With the increase in smartphone users and internet penetration among consumers, digital marketing has not only become essential but also a necessity for organizations. There are many services such as email marketing, social media marketing, content marketing, and direct mail that play an important role in influencing buyers to purchase products or services they need. All the mentioned trends have been dominating the digital marketer’s strategy for a long time and are going to be the dominating tactic.
However, there will also be trends that will emerge as time goes by and businesses need to adopt them to compete with other big organizations. Let’s see what these 10 digital marketing trends are:
1 . Consumers Shift Towards E-Commerce
People are more likely to buy from e-commerce websites than offline stores and prefer shopping online. The positive outlook towards the digital marketing sector has made consumers switch towards e-commerce sites that provide quality products with good prices, quick delivery, and user-friendly interface. As a result, many brands have been investing in developing high-quality websites with a positive user experience.
2 . Marketers Should Focus on Real-Time Insights
A recent report suggested that 85 percent of marketers believe that to deliver an effective campaign, they should focus on real-time insights. The reason behind the same is rapid advancements in technology which have increased the speed of access and insight generation. Due to such reasons, marketers need to find new ways of reaching out to customers and offering them the best services possible.
3 . Improve Content Quality
There has been a great demand for high-quality content by consumers over the last few years and remains one of the top digital marketing trends in 2018 as well. Marketers should focus on improving content quality and produce well-researched, informative, and engaging content. Such high-quality content will help in the long run to increase traffic and improve rankings in the search results.
4 . Switch To Digital Services
Organizations were initially reluctant to invest money in digital marketing but now they are moving towards it as it helps them with targeted traffic and higher ROI. Many companies have already started investing heavily in digital services such as website development, social media marketing, lead generation solutions, search engine optimization, etc. that help in bringing more customers to their business.
5 . Machine Learning
Marketers are using machine learning techniques for handling big data which helps them provide the best possible solutions to consumers. With the consumer’s increasing demands, organizations have moved on towards using machine learning techniques for improving their services and reach out to as many people as possible.
6 . Influencer Marketing
Many companies are relying more on influencers than ever before as it helps them boost their brand awareness in the market with the help of these influencers. They have huge fan followings and companies keep working with them for brand awareness, better customer engagement, etc.
7 . Share Live Videos On Social Media Channels
As more users are watching videos on social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Snapchat; it has become an essential part of digital marketing strategies. Marketers are using live streaming videos on social media channels for reaching out to their target audience and encouraging them to purchase products and services of the company.
8 . Localize Your Digital Marketing Services
Small and medium-sized business organizations are now focusing on localizing their digital marketing services as well to enhance brand awareness, capture more customers, and improve brand loyalty in the local market. These organizations have been investing more in digital marketing tools such as website design, SEO, social media marketing, email marketing, etc. to drive traffic from nearby areas.
9 . Instagram Reels
As per the latest report by Buffer Social; almost 37% of marketers are using Instagram stories whereas 33% of marketers are using Instagram reels. These new features of the app are being used by marketers to reach out to customers and cost-effectively promote their products.
10 . Chatbots
Almost every company is trying to implement a chatbot in their digital marketing strategy as it helps them provide instant assistance to customers who want help or clarification about any product or service. Chatbots are built to provide instant help and interactively solve customer problems.