With the world dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic, it has become a bit hard for marketers to anticipate what’s coming next. As brands adjust to the new normal, the way they promote their products & services has changed.
It’s not only the brands who have to alter their marketing strategies; even customers and their ideologies that fuel the digital marketing world have been altered forever.
As digital marketing focuses on aligning a brand with its target audience preferences and needs, marketers must pay attention to their customers’ preferences and how the pandemic is impacting digital marketing.
The Future of Digital Marketing
The world is increasingly becoming digital-centric as lockdowns, social distancing, and quarantines have left us with no other option.
In the coming time, we will look back at 2020 as the year that led to an increase in e-commerce and accelerated digital transformation. Businesses who are still working offline, the near future will definitely force them to shift to a digital approach.
The future of digital marketing seems optimistic, with innovative trends helping marketers to run campaigns and offer SEO services that will change the way marketing is done.
Here are a few trends that will transform the future of digital marketing:
Shoppable Posts
Shoppable posts are a trend now, which is here to stay. They provide brands an effective way to turn followers into customers on social media platforms. With Shoppable posts, businesses can tag products (listed in their Shop catalog) directly in feed posts, stories, videos, and live broadcasts.
Even consumers get the easiest and quickest way to shop. They just need to click on a post and buy the product featured in it.
A report from Smart Insights says that on an average, people spend a total of 2 hours and 24 minutes scrolling on different social media platforms, allowing brands to feature their products and turn their fans into customers.
Voice-Powered Search
People are getting more adaptive to new technologies, and voice search is no exception. That’s why the future of digital marketing will experience an increase in voice search technology.
Brands, to stay competitive, will have to optimize their content to voice-friendly terms and phrases to jump on the top of SERPs when a potential customer searches for products & services they offer.
The trend will stay for many years to come, with smart speakers like Amazon Alexa and Google Home providing people an easier way to interact with their devices.
Video Marketing
Videos are dominating a big part of the digital marketing space. The majority of marketers state that using videos help them increase the effectiveness of their marketing strategies.
There is a more likelihood that people will engage with videos than other forms of content like images, blogs, and others.
With videos, brands can bring more engagement and boost their chances of converting their prospects into customers.
Advanced AI Technology
Artificial intelligence has been expanding the world of digital possibilities and is going to rule for the next few years.
Chatbots will replace the agents and become a customer service standard. Machine learning algorithms will grow more complex and assist human beings in acquiring spooky accuracy.
The trend will help brands to capture the best opportunities and take advantage of them without putting any additional strain on manpower and resources.
Augmented Reality
Augmented reality will be the next big thing in the digital marketing world. With this technology, brands can showcase their products in 3D to their customers so that it becomes easier for them to make a purchase decision.
Customers, without taking a step out of their homes, can have an “in-person” shopping experience and decide for themselves better.
In the pandemic world, many brands, like IKEA, are already using this trend to get more customers on board. Even fashion brands are using AR to allow their customers to try on outfits from the comfort of their homes.
Interactive Content
One way to keep your customers glued to your brand is to keep serving them with innovative and interactive content. You can use tactics like online quizzes, shoppable posts, and polls to keep people engaged and interested. Social media channels are one of the best ways to interact with your audience and understand what they want from your brand.
Social media marketing has become the best way to grab the attention of the target audience. Marketers are always searching for concepts and ideas to promote brands on social media, create a buzz, and attract more customers.
Understanding your audience and creating interactive content will help brands to build long-lasting relationships with customers.
Programmatic Advertising
As a marketer, if you are tired of playing the guessing game of ad placement, programmatic advertising is just for you. The trend will help marketers buy an advertisement in real-time situations and put it in a place where most of their target audience is available.
This will help brands make the most out of their advertising budget and market their products or services in the best way possible.
The Big Data
The marketing world is generating more data than ever before, and the amount is not going to decrease in the coming years.
The enormous amount of data helps brands serve their customers the right way by informing them what channels and content a customer prefers.
Brands that know how to properly capture, manage and use the data can gain a competitive advantage and climb the success ladder in no time.
Conclusion
The digital marketing landscape is always changing, making it difficult to imagine what the future beholds in terms of opportunities. In the last few years, we have seen many technologies making their way, social media becoming more popular, and influencer marketing growing faster than ever. The same is expected to explore in the coming time, and marketers should keep themselves updated to benefit from them.
The trends mentioned above are also going to rule the digital marketing world in the future. As a marketer, if you want to stay abreast in the competition, following the trends will help.