With innovative new technologies and communication tools, digital marketing is constantly evolving. That is why it is important to take them into consideration when developing your marketing strategies.
However, digital marketing is also influenced by external factors. For example, it has undergone major disruptions over the past year due to the health crisis and repeated lockdowns. As soon as the pandemic began, the measures set up forced companies to revisit their communications with their customers. They had to improve their digital strategies and create more relevant content in order to capture consumers’ attention and drive sales. It was all about survival!
To help you in your up-coming marketing efforts, here are the 7 trends offering the best results:
01. SEO optimization
This remains the backbone of any successful website strategy. Search engines carefully guard their SEO algorithms secrets and also update them frequently. So it is crucial to be well informed and to review your keywords regularly in order to optimize your SEO, or risk seeing your organic traffic drop significantly.
You also need to realize that the trend is for search engines to become answer engines!3 49% of Google queries already stop at the search results page. Users are clicking less and less on links leading to search results.
Two main causes can be found for this trend:
- The user realizes that the query doesn’t match what he is looking for and rephrases.
- Google provides the answer through knowledge graphs, featured snippets and other data types.
It’s important to note that a website having well optimized its SEO and developped its Meta Titles and Meta Descriptions will more likely be part of the 51% of fruitful queries. In addition, companies that have put forward an SEO strategy to be visible in snippets, which includes being featured in My Google Business, will appreciably increase their exposure on Google11.
02. Personalization
Personalization is key to the future of digital marketing. More and more data analysis will be done to ensure a truly personalized experience.
Remember this: consumers are often quite willing to share more personal information in exchange of a web experience tailored to their individual needs2. With web giants like Amazon, they have grown accustomed to seeing relevant offers on the home page based on their previous visits.
This customization must be implemented throughout your digital marketing, which includes, for example, your newsletters5. Tailor the customer experience by segmenting your newsletters according to your clients’ preferences. These preferences are determined according to the type of people you want to reach and will allow you to optimize your products and services sales.
Another important aspect to consider is that tailoring your website contributes to improving your user experience which in turn contributes to improving your quality score on Google9. For example, customizing increases the time spent on your pages as well as the number of page views. It also leads to a decrease in the bounce rate. These are all influential factors in your quality score which establishes the positioning of websites on the results pages10.
03. Developing a strategy based on trust
It’s important to recognize the benefits of a trust-based strategy, especially in uncertain times such as a global pandemic. Trust is achieved simply: when a product or service meets the expectations of the customer2. You need to capitalize on this to build a strong relationship with your customers and generate more sales.
Also, user-generated content on social media is very popular! Your audience is paying attention to what your customers have to say. It’s the new way to generate online word-of-mouth (eWOM15). Your target audience will more easily identify and connect on a human and compassionate level, and develop a stronger bond and trust with your brand1. Authenticity and honesty in your interactions are key to encourage these exchanges8
This means that you need to engage your customers as much as possible by asking them to:
- Write a review on your products and services,
- Post content on social networks,
- Vote or answer a survey,
- Collaborate during the launch of one of your products.
A satisfied customer will want to have a role in the success of your brand. You can thank them by posting and sharing in turn their content on your networks.
04. Building a more human experience
Confinement has created a greater need for “human” experiences in the digital world2. We have to learn how to generate online sales while maintaining the need for close relationships.
Social networks can help you connect with your community, there are also Chatbots that allow customer service directly on your website6. Conversational robots have been proven to help move your prospects through the sales funnel 24/77-12. You can also generate automatic messages to track the shipping after checkout and even create newsletters to keep in touch.
The human experience can also be experienced through augmented reality:
- Visiting a place without actually being there,
- Trying on a pair of glasses or a new lipstick color in real time,
- Visualizing a new interior design,
- And so much more 4-8
Now that’s an added value which converts.
05. Integrating social media in your digital marketing strategy
Business investment in social media advertising increased by 20% in 2019 and now accounts for 13% of global advertising spending1.
Facebook and Instagram have made several changes to their algorithms and often favour paid content over organic publications. Nevertheless, you can still target an audience according to your persona and consequently allow for better interaction1. However, regardless of the social media, remember that engagement is still the most important factor driving your success.
LinkedIn is once again trending in the business community. The platform has been transformed since its acquisition by Microsoft and is more focused on the work-related world rather than on job search. It is a good tool to increase traffic to a website and helps professionals to share, inspire and even work together1.
An emerging trend is the collaboration among brands on social media. This partnership directly targets the key audience and strikes their imagination much more than a single ad while pushing them to linger on the content1.
06. Offering Subscriptions
The concept of subscriptions had long been abandoned, being limited to telephone, television and internet services. But the concept is now back in vogue and no longer solely reserved for dematerialized goods and services.
It is a business model that has proven successful in many fields. Subscription is gradually gaining ground while revolutionizing consumer practices. For example, we can now subscribe to13-14:
- Watch shows on Netflix, Disney, etc.
- Listen to music on Apple, Spotify, Amazon.
- Rent community cars.
- Get our custom Gillette Razor Blade Kit at the frequency of our choice.
- Receive monthly delivery of personal hygiene protection.
- Discover new cosmetics, 4 times a year, with FatFitFun.
- Receive our fresh food directly at home thanks to Lufa Farms, MissFresh, Good Food, etc.
- Download software such as Photoshop, Illustrator, Antidote, etc.
- Develop our sales tools with Salesforce, LinkedIn Premium, etc.
- Attend online courses.
The benefit of offering a subscription is that it ensures a constant flow of income, facilitates inventory management and builds customer loyalty.
07. Presenting dynamic visual content
Videos and photos are among the most widely used means of communication on web platforms, with dynamic and interactive visuals dominating o n YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn.2
Developing a visual strategy that includes the production of videos in addition to a diverse photo gallery is critical. Once you’ve done this, you can draw from your library to create visuals for your website, social media, and even your TV, radio or web banners.
Conclusion
You now have all the tools you need to create an effective digital marketing strategy for the coming year. But the key to success also lies in knowing your customer and how they prefer to interact with you. Once this is done, it is possible to create a digital ecosystem and constantly adapt it according to new marketing trends.
Note that companies that have correctly identified trends related to their customer base experience better results. In fact, they are growing faster than their competition. This is why it is important to surround yourself with digital marketing experts who share the same values as your company and who will be able to help you create your target audiences.
We recommend that you meet with us. Not only do we have a flawless customer experience, we also have digital marketing tattooed in our hearts.
Sources
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- https://blogue.guaranamarketing.com/articles/10-tendances-marketing-web-2020
- https://www.codeur.com/blog/tendances-marketing-2020/
- https://www.blogdumoderateur.com/google-zero-clic-2019/
- https://pige.quebec/blog/tendances-2020-marketing-web/
- https://falia.co/quelles-sont-les-tendances-marketing-pour-lannee-2021/
- https://falia.co/tendances-marketing-2020/
- https://www.gestionproximacentauri.com/2020/01/29/10-tendances-marketing-2020/
- https://www.redacteur.com/blog/tendance-content-marketing-2021/
- https://dialekta.com/fr/blog/ux-seo-algorithme-classement-google/
- https://www.webitinteractive.ca/en-quoi-lexperience-utilisateur-peut-ameliorer-le-referencement-de-votre-site/
- https://blog.marketo.com/2018/04/google-knowledge-graph.html
- https://www.forceplus.com/blog/chatbots-lead-generation
- https://daniloduchesnes.com/blog/tendances-marketing-digital/
- https://www.infopresse.com/opinion/alexandra-blaison/2017/10/20/comment-l-economie-de-l-abonnement-pourrait-bouleverser-les-modeles-d-affaires-etablis
- https://www.hec.edu/en/knowledge/articles/electronic-word-mouth-what-marketers-need-know
