The pandemic may have affected many businesses around the world, but digital marketers had their hands full since businesses shifted to online selling to connect with their target market. Digital marketing has become an integral part of marketing activities in the modern world as people are connected through the internet.
The current pandemic has highlighted this situation as people avoided going outside of the homes to prevent the spread of the virus. Due to this, small businesses had to increase their online presence since their customers were already shopping through the internet. It also meant they had to hire the services of SEO companies to increase their chances of reaching their market.
While digital marketers already had an idea about what they needed to do, it’s still important for them to remain updated with the latest trend in the industry. This will allow them to remain at pace with the developments and keep themselves relevant in the market. Here are some trends to look out for in the digital marketing realm.
Personalization
Personalization is one way for a business to stand out in the market. This means digital marketers should personalize the content, emails, and products for the customers of its clients. Personalization received high marks from consumers with around 90 percent considering personalized marketing content somewhat or very appealing. Another study shows that around 80 percent of consumers are likely to purchases something from brands that give them a personalized experience.
These figures emphasize the importance of personalizing the marketing efforts of a business. It wasn’t easy to implement in the past, but businesses can collect data about the behavior of their customers and their purchase history to engage the customers on a more personal level. Businesses can also build rapport with their customers using the data they collect and eventually gain their trust.
One example of the use of personalization in marketing was the personalized video campaign of Cadbury that used data from their social media profile. The campaign resulted in a 65 percent click-through rate and a conversion rate of more than 30 percent.
Shoppable Posts
Since many consumers are internet-savvy, creating shoppable posts on Instagram allows businesses to increase sales. The feature was introduced recently by the photo-sharing platform and brought the products of different businesses to their intended market.
The images posted on Instagram have tags that lead customers to the website of the business. The images typically catch the attention of customers and pique their interest. Once this happens, they may be encouraged to purchase the item through the tags that accompany each image.
The use of shoppable posts on Instagram is also beneficial for businesses since the website has become a meeting place for people who share the same interests. Additionally, these posts focus on particular interests, which makes the shopping experience more pleasant.
Video Marketing
Video marketing is another trend that will continue since it creates awareness and encourages engagement. This will result in an increase in sales for a business. While mainstream video marketing started in 2010, it only became accessible for smaller businesses around four years later.
A study in 2018 showed that the social media presence of a brand influenced over 70 percent of consumers. And since videos are among the favorite content of users, it shows that video marketing has a significant impact on the purchasing decision of consumers. Around 80 percent of video marketers showed their satisfaction with the video ads they posted on social media.
Since customers can easily share video content, video marketing can reach more consumers on the internet and help increase the conversion rate for a business. Additionally, it can act as a lead generator for the business since the sharing of the videos increases brand awareness in the market.
Chatbots
Similar to shoppable posts and video marketing, chatbots will see increased use in the digital marketing industry. It uses artificial intelligence (AI) to instantly respond to customer queries 24/7. This allows a business to engage its customers even if the business owner isn’t in front of the computer.
Many brands are already using chatbots on their websites since it allows them to interact with their customers. These customers typically prefer real-time responses to their queries. And more often, these chatbots meet the expectations of the customers of a business.
Additionally, using chatbots allow the business owner to focus on other areas in the business. This is especially true if the concerns of the customers are similar and the chatbot can easily respond to them.
Even as digital marketers are hard at work to help small businesses to stand out in the market, they should also take time to review the latest trends in the industry so that can use them to benefit their clients.
