The Future of Online Marketing
Internet or online marketing could be the thing that takes your company to the next level. Marketing is an ever-changing industry, and what works today may not work tomorrow. However, internet marketing has so far proven to be a lucrative and promising endeavor for those who venture into it.
Smart companies have already created stable foundations in digital marketing efforts. It is only a matter of time before everyone else joins in. the use of digital marketing is no longer an option; it is a necessity for success.
After all, audiences have moved to the online platform, so traditional marketing efforts will go unnoticed. What’s more, you can reach a larger audience with more effort. Digital marketing allows you to reach beyond borders on a global scale. Additionally, with internet marketing, you can track your progress and see the real-time results of your efforts.
With improved artificial intelligence and increased emphasis on customer experience, you would miss out on the chance to excel if you do not invest in online marketing. The future looks lucrative for this strategy but don’t take our word for it. Here is what experts in the industry say about the future of this trend.
Online Marketing Predictions for the Future
1. Video Marketing
This strategy is already trending. Studies have shown that users respond more to illustrations than text hence the use of images and videos. If you can stay what you need to in a video instead of blocks of text, you will gain more favor in users, and they will be more willing to interact with your content.
Whatever is easy on the eyes and more captivating will win. There are well over 4 billion video views on Facebook every day. Additionally, at least 92% of marketing experts state that using video content now and in the future should be an active part of advertising and marketing.
2. Shoppable Posts
This trend is already catching on and will be a huge part of online marketing in the future. More businesses are heading to where their users spend most of their time, social media.
Studies show that an average person spends a little over two hours per day on social media. Therefore, businesses are creating ‘shoppable’ posts to offer convenience to the users on these platforms. They allow the user to purchase the item from social media directly.
Users can click on an item on a post and get redirected to a cart, or checkout platform, saving time and enhancing convenience. It is, therefore, lucrative to have social media accounts across multiple platforms to increase your chances.
3. Personalization Everywhere
The customer experience is an important aspect of marketing now and will remain so due to stiff competition. Some industries discovered that personalization helps to keep the consumers engaged with your brand, even in the threat of lower prices and higher quality. Currently, consumers are looking for brands that will make them feel like they are their only consumers.
This has translated to personalized emails, adverts, and marketing efforts. Now, brands only push messages and information to consumers if they can relate to them. They examine your data and find relatable aspects to push customized marketing messages to you.
This increases the chances of consumer conversion. Personalization is still fresh, and investing in this would be a great head start for your brand.
4. Voice-Search Optimization
Another trend that has not yet peaked but is predicted to make a huge impact is voice-search. More consumers are using voice search to look for products and services. Currently, 58% of people have used voice search to find information about businesses.
Additionally, 72% of this population made voice search a part of their daily routine. Furthermore, hands-free technology is improving, and more households adopt smart assistant technology such as Amazon Alexa and Google Home, which respond to voice search.
Businesses are now optimizing their content to make it more voice-search friendly. Using voice-friendly terms in your content will increase searchability, making it easier to get your marketing messages or brand in users’ eyes. Voice-activated SEO is different from regular SEO, so you have to invest in both to stay ahead of the game.
5. AI Customer Service
Customer service is also taking a shift in online marketing thanks to advancements in Artificial Intelligence (AI). Chatbots are nothing new. However, the modern versions are better and advanced. Initially, they were an annoying pop-up that you could not get rid of nor gain helpful information from.
Studies showed that consumers would have rather talked to a real person at the time. However, this is not practical considering the need for availability 24/7. Manufacturers incorporated AI into chatbots, making them more advanced and ideal for consumer interaction.
Currently, more than half of users online would rather send messages via apps to chatbots than use helplines. Integration in chatbots ensures that they can accurately answer your consumers’ queries at any time and anywhere. The availability of these bots helps you close sales that you would have otherwise lost.
6. Engaging Content
Content is everywhere, and almost every business is sharing information on one platform or another. This means that there is a clear saturation of content online, which means that consumers can pick and choose what to engage with and what to avoid.
Obviously, you want to be part of the people that consumers interact with. Smart companies have found creative ways to keep consumers interacting with their content. Online approaches such as polls, quizzes, compatibility tests, and more are slowly taking over.
This type of engaging content is just what consumers need to remain interactive with your brand. It is crucial that your content stands out and marries the current trends, plus modernity.
To Conclude, this is just a small spectrum of what online marketing will look like in 2021 and the years to come. There is so much more coming up, and the tides are always changing, so expect to see things not considered before. As a business that wants to stay ahead, you are better off studying and incorporating emerging trends with the satisfaction of your consumers in mind.