Future Of Digital Marketing
Digital marketing previously consisted of websites, email campaigns, digital advertisements, basic social media management and basic blog publishing. The focus was mainly to increase website visits or repeat visits, but without any emphasis on lead generation or conversion.
Three core behaviours of a network:
- Access – Customers look for easy and fast access to information and this should be kept in mind while developing any tool.
- Engagement –The most important thing is the content of the website. It should be able to satisfy the customer who immediately goes for the content, once he has access to information.
- Customization – People want customization and their expectation can have a huge amount of variation.
Currently, there is a new version called Digital Marketing 4.0 from Forbes. Some new introductions are:
- Follow up emails after a visitor reads an article on a website
- Deep analytics and data mining, such as artificial intelligence and machine learning
- Account-based selling
The future trend of digital marketing focuses on certain strategies to attract customers:
Artificial Intelligence (AI) – AI is engaged in a meta-analysis of broad-spectrum data sets and using that data for decision making. Ex. Self-driving cars, Amazon and Netflix have built-in AI features for recommendations and transactions. AI would further be used in marketing applications, content creation, voice and face recognition, chatbots, digital assistants, and highly targeted marketing strategies.
Personal Digital Assistants – They stay connected to people at all points. This market is predicted to double in 2019 and reach 1.6 billion users by 2020. Devices have been made by different companies which are able to even collaborate. This technology will develop on a number of levels, like voice recognition, enhanced personalized services, integrated with the software.
Social Media Will Shift in Function – The whole spectrum of social media is going for a change. Users want more control, more user-focus, fewer advertisements and virtual reality. Facebook is also introducing a new newsfeed option (“Explore”) that separates social feed and advertisements.
Personal blogs, instant messaging and websites are becoming less popular. Digital marketers need to focus on these facts, and new ways to collect customer information.
Blockchain Technology – Blockchain refers to a decentralized digital ledger for confidentiality and highly secure applications. It is unregulated and in businesses, can be effective towards preventing fraud and ensuring security with customer transactions. It could be used for brand building and customer loyalty programs, especially in B2B.
Chatbots – Chatbots would have real-life conversations, and continue to evolve into more practical, versatile tools for both businesses and consumers. By 2020 they will most likely be a normal part of the average user experience. Facebook is currently busy creating a bot specifically designed for businesses to integrate into their messaging service.
Voice Search – Over 40% of teens and adults are using voice search daily and it is growing. A marketer’s ability should depend on accommodating voice search for SEO success.
Influencer Marketing – Getting “influential” people to market products and services will continue to grow and evolve in 2018 in both B2B and B2C. It is likely to grow into a continuous strategy and is very effective in generating quality leads.
Micro-moment Marketing – it is very consumer-focused. The challenge for marketers is to essentially “catch” their target buyer in the small window of this moment.
All digital marketers need to keep up with the trends and ensure that their marketing strategy stays competitive. Whether in a B2B or B2C business, building the buyer’s journey is very critical when setting up a marketing engine.