The ever-evolving digital world and the speed with which it has changed in the past couple of years have put all focus on digital marketing. This is the time when the quicker and quirkier you are in your content the higher is the chance for you to stay in the competition.
Although the core fundamentals of marketing, like, to the point and crisp scripts, a strong brand and of course, a good product remain, there are certain trends that we need to focus on to stay in ahead in the digital marketing game.
This is the high-tech and always connected world where there are people who don’t have homes to stay but own cell phones. Such circumstances have given rise to a need to use them in order to succeed.
We will see the 10 most important trends that I think will make the most impact in this New Year.
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Email Marketing :
Emails still remain one of the major digital marketing tools. With the advent of Artificial Intelligence, marketing experts are able to personalize emails. Such emails make people believe in the brand and feel that they are being looked after.
According to Experian, a simple chain of incomplete shopping cart emails are 2.4 times more likely to make the customer finish a purchase.
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Social Media :
With the increase in Smartphone usage
With the boost in smartphone usage, social media has become one of the majoravenues for brands to market their products. But, getting it right on any social media platform isn’t easy. You need to find an effective way to create brand awareness among all the noise.
Take a look at the following stats from Social Media Examiner, to know which platform to focus more on:
The above image makes it clear that Facebook is the most popular platform. But it has stagnated in its growth. New users are more likely to use Instagram than Facebook. According to Simply Measured, 70% of the most used hashtags on Instagram are brands.
When we look at the surveys, the platform to focus on seems to be LinkedIn. It comes out to be the best platform in terms of conversion rates. This is the reason why 94% of B2B marketers use it as per the Content Marketing Institute.
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Voice Search and Visual Search :
Google algorithms updates are enough to keep all marketing people awake all night. Understanding user habits is also another chaotic experience. Voice Search and Visual Search should be looked at this year. Pinterest is using Visual Search and with Google Lens, Visual search is surely here to stay. Marketers can get one up on their competitors by jumping on these new search techniques.
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Content Marketing :
Content is King. It was and always will be. When content is engaging and relevant, users are more likely to stick and click. Content Marketing basically involves distribution, promotion and SEO.
Almost 96% (That’s a huge number!!) of bloggers get consumers through social media.
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Advertising :
Advertising has gone to the next level with the help of Artificial Intelligence. Using AI (Artificial Intelligence), you can automate ad buying to help target specific audiences. Advertising does help reach a wide audience but advertisers need to learn to capture the ever decreasing attention spans. It will remain a big part and to make money you need to start spending it.
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Artificial Intelligence :
Artificial Intelligence is now everywhere. May it be e-commerce websites or chatbots for customer service AI is everywhere. Using AI, it is very easy to analyze customer behavior,their search patterns their blogs or posts. This helps businesses understand their needs and map their products to these specific customer needs. Adopting AI will also help businesses reduce costs and also help in their growth.
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Videos :
According to a survey by Facebook, 94% of those surveyed had phones in hand when watching TV. The results showed that even when watching TV, people are generally focussed more on their phones.
More than 50% of videos are watched on mobile. This shows that as mobile consumption increases, video consumption too will increase.
A Video doesn’t mean just YouTube, for maximum video engagement, you can look at Instagram, Facebook and even LinkedIn. Starting a live video and including glimpses of making the product, the research involved, etc. can make for great video marketing.
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Messaging :
Research shows that messaging apps have become increasingly popular now. Even though face to face communication has become sparse, people do want a personal live chat. Many customers actually prefer to interact on live chats even when they’re chatbots as they feel they are getting immediate solutions or attention. The AI-powered chatbots engage customers any time of day or night.
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Influencers :
Once you find out your target audience, it also helps to identify who influences this audience the most. Using influencers is a very effective marketing technique, and it attracts customers. From celebrities to bloggers, YouTubers and even journalists anyone can be an influencer. They help spread a good word of your brand among their followers through the platform of their choice. When they tell people to indulge in something, people often listen as they believe in them and have had good experiences in the past.
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Mobile :
Looking at the mobile usage trends below, its safe to say that this is a medium that should not be overlooked. The amount of time people spend on their mobile devices is ever increasing and its high time brands utilize this to their advantage.
Mobile phones are no longer the new things on the block. They have almost become a necessity. According to Google’s 2017 survey, mobile usage for online transactions is over 40%. They also say that smartphone users are much more likely to use their phones for purchase than they were a year ago.
Over 91% of users attribute their purchases to relevant ads. So brands who have not quite taken advantage of this handy device, its time to take notice or fall behind forever.
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Takeaways :
One of the things we can surely conclude is that emails are most relevant even now. The relevancy of the email content though is what will increase the conversion rate.
When it comes to social media, brands should decide which one to focus on depending on their product as social media is all about published content.
A good mobile-friendly site is much more likely to convert a potential customer than ever before. So, brands need to pull up their socks and clean up their sloppy codes in order to be mobile friendly.
In the end, to be up to speed with the latest and upcoming trends is what will keep you in the running for the long haul.