While digital marketing has technically existed for as long as electronic devices have, the internet breathed new meaning into the term. Online digital marketing is far more advanced, effective, and diverse today than it has ever been. New methods in online marketing are introduced every year, and businesses need to stay in the know if they want to remain competitive. To that end, here is a list of some of the significant recent online marketing trends.
Voice Search
Technology is always evolving to make the lives of end-users easier. Take typing on the phone as a classic example. The industry has moved from the initial T9 keyboards to QWERTY buttons to touch screen on display keyboards. Now we are seeing voice to text becoming an increasingly popular option.
One of the primary uses of voice typing has been seen in voice searches. With a quick “hello Google” or “Hey Siri” a person can search for what they want to know. The sheer convenience and ever-improving accuracy along with the increasing popularity devices such as smart speakers, have made voice search rapidly popular.
In an era where almost half of all queries are through voice search, how do you optimize your content accordingly? Most of the time, users ask a full question instead of two to three keywords. Your content must be clear and concise while containing more keywords and more question words like ‘what,’ ‘where,’ etc. This along with other such SEO methods for voice searches are part of what is called ‘natural language SEO.’ As more companies develop AI and voice assistants continue to fill our homes and lives, it’s clear that this one of the online marketing trends that won’t be going away any time soon.
Mobile-Friendliness
It’s hard to imagine the world’s first cell phones being as large as bricks when you look at the sleek multipurpose devices we have today. Indeed, no one uses phones for just calls or messages anymore. They are more like complete infotainment systems and account for 42 percent for all time spent online.
Unsurprisingly, a lot of websites have made a move to make their content mobile-friendly. This ensures that the users who come to the site have a good experience and stay or keep coming. This means that the website ranks higher on web results and is organically better marketed. This is especially true if you are trying to sell to a younger audience as mobile phone usage is even higher in this age group.
Social Media Marketing
While social media marketing is definitely not one of the new online marketing trends, its importance is greater now than ever before. Social media provides a great way to post content that either gets your message across or helps engage your customers without having to pay a steep price. With a variety of content options and platform options it’s easy to develop content that can reach any audience segment you want, in real-time.
Not only that, social media sites can be a goldmine for data collection. In an age where data is money, understand who your audience is and being able to target look-alike audiences is an easy way to reach new customers.
Personalized Messaging
No two people are alike and messaging for people shouldn’t be either. We’ve seen companies spend thousands of dollars in the past few years collecting and analysing data on their consumers. Companies are then using this data to improve their marketing campaigns with personalized messaging. Think about some of the most recent ads you’ve seen on your social media pages or websites you’ve visited. It’s there for a reason which is why this is one of the most important online marketing trends.
It’s no wonder why user data from sites like Google, Twitter, and Facebook has become a commodity and why businesses pay top dollar for it. While it is impractical and impossible to make completely different strategies for each audience, the segmenting consumers is now more accurate than ever before, making it easier to place targeted advertisements.
Augmented Reality
While augmented reality (AR) may seem like a fancy and futuristic term, companies are starting to use it more today. If you have used or seen a Snapchat filter, you have experienced AR. It’s a relatively simple concept that involves adding digital data to the user’s real-world environment. AR has numerous applications such as photography, entertainment, gaming, navigation, and even marketing.
Through the use of AR, a business can effectively demonstrate how a product works or looks to potential customers. For example, Michael Kors made an AR advertisement for Facebook where buyers could picture themselves in one of their sunglasses (much like a Snapchat filter) before making a purchase decision. As you can tell, this kind of advertisement is much more engaging and effective in imparting the useful knowledge a customer needs when compared to a picture, for example — no wonder why AR marketing is one of the most exciting online marketing trends.
Parting Thoughts
Online marketing is a dream come true for businesses. It has swooped in and taken over from the primitive, ineffective, and expensive methods of marketing and has helped all businesses grow faster than was ever thought possible. However, it is essential for companies to stay aware of further improvements in the field if they do not wish to be washed away with the tides of time.
The original version of this article was first published on V3Broadsuite.
- What are the Recent Trends in Online Marketing? - August 27, 2019
