Digital marketing is a vital part of every business. It increases sales, brings new leads, and grows the business's profit. However, the problem with all things digital is that it often changes.
Most of these changes are the results of consumers' behavior.
If you want your business to work out, you must include digital marketing in your plan. It's the best way for you to reach your potential customers since most people are often online.
You must take advantage of this behavior.
But since digital marketing changes all the time, you need to stay updated with all the trends that are out there. Make sure that you and your team search for what's new to help in your campaign.
Check out these trends that will influence digital marketing this 2020.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI)
We have seen the wonders of AI in the past years. We watched it grow into an intelligent being that can now conduct simple tasks.
AI has been incorporated in many technologies, and it is currently dominating the marketing industry.
One of the most helpful ways AI has contributed to the marketing industry is in customer service. Chatbots are AI-powered technology that helps businesses run their customer's service department. It can promote sales and answer frequently asked questions whenever a human agent is not available.
That's only the beginning of integrating AI in digital marketing. We will see more of this, as consumers enjoy the use of it, and businesses see the advantage of this technology.
PERSONALIZATION BECOMES MORE SIGNIFICANT
In a survey conducted, 79% of consumers get annoyed when they receive content that disregards their interest. That's why the personalization of content and campaigns will become a focus this 2020.
Companies gather information about customers via their previous search history and purchasing behavior. They use this information to create personalized campaigns.
Customers will receive content based on their previous purchase or anything related to their interest.
Personalized campaigns have a higher click-through rate and open rate.
This 2020, invest in tools that will help your business gather data from consumers. Use this data to deliver content that your users want.
VIDEO MARKETING IS ON THE RISE
Creating videos is a tedious job. It requires hours of editing and filming, but despite all the work put into the creation of it, video marketing is an effective marketing strategy.
Videos will still be the primary media people will prefer to engage in.
There are different ways marketing experts can share their videos. YouTube is not the only platform available. There are social media that now allows the users to include or share videos on their post.
Facebook Live is one of the most effective ways to increase traffic to your website. In fact, Live videos on Facebook has three times longer viewing time.
Instagram also has IGTV as a growing feature of it. It allows people to watch longer videos as compared before.
Many companies are including videos as part of the marketing strategy, even your competitors are doing so. If you want your business to grow, taking advantage of these current trends will help in the process.
MICRO-INFLUENCERS
Influencers have already been a thing in the past, and it now includes famous people in social media.
However, people are starting to see that famous online people are starting to sound inauthentic. And, people are beginning not to trust their recommendations.
It doesn't mean influencer marketing is gone. In fact, it has changed from influencers with hundreds of thousands of followers to influencers with only thousands of followers. They are known as micro-influencers.
Micro-influencers have a strong community. Despite having few followers, their engagement is high, meaning they are more likely to get sales from the products they endorse.
Plus, micro-influencers are affordable than big-time influencers.
FEATURED SNIPPET FOR SEO
If you have a website, chances are you are aware of what Featured Snippet is. Hence, you know that getting your website to Google's Featured Snippet is vital.
Featured Snippet allows a page to get more clicks as compared to other websites on Google's SERP.
In the past, getting on Google's number one page or spot is crucial, now, being featured on Google's position zero or featured snippet becomes the goal.
A few tips on how to optimize for the featured snippet:
Do keyword research
Aim to create answers question-based content
Research to know how websites on the featured snippet create their content.
Try to get first into Google's first page
Try to answer questions from "People Also Ask" of Google.
OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS
Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are a few of the biggest names in social media. They are extremely popular in that businesses and marketers opt for these platforms to grow their brand. But, it is starting to become an exhausting market.
Even people are starting to get bored with these platforms. They are looking for other ways to experience something new.
Social media like Pinterest and TikTok are becoming popular, although Pinterest has been on the market for ages.
TikTok is resonating with the younger generation (Gen Z). Marketing experts are finding ways to leverage this platform, and there is also the slow rise of TikTok influencers.
Meanwhile, Pinterest is starting to gain popularity for business with online shops
SOCIAL MEDIA COMMERCE OR SHOPPABLE POSTS
E-commerce and social media have finally collaborated to bring what we all know now as the Shoppable Post.
Instagram introduced the shoppable post in 2018, allowing businesses to reach out to more customers.
Whether you have an online shop or you sell online on social media, you can use this feature of Instagram.
Last year, they introduced their Instagram Checkout button. It allows anyone to shop directly on Instagram.
AUGMENTED REALITY (AR)
Augmented reality is now surpassing virtual reality. Companies are starting to integrate AR into their marketing strategy as it gives users a whole new experience when shopping.
Ikea has their own AR app, where they allow users to see if a piece of furniture looks good in their home.
AR is common in the beauty industry, where it allows users to take a picture of themselves and check on makeup shades if it looks good on them.
OTHER TRENDS THAT WILL INFLUENCE THE DIGITAL MARKETING INDUSTRY
Voice searches will become popular as there are more mobile phone users.
Conversational marketing will get noticed as chatbots are starting to take over customer service.
Visual search is also entering the industry, as apps such as Pinterest and Google allow people to search using images.
Social media “My Story” is a popular feature seen on Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat. Since many people view “My Story,” businesses can use this to increase awareness of their brand.
User-generated content allows businesses to reach out to the younger generations. They allow users to contribute to the brand by sharing photos of them with their products.
With the frequent changes in consumer behavior, the digital marketing industry is finding ways to bring what people want. Together with technology, digital marketing has progressed to helped businesses with their growth.
If you have a business, it's time to try one of these trends for your marketing campaign.
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