Just like any other domain, digital marketing goes through trends. If you are a business owner who maintains an active digital marketing campaign some trends are going to be permanent fixtures that you must pay attention too.
Digital trends arise when there are changes in technology that introduce consumer behaviours change. These trends try to fill a need that already has begun to take shape and expected to influence businesses in the near future. For instance, the rise of mobile marketing that engulfed the businesses around the globe was a reaction to the unprecedented penetration of smartphones. The behaviour of consumers changed as to how do they shop or research for products. But today mobile marketing is just a common necessity of a business’s overall marketing strategy.
Just as with mobile marketing, some important trends are expected to shape businesses in 2020. Here we list the top 5 digital marketing trends that have already begun to emerge and will be prominent in the coming years.
- Social Media Marketing
Penetration of smartphones and cheaper availability of the internet has resulted in prospects, audiences and potential clients spending too much time on various social media platforms. According to statistics, the average user spends about 135 minutes a day using social media. Interesting the amount of time is increasing every year that tells us that people are going to rely on social media to find about products, seek feedback and ask for recommendations. All of this will affect their purchasing decision which is why if you are not connecting with your target customers on social media, you are losing to the competition.
Almost 70% of small businesses used social media marketing as a tool to acquire new customers and out of this 75 % used Facebook specifically.
- Voice Search Strategy
Rise of smartphones has also boosted the adoption of voice assistants such as Siri and Google Voice Assistant. As voice communication is still the most common and easiest form of interaction for humans, it is not a surprise when people want to use voice to interact with their devices.
Businesses that want to remain relevant will have to adapt to the new take on traditional internet searches. Creating a voice search strategy is becoming one of the priorities of digital marketing for small and large businesses.
One of the crucial element to optimizing for voice search is to include keywords in your content that commonly appear in voice searches such as long-tail keywords, Q & A formats, etc. According to SeoEaze, a leading SEO company in Delhi recommends formatting your content in such a structure that it provides succinct answers to searchers. As most voice queries are questions you need to think about using creating a Google action or an Alexa skill that will help customers to reach you using smart home devices such as Alexa Echo and Google Home.
- Video Content
Video has already started to take away traffic from content and it is estimated that by 2021, 82% of consumer internet traffic will be driven by video content. Many businesses think of video marketing as a static domain, but in reality, marketers are always finding novel ways to engage audiences with video.
Branded and live videos are on the rise as they are much more engaging. With branded videos, businesses can deliver a lot more information in a short time and it is more appealing than basic text. You increase conversions and build trust when you foster relationships with audiences via branded content.
Live video is getting highly popular is expected to account for 13% of all video traffic by 2021. Such video content is so appealing because the audience can actually participate with the creators which are great for relationship building.
If you are one of those businesses that bail on creating video content simply because it’s expensive to produce then you have to learn easy ways of video creation on a budget.
- Novel Content
Content will always be the king in the context of digital marketing however you have to move beyond the staple kind of content. Now there are several kinds of content that are changing the habit of content consumption in consumers. Buzzfeed is an ample example of how much novel content can mean for a business.
Buzzfeed uses interactive content to engage with readers. You as a brand can also create interactive content to entice your target audience with:
- Polls
- Quizzes
- Online voting
- Animated infographics
- Contests
- Assessments
Expiring content is also getting massively popular thanks to Snapchat and Whatsapp. Such content automatically expires in 24 hours. It creates a sense of urgency and exclusivity that makes people seek out such content.
- Offline and Online Blend
Digital is the way of the present but when it comes to retail shopping, people still love brick-and-mortar stores. This is why the eCommerce segment only makes 12% of the total retail industry. But, the modern-day customers are expecting more from the in-store experience, asking for digital elements in a common brick-and-mortar shopping experience.
Businesses have already started adopting technologies that allow them to reach their target audience with information. Beacons are a common way of how businesses are digitally reaching customers who are in their local vicinity. The beacons can send signals to mobile devices within a predetermined area that helps to get more sales. Some common examples of this form of marketing sending time-sensitive coupons, updating about product stocks, sending live flight updates and more.
Conclusion
It’s hard to keep a tab on digital marketing with its ever-evolving dynamic nature. The best you can do is to sense the arising trends and adapt to them. Remember it’s too easy to become irrelevant in a fast-paced digital marketing arena. Here are the five developments that will become prominent in 2020.
