There’s no questioning the importance of digital marketing in today’s post-pandemic world. Although people stayed home from work and school, most continued living their lives. Indeed, living is possible because we are now buying things online. The pandemic showed us we don’t need to run out to the grocery store for sugar. We can have our sugar and whatever we need, delivered in a matter of hours. 

Digital marketing over the past generation prepared all of us for the pandemic. Or more precisely, digital marketing helped take us from a brick and mortar retail world to the digital retail world. As we all learned, the digital retail world lets us continue living somewhat normal lives. 

This understanding of the importance of digital marketing leads us to consider the lessons we learned in 2021. Web Rocket Media helped its clients get through the pandemic with targeted and personalized digital marketing. The result is we learned the importance of reinforcing positive working relationships with clients. We also learned trends technology and cultural trends are important to online marketing. 

Stay Current with Trends in Smartphone Use 

A big lesson from 2021 is not taking for granted the importance of the internet during the pandemic and the smartphones we use to connect to the internet. This smartphone and internet duo is perhaps the most significant technology to be created by humans–ever. It is the technology used to connect to the internet that digital marketers should keep up to date with. 

Since the virus outbreak, the Pew Research Center has been studying Americans’ views on technology and privacy via data collection. Digital marketers depend on this data collection. Hence, it’s crucial we understand how to make clients feel better about its collection. We can do this via their smartphones. Just how important are these issues to Americans?

In March 2021, A Pew Center survey found that 87% of American adults said the internet was at least important to their lives. A majority (53%) said the internet was essential. Conversely, Pew found half of Americans don’t trust the government with their personal information (P.I.), and 41% feel that way about their healthcare organizations.

A different Pew Research survey found that in the decade from 2011 to 2021, American smartphone ownership increased from 35% to 85%. With 85% owning smartphones, it’s no wonder Americans made it through the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The lesson? Americans trust online retailers with their P.I. more than they do the government or their doctors. In this day of technology-bred suspicion, this is hugely significant. 

Social Media

Sources forecast there will be more than 301 million smartphones active in the U.S. in 2022. One source notes Americans will spend almost three hours a day looking at their smartphones in 2022, while this source said 90% of Americans use apps while using their smartphone. These stats include social media and e-commerce sites accessed with apps on mobile internet networks.

With all the smartphones in circulation, online marketers should keep up-to-date with how to use the dozens of different apps that connect in some way to the internet. A large portion of these apps use social media feeds via the internet. At Web Rocket Media, social media advertising experts know how to use those social media feeds as advertising forums. This includes staying current on social media trends. 

SEO Is More Important Than Ever

A few years back there was a discussion among online advertisers about the future of SEO. Some claimed it was going to die out, others said it would evolve. It’s safe to say SEO is more important than ever. Especially given the pandemic and the time people spent online.

We saw just how important SEO is to local searches. If someone needed a specialty item from a local store they found online, all they needed to do was get it delivered. Of course, the local store would need to be connected to the delivery apps and many did just that during the pandemic because customers turned to buy things online.

Keep Up to Date with Cultural Trends

Cultural trends are as important as technology trends because the two often go together. More precisely, some trends develop because of technology. For instance, the Internet of Things (IoT) is leading the connectivity trend as more people connect devices like smartwatches and refrigerators to the world wide web. The trend for technology-aided technology is one happening behind the scenes. 

Cultural trends are important to online marketing agencies because of e-commerce. To best sell something that’s part of a cultural trend, you must learn about what’s being sold. The pandemic caused the sometimes defiant trend of wearing face coverings. When Web Rocket Media landed a client that makes face masks, we had to get up to date with the mask-wearing mandate which became a cultural trend for some.  

The Importance of Online Project Management  

For those of us that worked from home before the pandemic, we didn’t realize how good we had it. Seriously! Millions of people across the world suddenly had to work from home and cope with things like “Zoomies.” Meanwhile, Web Rocket Media has been quietly helping clients using online project management. It works, and works really well! 

We could get all cliche and say things like nothing beats teamwork. However, given the timing of the pandemic and how much of our lives were already lived online, the transition to online project management means many people will stay home even after they can go back to the office. The online way to get anything done in the post-pandemic world is with online project management.

Closing Thoughts

As we roll into 2022, the pandemic continues with yet another variant. Meanwhile, Web Rocket Media keeps helping clients sell things online. For all your online marketing needs, call us and experience how rocket power helps.