Digital marketing has changed immensely in the last decade. There have been a multitude of changes in tactics along with Google’s search engine algorithms. Low-quality content that has been referred to as “clickbait” has stopped generating the results it once had. Consumers are becoming pickier in terms of what they spend their time reading or viewing. Certain trends like that focus on in-depth content in a variety of forms will continue to flourish. Podcasting is a great example of a form of content that can be easy to make and can help showcase the knowledge or an individual or company. The following are trends that will continue to stay relevant when it comes to digital marketing.
Micro-Influencers
Investing money in a huge celebrity to become an influencer for a brand is rarely the best use of marketing budget. This does not mean that influencer marketing as a whole is not efficient. Smaller influencers that have built up a sense of community among followers will generate the best ROI for a sponsored post. Taking a look at influencers to see what other brands they partner with will be very important. The last thing a company wants is to partner with an influencer that promotes products that directly compete or do not align with the values of the company.
Podcasting Continues Growing
Podcasting is mentioned above and has become a huge part of digital marketing. There are a number of different types of podcasts listed below:
- Individuals or groups of people trying to build their personal brand. This could be a humorous podcast or professional one that helps a person establish themselves as an authority on a topic.
- Companies that are looking to reach and educate current customers. Attracting customers in the industry in B2B situations will work far better if looking to have work contracted out to your business.
- The sporadic podcast is of a company that sees the value in podcasting yet hasn’t dedicated time or money to the process. This could happen once a month or a few times a year. Generating listeners is about putting out content that is informative/entertaining consistently. Being able to rely on a certain podcast on a specific day provides comfort to loyal listeners.
- Question and answer podcasts could be a favorite regardless of the ultimate goal of the podcast. Being able to answer specific questions from listeners is important. This can earn new customers and provide a sense of comfort to current customers that know they are in good hands.
Keep in mind that your podcast should have at least an outline to provide some kind of structure. Transcribing these podcasts can be a great way to turn these in-depth conversations into a searchable document.
Web Design Needs to be Intuitive
Web design has changed immensely over the years with a majority of companies wanting a website designed with SEO in mind. Designers that are current with web design trends along with experts in user experience of a website are essential. Lacking either of these things can limit a business and can cripple revenue for online sales or lead generation. Easy to navigate websites will also continue to be important as Google incorporates user experience when ranking sites which also includes page loading time.
Data Will Drive Nearly All Major Decisions
The days of creating a strategy then seeing what sticks in marketing are all but over. Data drives marketing in today’s digital age with a number of tools that can help. Buzzsumo allows for marketers to see what type of content relevant to their company trends on social media. Companies are looking for engagement with their content so creation of content that is sure to intrigue or spark conversation needs to be a focus. BuzzStream allows for the link building outreach process to go smoothly and efficiently. Being able to track subject lines and clicks in an email can allow for the ultimate email marketing campaign to be launched. Look for data to become even more present in decision making for years to come as the numbers don’t lie.
Voice Search Gaining Steam
Voice search is commonly used by people when they are in the car or want to look something up quickly. Search engines are starting to account for voice search results with marketers following suit. The keywords that are targeted are going to be more natural and conversational than in the past. People search very differently when typing compared to speaking.
The content that has to be created for voice search will be actionable and answer common questions customers might have. Writing in a natural way is more important than ever which some digital marketing professionals will lag behind in. Far too many SEO copywriters miss the point of writing for the reader while doing it in a search engine friendly way. This does not mean that your current content is worthless but to get the true value out of it, you might need to do some editing of pieces.
Voice search needs to be optimized for local search listings as well. The last thing that a company wants is to lose traffic to their website due to not tagging the location of their business on the website appropriately. Voice search will continue to grow as a trend well into the future with many digital marketing professionals having quite a bit to learn!
Digital marketing is constantly changing but the trends above will be prevalent for years to come. If you run a company, looking into tactics that will stand the test of time can help maximize ROI on marketing spend.
–
This article first appeared in www.business2community.com
Seeking to build and grow your brand using the force of consumer insight, strategic foresight, creative disruption and technology prowess? Talk to us at +971 50 6254340 or mail: engage@groupisd.com or visit www.groupisd.com/story
