The most obvious ways that technology has impacted the modern marketing world is perhaps in day-to-day fields such as travel, cooking, or shopping. However, it’s also affected some of the key processes on which many small businesses rely, including marketing.
From the obligations that it places on businesses to drive content, to the ways that reviews, trust, and word of mouth are now more important than ever thanks to the community element of the internet, business marketing has truly been transformed. Here are just some of the ways that this essential business activity has been altered.
The need for content in marketing
Perhaps one of the main characteristics of modern tech-focused marketing is the ever-present demand for content. It drives users to your website, but it also means that they have a pleasant and engaging experience while there – which boosts your chances of making a sale. Content can take many forms – and for some businesses that rely on beautiful visuals in order to sell, video and image content is often the best option.
However, every business can also benefit from written content such as blogs, and that’s why guest posting services exist. These services craft posts and then pair up with established blogs for publication. That way, you get to access large audiences, which helps boost your profile and your search results, and the site gets some engaging content to post – so it’s a win-win situation.
Reviews and trust
Word of mouth marketing, of course, has always been a big part of business referrals – and there’s no denying that it’s still a key issue. Hearing a recommendation from someone you know and trust is often enough to make you try something out, and businesses should always be mindful of this. In the internet age, the imperative to build trust networks have now got even stronger. With sites such as Trustpilot and Yelp focused on sharing feedback, businesses now have to build trust online as well as offline.
Even sites that aren’t explicitly about reviews, such as Amazon and Airbnb, make user feedback a key part of their offer, and if the business or provider doesn’t live up to expectations, then they can expect to lose custom. Businesses that want to succeed in the world of online reviews need to start at the root cause and ensure that their service is up to scratch, but it’s also possible to take additional steps, such as incentivizing happy customers to leave a review by entering them into a prize draw.
From grueling content creation schedules to the battle to make sure that there’s little to no negative feedback from disgruntled customers, companies that are looking to embrace technology have a lot to do. If your business isn’t quite there yet, now’s the time to turn around your firm’s fortunes and launch an online campaign. By approaching a specialist provider of blog posting services or by encouraging your users to leave reviews, for example, you can take advantage of the technological revolution in marketing – instead of getting left behind by it.
