Top Digital Marketing Trends To Watch Out For This Year
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Digital marketing is developing at an enormous pace and is getting equipped with new strategies and technologies every day. What was useful last year will be so outdated the very next year. It is all about marketing trends that will set the tone of this year and hence, cannot be ignored. Marketers will be able to compete in this ambitious digital market only if keep pace with the changes introduced by their competitors. In this article, let’s discuss some of the game-changing digital marketing trends; hence, cannot be ignored.
Implementing AI in Your Marketing Tactics
Artificial Intelligence has also made its place in marketing, and it is using concepts similar to machine learning in its marketing strategies. This helps in foreseeing the customer’s next move. Consequently, it is utilized by the company in displaying relevant content through personalized automation. For instance, Demandbase explored that AI has provided them with methods to improve account-based marketing through improved account selection. They further found that with the help of AI, they were able to filter out companies from their list which will ultimately lose money in the long run. Similarly, Google has incorporated machine learning-based algorithms in their search engines for making the product search smarter.
One of the most popular tools utilized in marketing is “marketing automation”. Such software help in automating some marketing activities by itself without actually requiring someone to operate them. Using this helps in getting better leads, sales, and conversions and promises big things with less to do. Business utilizing automation demonstrates 14% growth in their sales as well as a 12% reduction in their marketing expenses. In digital marketing automation can take many forms like e-mail, digital advertising, social media promotion, etc.
Video As An SEO Factor
Video promotions and live video streaming are at the top of digital marketing trends. Most of the internet data traffic consists of videos. Organizations are utilizing their social media platforms to promote their content and products through live and traditional video content. However, for digital marketers, their videos must have the meaning they intend to deliver to the viewer. Therefore, the development of content matters a lot. Advertisers should consider adding videos in their marketing strategies, videos are expected to claim more than 80% of all the internet traffic by 2019.
The latest Nike Ad has created a lot of buzz out there, which has featured an all-female cast of athletes. It is a great source of inspiration for all young girls out there to understand the importance of sports and comprehend equal opportunities for men and women at all levels.
Get in Touch With Influencers
Ads that connect people to their roots, philosophies, and beliefs are more likely to attract viewer attention. Moreover, it helps them to develop an association with the brand. Influencer digital marketing is an emerging phenomenon. Hence, digital marketers should be informed of their native base and social context, where they will be doing marketing.
For instance, the ski resort of British Columbia, Suns Peak Resort was selected as a top winter attraction place for visitors. For this particular area, a travel agency designed a campaign that was targeted toward adventure seekers of the Pacific NorthWest. To make it persuasive, the Ad featured top Instagram Influencer and adventure photographer Callum Snape. Hence they creatively utilized influencer marketing for attaining a competitive advantage.
Personalized E-mail Marketing
E-mail marketing is also one of the strongest tools in digital marketing trends. Personalized e-mail services are a lot more effective than generalized e-mail. Dale Carnegie stated:
“For a person, his name is the most important word for him.”
In general addressing, someone by their name helps to get their attention quicker. Similarly, in e-mail marketing, personalization improves the opening rate of an e-mail. Google is the best example of offering a personalized experience to its users. It has not only personalized their use but also wishes its users their birthday on their homepage. Digital marketers should keep this in mind while designing the marketing strategy for their targeted audience or customers.
Here are some email personalization techniques which can be used:
- Ask the Right set of Questions
- Formulate Customer Personas
- Utilize location and time intelligently
- Setup Automated Triggering Emails
- Match personalization email format with landing pages
Nowadays, more and more marketers are using interactive content to personalize their emails. In fact, Research shows that 65% of email marketers deem dynamic content as the most effective personalization tactic.
Interactive content becomes a necessity in this scenario. It can collect a lot of valuable information from your users/leads. Thereafter, we can use this information to develop their buyer persona and target/segment customers. Consequently, you can draft personalized emails on the basis of this information. For instance, have a look at this Outgrow premade. Let’s assume an e-commerce company that sells makeup hosts this quiz on its webpage. This quiz will give the company a lot of information about its prospects- their skin type (oily or dry), skin color, and sensitivity level. Also, it will collect their contact information in exchange for providing them with a recommendation.
Guess the level of personalization an email based on this info can achieve.
Maybe we can take a hypothetical guess:
Content First Approach- Interactive Content
It is necessary to formulate a digital marketing strategy that ensures consumer engagement. This style is termed the ‘content-first’ approach. In this, we design a compelling narrative to fascinate the consumer.
Why Should You Use Interactive Content?
According to research, there are around 2 million blogs published every day. And we’re not even counting the social media posts and ads made live every day. In such a situation, marketers search for ways to reinvent content that engages the customer.
The answer came in the form of interactive content.
It is 40% more effective in engaging the customer and generates 2x more conversions than passive content. The reason behind this is that interactive content provides real value to the customer. Moreover, it is visually attractive and inherently engaging.
For instance, take a look at this interactive content created by Brooklyn Bicycles. They have a total of 4 questions, each mapped to a different result. You can share these quizzes and calculators on social media to gain leads as well. Wondering about its efficiency? The increase in conversion rate for Brooklyn Bicycles was exemplary – 3225 visits and 1151 leads in just 6 months. That’s a 36% conversion rate!
It must be noted that content marketing statistics is all about narrating compelling stories which can capture the consumer’s minds and make them regular customer.
Chatbots
The use of Chatbot is not new, but with the integration of AI in content marketing strategy plays a vital role in offering a good experience to the users. In some cases, chatbots are even overcoming apps as they can convince someone for online purchases without even downloading the app. This is because they promote effective mass communication as well as enable 24/7 interaction between the company and the customers, thus improving customer satisfaction.
This is something also to look upon. Outgrow chatbots have worked marvelously for a lot of our clients. The logic behind it is very simple- a 24*7 lead generation tool that continues working during your out-of-office hours. Moreover, the logic jump ensures that it delivers a seamless customer experience by asking no irrelevant questions.
Have a look at this chatbot premade created by Outgrow. It collects people’s orders and asks all the relevant questions. Hence, saving you a lot of human time and effort.
Pro Tip: Have a look at this blog on how to create a chatbot on Outgrow.
Improved Searching Will Be The Key
Some consumers are dedicating almost 52% of their media time to digital marketing channels, especially to social media sites. Hence it is of no surprise that innovations and improvisation are continuously making their place. There are two advanced levels of search:
Visual Searches
Many industries are using visual search technology today. In fact, various reputed platforms like Google, Bing, and Pinterest are incorporating it. The CEO of Pinterest, Ben Silbermann, as specified:
“The future of searching will ultimately transform into pictures rather than keywords.”
There are various third-party provider tools such as Google Cloud Vision, Google Lens, Pinterest Lens, Bing Visual Search Developer, eBay, and Amazon camera search which provide the ability to incorporate visual search within a site or app.
Voice Searches
The first use of voice in digital marketing trend started with Siri. Giving intelligence devices a voice for searching and triggering an action like opening a music player or making a call adds an interesting element to the web experience. People prefer voice command over typing. Thus, its preferred tool is considered by marketers.
Using AR and VR in Your Promotions
Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality in your brand helps you create a deep connection between you and your customer. Numerous industries are now utilizing the power of Virtual Reality and AR by taking them to places that they might otherwise have always wished to visit. Some of the widely used tools associated with VR and AR are Location and motion sensing, haptics, and high-res 3D. Well, we can assume that the future of digital marketing is exhilarating yet challenging.
The key is to adapt to the changing trends and utilize emerging technologies to get the desired results. However, technologies and trends are not reliable in digital marketing because something suddenly may pop up and become a new trend. No matter what digital marketing strategy or tool you are using the key is to present the audience with engaging content. Only then, a business will be able to reach the maximum targeted audience and achieve better leads and conversions.
Author Bio
Stella Lincoln is an SEO Analyst at Academist Help. She is a certified marketer in Google Analytics and Google Ads while she loves to spend her part-time as a marketing tutor at CrowdWriter. Stella is a content marketing specialist and she utilizes her spare time in advertising for e-commerce platforms.
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