Online marketing has become incredibly diverse, bringing a wealth of different options for businesses and brands that want to promote their products and generate more leads.
From mobile apps to social media marketing to search engine optimization, online marketing has never been more dynamic. It’s time to figure out what works best for your business and adapt.
As a marketer, there are always new trends coming down the pipe. Make sure you are keeping track of what’s going on in the online marketing world.
Here is an overview of some trends shaping online marketing, from social media movements to emerging technologies and beyond.
1. TikTok is taking over online marketing
Many different apps have enjoyed a meteoric rise to prominence in the past. TikTok is just the latest craze to sweep the world. The platform appeal to younger generations looking for new ways to share videos.
Developing an effective TikTok marketing strategy relies on understanding the platform’s mechanics and appreciating that you do not necessarily need to work with influencers with huge audiences already. Leveraging nano influencers is a new tactic that many prefer.
Of course, many of the same aspects which make an unforgettable Instagram story apply to the world of TikTok. So, there is some crossover here, and you can transfer your skills to working with TikTok for marketing purposes.
2. Voice search will become more relevant
The proliferation of voice-controlled digital assistants, not just on mobile devices but also through smart speakers like the Amazon Echo, has already impacted how consumers search. A third of people already search the web using voice commands every week. This is significant for marketers because it means that it is now necessary to optimize campaigns to account for this.
The increase in the popularity of voice search makes it important for marketers to understand this technology to take advantage of it. What does voice search mean? It’s a means of searching that people conduct using sound and speech. Think of it as an extension of a search conducted via voice. There are many different ways to search, and voice search is just another form. However, unlike text searches, voice searches use algorithms that analyze the user’s voice to perform the search.
This is potentially good news for those sick of competing for a handful of high-value keywords since longtail phrases will become more impactful as the length and complexity of the queries increase.
Voice search tech is far from perfect, but it generally makes sense to optimize according to the kinds of questions users are likely to ask to discover your content. Trigger words such as “how” and “what” are the most commonly used in this context. So, they undoubtedly influence how online marketing will operate.
3. Automation in online marketing will ease the strain
Online marketing can be a somewhat labor-intensive process. Yet, with the rise of artificial intelligence solutions, many of the more challenging aspects of digital promotion can be offloaded to automated services and online marketing tools.
This means you can spend less time on tasks like content creation and more time growing your business. As part of this process, you’ll want to ensure that you’re using all the available tools and platforms to reach your target audience.
From using chatbots to handle on-site customer support to leveraging big data analytics to pull out pertinent information about your target audience that was previously obscured from you, automation will become more widely used in marketing circles to take on the challenges it has to offer.
As a result, marketers are starting to implement AI into their marketing strategies. They want to improve their ability to deliver value to their customers. AI is a technology that can automate processes to make them more efficient.
The key takeaway is that as businesses move away from the “push” model and focus on building relationships with their customers, it will be increasingly important for them to leverage data and AI to drive customer engagement and retention.
4. Professional Copywriting
Rapidly gaining momentum is the trend toward quality copy. Throwing “any old thing” up on your website and seeing what sticks is ineffective. Your customers have no shortage of reading material. If your marketing copy sounds amateurish or like a foreigner wrote, you’ve lost them. Your customers are off to another website, one that’s more engaging.
For web copy, consider working with a professional website copywriter who understands online marketing and search engine optimization (SEO). The result will be content that’s more effective in attracting visitors and better able to convert those prospects into customers.
Equally important, hiring a professional writer gets the work done promptly, allowing you to focus your time on the core activities of your business.
For e-books, try working with a writer who specializes in creating e-books, as they are different from the written content you might find on your website. You can use e-books with a specific topic or theme.
The key to successful content marketing is ensuring consistency across all channels, including social media and email marketing. If you’re not writing content relevant to your audience, it won’t matter how many times you publish it online.
📖 More similar articles
5. Personalization is an expected trend in online marketing
It is no longer the case that customers will see the availability of a personalized experience on the sites they shop on as a nice extra; for many, if not all, consumers in the digital space today, it is an essential element.
The way this personalization works is through data and analytics. The more you interact with a brand or a product, the more data you leave behind about yourself and your preferences. You can use this data to recommend products to you based on what you’ve already bought, what you like, and the things you might buy in the future. While there are many different methods of personalized experiences, the most common one today is through algorithms and data.
Data, especially from mobile devices, can be leveraged in many ways. For example, we receive recommendations for products and services all day, whether from friends, family, or online sources. Personalized recommendations are just as important, if not more so than other types of recommendations. They allow brands to know exactly what you want and how to provide it to you.
Likewise, there is the expectation that marketing messaging should be tweaked according to the tastes and interests of the individual, meaning that the days of blanket campaigns delivering decent ROI are over.
Any brand that wants to boost conversion rates will need to factor this into their efforts to generate sales this year or face the ire of visitors who do not feel like their needs are being met.
Of course, it is essential to remember that personalization of online marketing is still a process that requires careful management from a privacy perspective since shoppers can be alienated by ads that seem to harness too much of their personal info, making it a fine line to tread.
Conclusion
Online marketing is constantly evolving. In today’s competitive environment, brands are becoming increasingly creative and innovative in their approach. While some trends are more successful, I’ve listed the five most important trends to consider as you build your brand identity in today’s online marketing landscape.
You’ll probably want to focus on one or two big ones that impact your business the most. A solid mix of high-quality content and social media marketing will keep you ahead of the competition, especially when combined with good SEO and conversion optimization techniques. Social media marketing and content creation will be the foundation of your online marketing efforts. To get started, take a look at our online marketing checklist.
You need to stay on top of the latest trends to succeed in your online business. With so many new websites, social media platforms, and ways to connect with potential customers, your business could easily fall behind if you don’t keep up with what’s new.
