The landscape of digital marketing is vast and exciting. With so much growth in the industry over the past decade — and so much more yet to come — it’s easy to feel a little lost when it comes to current trends and buzzwords. Even top marketing professionals often find themselves struggling to come to grips with changes and innovations that are reshaping the way brands approach marketing.
Fortunately, we’ve rounded up a handful of some of the top trends in the digital marketing sphere right now. So whether you’re a seasoned marketing pro or you’re a little green to the concept, this is a great starting place for brainstorming new ideas and integrating unique processes into your workflow. Read on below to find out more about what’s hot in digital marketing and why.
Artificial intelligence (or AI)
As long as you aren’t living under a rock, you’ve probably at least heard whispers when it comes to AI technology. Depending on your degree of involvement in your brand’s marketing efforts, you may even be familiar with the concept of using AI to strengthen a marketing strategy.
For those unaware, here’s the quick version: artificial intelligence is now being utilized to analyze consumer data and search patterns. It’s a great way to find out what content consumers love, what they’re looking for, what they need, and who they are. Using AI can give a brand immense insight into how consumers use their products and services.
AI can even help with customer service tasks, too. The way your customers interact with your brand plays a huge role in how they perceive your marketing. Using a Facebook Messenger bot to answer queries promptly, and politely is a great way to make sure customers get responses quickly and maintain a positive outlook of your brand.
Personalization
Long gone are the days of spam bulk emails and junk snail mail. Consumers realized years ago that businesses were starting to treat them less like people and more like identical walking pocketbooks. Today’s brands have shifted their marketing approach in response. 96% of marketers recognize that personalization serves to advance customer relationships.
Your materials should be custom-tailored to your audience. That means releasing blog posts and other content that your audience is actually interested in seeing. You can also get more granular. There are plenty of ways (automated is always more efficient, but you’ve got options) to ultra-personalize emails, promotional offers, and other content.
Your audience will appreciate being treated like a collective group of individuals rather than a mass of people you’re begging for attention from.
Influencer marketing
If you’ve seen a product or service in somebody’s social or media blog post and felt compelled to learn more about it, you’ve likely been swayed by influencer advertising. Today’s buyers don’t really want to hear about these things from the companies who offer them. They want a third-party opinion– and that’s where influencers come in. Almost half of consumers rely on influencer recommendations when it comes time to make a purchase decision.
Influencer marketing is word-of-mouth. It’s all about finding the right leaders and personalities online to promote your products or services to their audience. Generally, the influencer’s audience demographics and interests will align with your ideal audience’s demographics and interests. Using real people as a way to spread the word about your brand helps the marketing process seem more personal and genuine.
How I.E. Productions Can Help
At I.E. Productions, we’re committed to providing our clients with measurable, actionable results. Our proven system is the product of over twenty years’ worth of experience and research into developing and implementing custom digital marketing strategies.
Looking for a partner to guide you through every step of developing a digital presence? On the hunt for specialized improvement to graphic design, video marketing, or a host of other more granular services? Get in touch with our team today. Let’s see what we can do to increase your capabilities, boost profits, and get your audience excited about your brand.