Another year, another race to stay on top of the new year’s trends. Things always seem to be changing in the world of digital marketing, and, like it or not, it’s your job to welcome the most recent digital marketing trends with open arms.
Fortunately, you’re lucky enough to have us on your side. We’d never let you carry on not knowing what you could do to make your marketing campaign just a tad bit more effective.
So what are some of today’s need-to-know trends? Here are ten that we think are worthy of your attention.
1. Mobile Marketing Campaigns
The world has gone mobile. Google handles billions (perhaps trillions) of searches each year, and a substantial number of those searches come from mobile phones. Perhaps this is because mobile phones are so portable and more affordable for some people.
Regardless of why mobile searches are on the rise, the fact is that businesses have to capitalize on this increase. This means that they should get started on launching mobile apps if they haven’t done so yet.
2. Big Data
Big data has changed the way we approach product design and marketing. For this reason, we have to say that it’s one of most impactful digital marketing trends on this list. As a matter of fact, it’s so impactful that it’s worthy of being called more than a mere trend.
Companies are now focused on finding more effective ways to store and analyze data. That data is used to predict consumer behaviors and put together buyer personas.
3. Automation
There is little reason to complete a task manually when you could have a machine do it. And this, friends, is the story of the century.
Few businesses waste time manually updating their social media profiles and sending out emails to their customers. They have software to do so for them, and they’re able to save time as a result of that software.
Keep in mind, though, that not everything should be automated. Automation leaves little room for personalization, and users can’t get enough of personalized messages these days.
4. Infographics
Out of all of the digital marketing trends listed here, the incorporation of infographics in marketing campaigns is one of the most tried and true trends. People simply cannot get enough of infographics, and we can’t blame them.
Infographics are simple, yet they can effectively communicate somewhat dense information to readers. They’re also easy on the eyes and are arguably preferable to large blocks of text.
They do, of course, require some skill to put together, so take care to put some thought into them.
5. Search Engine Optimization
We’re not going to spend too much time here because, if we’re being honest, you should know how important search engine optimization is by now. You literally can’t escape it since almost every other blog piece mentions it in some way, shape, or form.
What more is there to be said on the topic? Do your keyword and market research, optimize your content for the web, and earn those organic backlinks.
Oh, and don’t do anything unethical. That’s a good way to get your site removed from the SERPs.
6. Video Marketing
If you were given the chance to watch a video on a topic rather than reading a long-winded article on the same topic, would you take it? Assuming that both were of equal quality, we bet you would.
We’re by no means suggesting that video is superior to text. Both video and text have their place in your arsenal.
Even so, you can’t deny that some people are more willing to stop and watch a short, informative video than they are to spend five minutes reading a blog piece. That said, try to keep things balanced. Put out a nice amount of video content, but don’t abandon your written content.
7. Social Media
Social media has been around for so long that we’re reluctant to lump it in with the rest of the digital marketing trends listed here. It just doesn’t seem like it’s much of a trend; it feels more permanent than that.
In any case, you know that you should be using it. We’ll tell you, though, that you should pay close attention to the platforms you’re using. Not all of them have the same growth potential.
Sites like Facebook and Twitter, for instance, are great for marketing to large crowds, but some data suggest that they can’t get much bigger than they are now. Some platforms, such as Instagram, are still experiencing a fair amount of growth.
8. Influencer Marketing
Life is admittedly easier when you let someone else do all of the work for you. Though influencer marketing doesn’t quite allow you to do that, it does take some of the pressure off of you.
Simply put, influencers are gifts wrapped up in nice bundles of personality and social appeal. They have fairly large followings, and they’re willing to say nice things about your company at a decent cost.
Given that info, why wouldn’t you be using influencer marketing?
9. Long Copy
Video content might be popular, but people still read. Not novels, but, you know, blogs are a thing.
We’re often driven to think that long copy scares customers away, but several statistics show that long copy outperforms short copy. As a result, the average number of words per blog post has steadily gone up over the years. This means that you need to increase the length of some of your content if you want to remain competitive.
10. Paid Advertising (Via Social Media)
Marketers have been saying this for a while now, probably because it’s true: You have to pay to play now. Gone are the days when companies could get ahead by simply optimizing their content for certain keywords.
Businesses are now setting their sights on paid advertising via social media platforms such as Facebook. This advertising works fairly well since so many people live on social media platforms these days.
Put These Digital Marketing Trends To Good Use
All of the above digital marketing trends are definitely useful, but relying on them alone won’t guarantee success. At the end of the day, performance improves when marketing progress is measured. In other words, you could do all of these things and not get the best results if you don’t measure your progress along the way.
You’re going to stumble on the path to creating a great digital marketing campaign, and that’s okay. Just bear with those blows.
And, if push comes to shove, you can contact us so that we can bear with you as well. We’ll provide you with a free consultation to get you back on the path to digital domination.