased by 12%, reaching 82%. This demonstrates a growing awareness of the importance of quality content for engaging audiences and building customer loyalty. Companies understand that effective content marketing not only strengthens their brand but also improves search rankings, which in turn leads to increased traffic and conversions.

As a result of a "virtual" year, when all processes, including training and interviews, took place remotely, video has become a priority content type. Currently, approximately 65% ​​of surveyed marketers are focused on its creation. This change underscores the importance of video content in modern marketing strategies, allowing brands to effectively engage with audiences and increase engagement.

In 2020, the total number of minutes watched by users increased by 85%. As a result, 12.2 billion minutes of video were watched last year, equivalent to 23,211 years of content consumption. This significant growth underscores the growing popularity of video formats and their impact on consumer habits.

In 2020, over 4.8 million videos between 0 and 30 seconds in length were uploaded online, a 62% increase compared to 2019. The number of videos between 30 and 60 minutes in length increased by 140% compared to the previous year. This data demonstrates the growing popularity of long-form content, which is becoming an essential tool for businesses. Developing a high-quality video format allows companies to effectively capture audience attention and increase consumer engagement.

In 2021, experts recommend actively using a variety of formats to engage with audiences through video. It is important to implement live streams and online broadcasts to increase engagement and improve communication with subscribers. Using these methods allows you to establish closer contact with the target audience and effectively convey information.

Video content significantly outperforms static images in terms of effectiveness. It allows you to stand out from the competition, as not all companies are willing to invest the time and resources into its creation. Video is an excellent tool for conveying emotions and atmosphere, which helps increase audience loyalty and trust in a brand. Digital marketing experts, such as Anastasia Naimushinova of NAVIAN.studio, emphasize the importance of video content in modern promotion strategies. Integrating video into a content plan can significantly improve engagement with the target audience and increase the overall effectiveness of marketing campaigns.

At the Arms of SEO

Many marketers believe that website optimization is key to achieving business goals. According to a recent survey, 69% of marketing departments invest in search engine optimization (SEO), highlighting the importance of this strategy for successful online promotion. Effective SEO optimization helps improve website visibility in search engines, attract the target audience, and increase conversions. This makes SEO an essential tool in the arsenal of modern marketers.

Among the most effective SEO tactics are keyword usage, cited by 71% of marketers, content localization (50%), and mobile optimization (48%). Mobile optimization is becoming especially important for successful sales and achieving high search rankings. These strategies help improve website visibility and increase its appeal to users.

Search engine optimization (SEO) is increasingly focused on creating a user-friendly interface for website users. A key aspect is reducing the number of clicks required to achieve a desired goal. This makes navigation more intuitive and improves user satisfaction. A user-friendly interface not only improves the user experience but also contributes to a website's ranking in search engines. SEO specialists consider user behavior to optimize pages and make them more accessible. An effective site structure and logical content hierarchy play a crucial role in achieving these goals.

Marketers evaluate the success of website optimization based on several criteria, including keyword and phrase volume, organic traffic volume, and time spent on the page. These metrics play a key role in determining the effectiveness of SEO strategies. High keyword volume contributes to better search engine rankings, which in turn increases organic traffic. Longer time spent on a page indicates user interest in the content and can positively impact a site's ranking in search results.

Email Marketing Is Alive

Every year, marketers predict that email will lose its relevance, like CDs. However, statistics show that this channel remains highly effective and has not lost its position. In recent years, 77% of companies have increased their email marketing efforts. This confirms that email remains an important tool for attracting and retaining customers, as well as for increasing audience engagement.

Experts have noted an increase in interactions via email. In the field of email marketing, the emphasis has shifted to the quality of customer contacts rather than the number of emails sent weekly. This allows for more effective building of relationships with the audience and increasing engagement. High-quality interactions foster a better understanding of customer needs and increase the likelihood of conversion.

To increase customer interactions, it's important to focus on email marketing goals. Modern users spend no more than 12 seconds reading an email, so marketer Irina Martos recommends adhering to the "one email, one goal" principle. This will help avoid information overload and increase the likelihood that the client will pay attention to the main message. Proper email structure and clear objectives can significantly improve the effectiveness of email marketing.

The quality of interaction with the audience is determined not only by the effectiveness of the design or the originality of the text, but also by the timeliness of communication. It is important to remember that the relevance and speed of information transmission play a key role in shaping a positive brand image and increasing customer trust. Regularly updating content and active interaction with the target audience help strengthen connections and increase loyalty, which in turn affects business success.

Being in the right place at the right time is the key to success in email marketing. Even the most attractive email design will not produce results if the user does not open it. An effective email marketing strategy involves not only high-quality design but also the right timing, which increases the likelihood of an open. Consider your audience's behavior and optimize sending times for maximum impact.

According to a HubSpot survey, email marketing is seeing a growing emphasis on email personalization, cited by 27% of professionals. Optimizing content for mobile devices was important to 24% of professionals, while 20% highlighted the need for audience segmentation. Eighteen percent of respondents also emphasized email automation and email design. These trends highlight the importance of adapting email marketing strategies to improve the effectiveness of customer communication.

In 2021, it's worth considering testing interactive emails using AMP technologies. For example, you can animate buttons or embed gamification elements directly into the email body. Currently, such approaches are primarily used by large companies, and the market is not yet saturated with such solutions. Maria Gabunia, Marketing Director of Alfa Leasing Group, shared her opinion with Skillbox Media, emphasizing the importance of innovation in email marketing.

Focus on Attribution

In 2021, attribution has become a key tool for marketers, according to HubSpot experts. It allows you to analyze the effectiveness of various marketing activities and gain a clear understanding of which ones are producing the best results. Four in ten marketers say that understanding the profitability of marketing campaigns is "extremely important" or "very important." Effective attribution helps optimize advertising spend and improves promotion strategies, which ultimately contributes to overall business performance.

A data-driven attribution report reveals the "customer journey": it shows why a buyer chose a certain product, when the first contact with the brand occurred, and how much time passed from that moment until the purchase. This data allows for deeper analysis of the marketing strategy and optimization of efforts. By eliminating ineffective activities that don't generate revenue or engage, you can make marketing campaigns more profitable, successful, and focused on customer needs. Proper attribution not only helps you understand consumer behavior but also creates personalized offers, which ultimately increases sales and customer loyalty.

Bots, get to work

Chatbots are a popular marketing tool today. 47% of respondents reported implementing chatbots to communicate with customers on their websites, in messengers, and other communication channels. Using chatbots allows companies to improve customer service, increase user engagement, and optimize request processing. Their popularity is growing every year, making chatbots an essential element of a modern digital marketing strategy.

Chatbots effectively relieve employees of workloads while ensuring constant interaction with customers. A virtual assistant works without interruption and can communicate with customers around the clock, significantly improving service quality and increasing customer satisfaction.

Bots can effectively resolve a wide range of user questions, providing quick and accurate answers. This not only increases customer satisfaction but also allows companies to automate a number of processes. Cost savings are also a significant benefit. Automation is a key step in streamlining operations, but maintaining checkpoints is essential to ensure service quality. Maria Eliseeva, Head of SMM at AGM Group, noted the importance of this approach in an interview with Skilbox Media.

Skillbox Media experts have identified a new trend: the use of chatbots on Instagram. Chatbots are becoming an integral part of user interaction, allowing brands to improve customer service and automate communication. They help promptly answer questions, provide information about products and services, and increase audience engagement. Implementing chatbots on Instagram can increase the effectiveness of marketing strategies and improve user experience. A chatbot is an effective tool for reducing the cost of acquiring followers. It allows you to engage with users through Instagram Direct advertising and automatically generate interest in your product or service using an auto-funnel. This solution is especially relevant for those launching their products through Instagram, as it significantly simplifies the sales process and increases conversion. According to Anna Odintsova, Head of External Communications at Factory5, using a chatbot can significantly optimize marketing efforts and improve business results on the social network. The use of artificial intelligence in marketing increased by 190% from 2018 to 2020. According to HubSpot research, AI technologies are expected to be implemented in other areas in the near future. This demonstrates the growing influence of artificial intelligence on various aspects of business and marketing, opening up new opportunities to optimize processes, improve customer experience, and increase the effectiveness of advertising campaigns. AI technologies can analyze large amounts of data, predict consumer trends, and automate routine tasks, making them an integral part of modern marketing.

• Ad personalization and targeting;
• Automation and conversion;
• Repeat sales;
• Improved efficiency;
• Customer support and upselling;
• Campaign management;
• Optimization;
• Content creation.