The digital marketing arena is constantly being changed by up and coming trends, and the formation of new industry standards. Whether you’re a newbie or an expert in the field of digital marketing, it is vital that you always stay updated on the latest trends in order to serve the needs of your clients and businesses better.
As we enter a new year, digital marketing is set to bring user experience (UX) to greater heights, focusing its efforts on areas like customer experience, functionality, micro-moments, and precisely targeted ads. With the help of AI, these sub-areas of UX are constantly being improved.
In light of these new developments in digital marketing, here are the top few trends that you need to be on the lookout for.
1. Artificial intelligence
Most people think of robots when it comes to the topic of AI, but in reality, AI makes up a very broad industry even within the category of digital marketing. When used for digital marketing, AI usually involves the meta-analysis of a wide range of data, after which the data is used for decision making.
Although the technology for AI is relatively new, we can see that it is already being used heavily in everyday life. Examples include autonomous vehicles and the use of AI in Amazon and Netflix to make recommendations and carry out transactions. In relation to marketing, AI will continue being incorporated into strategies like content creation, voice and facial recognition, chatbots and many more. As AI continues to develop its precision in analyzing purchasing patterns and consumer behavior, we should expect that AI will continue to be the norm in the field of digital marketing.
2. Influencer marketing
Influencer marketing involves getting influential content creators and personalities to promote your product or service. Whether marketing is done explicitly or implicitly, this tactic has been highly effective. This new form of digital marketing is projected to grow and continue evolving in 2018, both for business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C). although influencer marketing has been employed only for specific campaigns, this strategy is likely to evolve into a continuous strategy instead of being used only for specific products.
Millennials and Gen Z marketers should start to think about fostering relationships with influencers, be it a group or just a few of them. This can be relatively easy to do by looking across social media channels and sourcing for budding influencers.
Influencer marketing has seen its numerous successes largely because of the availability of a built-in audience that is wide in scope. With this advantage, marketers get the opportunity to generate effective leads.
3. Micro-moment marketing
Micro-moment marketing is very focused on leveraging consumer behavior because consumers have a lot of choice and influence over their purchasing behavior nowadays. Today, consumers are conducting searches according to their specific needs and conditions. As such, it is no longer so important to bring your ads to the consumer.
Since consumers are primarily using mobile devices to conduct their research, the search for information can occur easily with just a few swipes on their phones. With that being said, consumers no longer need advertisements. According to Think With Google, consumers are educated and need to be engaged in the here and now. This means that the main challenge in micro-moment marketing is to be able to get hold of their target consumer within the right window. Additionally, businesses need to find ways to maintain visibility and engage their customers, such as through one-touch offerings and maintaining a good position in the search rankings. Producing content that is highly tailored to your audience is one way for businesses to stay competitive.
4. Voice search
For those thinking of specializing in a field like SEO, you should have a foundational knowledge of how voice search and speech recognition can influence your brand. According to one study, over 40% of teenagers and adults make use of voice search daily, with the number steadily growing.
With this piece of news in mind, marketers have to step up their game in terms of being able to cater to their SEO strategies to voice recognition. Furthermore, this also means having to focus on coming up with longer, more specific and more detailed keywords.
5. Blockchain technology
One of the most frequently talked about topics today, blockchain technology is about to make its presence in the digital marketing sphere. Blockchain technology can be defined as a digital ledger that stores records in several databases. Used for tightly secured applications, blockchain technology is unregulated, making it an ideal time to leverage it for your business.
To name a few ways in which blockchain technology can be used for a business context, the first is in its ability to offer protection against fraud and ensure security for paid transactions. To add, this can be applied to any industry. Blockchain technology can be used to build brands and customer rewards programs. In addition, it can be especially useful for B2B businesses, since heavy transactions are made on a regular basis.
6. Personal digital assistants
Most of you would have heard of digitized personal assistants like Alexa and Google Assistant by now. Using AI technology, these personal assistants are designed to stay connected with their users throughout their daily lives. The market for personal digital assistants is expected to double by next year, and to hit 1.6 billion users by 2020. Different companies are partnering with each other for this, in which the devices they manufacture are now able to contact each other and exchange info.
People who use these devices on a daily basis will be able to observe the evolution of AI, both in the personal and business contexts. Furthermore, this technology will continue to upgrade itself in various aspects, including voice recognition. Customized services that rely on the analysis of consumer behavior will be able to see improvements as well. Apart from these developments, personal digital assistants are also starting to become part of a range of productivity and business software, in order to enhance our efficiency.
Final words
In order to maintain an advantage over their competitors, digital marketers need to find a way to keep abreast of the trends mentioned in this article. Marketers need to have a clear objective and a strategy that is relatively flexible and long-term in order to make use of these methods and technologies. To produce the best digital marketing campaigns, always stay hungry to learn and test these new technologies, which are becoming more accessible to the market.
If you would prefer to seek the help of professional digital marketers, try First Digital, a reliable and results-driven digital marketing agency singapore. They are sure to give you the best digital marketing solution that will drive customers to your business.