n the past business owners and marketers would ask themselves if it’s worth investing in digital marketing. Today it’s no longer a question of if it’s a good idea, now people want to know what’s next in the digital space.
Digital marketing has proven itself to be effective time and time again. People that want to get the most out of their marketing plans should be adopting the latest and greatest digital marketing trends.
If you want to learn about the latest in online marketing trends, you’re in luck. Read on to learn about the best digital trends and methods you should be following.
Top 7 Digital Marketing Trends Every Business Should Follow
Want to know why it’s so important to stay on top of digital trends in the marketing space? Digital marketing is evolving so fast, if you don’t stay up to date you could be wasting your time on ineffective methods.
Think about how much link building has changed since people first started doing SEO. Now think about how popular Facebook was in 2016, and how people are fleeing the platform.
If you want to stay use the best digital marketing practices, make sure you follow practice these trends.
AI
AI isn’t just the next big thing for digital marketing, AI is the next big thing for every business and industry.
Predictive analytics, better customer segmentation, deeper data insights: AI technology can do all of this and more.
The right AI platform can improve retargeting, send perfectly timed push notifications, perform better click tracking on your website, and more. AI can optimize all of your marketing campaigns and glean better data from your findings.
Look into platforms and companies that offer AI-driven software solutions so you can start using this powerful tool.
Chatbots
A big part of marketing that people tend to forget about is the customer service angle. You need to create content that doesn’t just market your product or service, but also helps the customer.
You may try to respond to people on social media as best as you can, but you can’t be around 24/7 to answer every question people have for you. You may not be around 24 hours a day, but a chatbot can be.
Chatbots can be around the clock customer service representative that’s available on your website and on social media.
Remember, chatbots don’t have to sound robotic or fake. You could easily write conversational and helpful content that can keep users engaged.
Bots can be particularly effective if you’re running landing page campaigns for PPC. Visitors will immediately be able to have their questions answered when they land on your site.
Omnichannel Marketing
Most people run their marketing campaigns through a multichannel lens. They have email marketing campaigns, social campaigns, and PPC/SEO, but all of these more or less work independently from one another.
An omnichannel approach to marketing gives you a consistent communication process for prospects and customers across all channels.
The purpose of omnichannel marketing is to be able to easily keep track of prospect online interactions regardless of if they connect with you on social, your website, or a different digital platform.
You can start interacting with a customer on social, then they see your site pop up on search results, and eventually, you send them an email. You don’t skip a beat during the entire process and you’ll soon have a true conversion on your hands!
Video
“But wait, video has been around for years! It’s not a new marketing trend.”
We know that some of you reading this just had that exact thought, but video is so big now that companies should choose video content over pictures when they can.
It’s a crazy number, but it’s estimated that 80% of all internet traffic will be video by 2021. If you don’t have a robust video marketing strategy in place, now is the perfect time to do it.
Whenever you find yourself in a situation where you want to take a picture, think about how to make it a video worthy moment instead.
An easy way to get more videos is to convert some of your written content into video content. There’s no need to hire actors are readers to do this, you can easily do this by using text and images.
Email Personalization
Email marketing has been around for as long as the internet has existed. It may be an old digital marketing method, but it’s still effective when it’s used correctly.
Let’s face it, a lot of automated emails now get shifted to non-priority inboxes. People aren’t clamoring to open mass emails anymore, but they love personalized offers.
This ties in with utilizing AI to improve your marketing methods. Once you have more information about your customers, you’ll be able to send emails that target them based on their interests.
Send an email about your upcoming jean sale to the customer that purchased pants 3 months ago. Let customers that abandoned items in your cart know that they’re available now at a 5% discount.
Native Advertising
Advertising is crucial for businesses in every industry, that’s why it’s such a shame that people can’t stand it.
Many people find the average ad to be intrusive and unappealing. Ad-blocking software and browser extensions have become incredibly popular, so people are going to have to work a little harder if they want their ads to be seen.
The main benefit of native ads is that they’re specifically designed to not look like ads. When native advertising is done right, it can be mistaken for a part of the website.
Sponsored content was an early form of native advertising, but advertising methods have gotten a lot more varied. Most popular social media platforms and even Amazon are making native ads a part of their site.
Can You Keep up with Digital Marketing?
We let you know about the hottest digital marketing trends, now it’s up to you to use them.
If you’re feeling a little overwhelmed with all of this new information, we’re here to help. We’ve helped a lot of clients improve their digital marketing strategy, and we can do it for you.
Contact us today so we can have a conversation about the best way to meet your digital needs.
