As we enter into the vastly competed arena of digital content marketing, the mantra is to differentiate or die. Some strategists advise the incorporation of digital marketing trends in the strategy to aid targeted marketing. These strategies are so vast in nature that they include every marketing channel in the domain of digital marketing, and provide a bird’s eye view with pros and cons of each trend.
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“Engage, Enlighten, Encourage and especially…just be yourself! Social media is a community effort, everyone is an asset.”
– Susan Cooper ( BuzzEdition )
It is important to notice that Social media is the glue that holds various digital marketing strategies together, and it is here to stay. People have loads to say on the internet, and sometimes the opinions sell and create a sense of impulsiveness that make people buy stuff. It is the time to acknowledge this fact and predict a few digital marketing trends for this year.
1) New Technologies on the rise
People talk a lot about Big Data and making sense of the huge volume of data at our disposal. This results in analytics of an immense scale to identify new markets and people segments. You do not sell what you want to, but you sell what the people want. Customer is king, and you should serve them well. We also have Internet of Things (IoT), 3D printing, augmented reality and what not? The world is shifting towards specificity and we as digital marketers, have identified this as a trend in the foreseeable future.
Spending on marketing analytics is expected to increase 60% by 2015. ( CMO Survey )
2) Marketing automation
We are not new to the concept of triggered and targeted e-mails reaching prospective customers. An event is said to trigger an automated workflow of action. For instance, if someone makes a purchase on your website, an automated thank you mail is sent to the patron. This helps create a cult following for the website and customized content is always there in the content pool to follow up potential leads. As subscriptions rise, the mailing list expands and we amplify the same message through various social media platforms to track the progress of every medium. Leads, CTAs follow with time.
3) Mobile is first
With a huge chunk of our tech savvy population, digital marketing trends look up to smartphone and tablet apps to tap this potential. Search engines reward websites who embrace mobile space with increased search result indices. The multiple steps to make a purchase are replaced by the tap of a single “buy” button. Instagram, Snapchat and Pinterest are catching up on this trend. Wake up before it is too late!
37% of consumers are more likely to purchase on a mobile-optimized site. ( ExactTarget, 2014 Mobile Behavior Report )
4) Influencers
The number of youth icons and celebrities appearing in the image of a brand is bound to skyrocket product sales. They have the power to influence public decision. Moreover, there is a target based approach on this to have more followers of the celebrity and his domain. Talk of smart decisions and this could give you returns in a given time frame in comparison to traditional methods.
“Useful X Enjoyable X Inspired = Innovative Content”
– Ann Handley ( MarketingProfs )
5) Social Media + Search Engines
Last but definitely not the least, engaging content and influencing conversations on social media platforms are always the best when it comes to a powerful move. When the channels are branched in ways more than one, you are not losing out on your customers. That being said, creating content that caters to specific segments is a challenge in itself to tackle. Search engine optimization and keywords are pillars of this industry, and they will always remain a worthy contender in this market space. Digital marketing trends are for people, influenced by people and they mesmerize the people.
By 2014, over 40% of large complex marketing organizations will have developed a pace-layered application approach to integrated marketing. ( Gartner Research )
Let’s unleash the power of social media through targeted campaigns! Peace out!
Originally Published on: Jun 30, 2016 @ 16:14, updated Dec 08 2020
