The last decade has witnessed some radical changes and improvements in online marketing technologies and techniques. Artificial intelligence, visual marketing, digital advertising, and mobile marketing are some of the elements that continue to dominate online marketing in 2017. However, it is important to understand, before planning your budget and marketing strategy for the coming year, what online marketing trends will stay relevant and profitable in 2018.
Modern marketing drives brands to adapt in order to survive change and accelerate growth. Marketers have to be agile in their approach to facilitate constantly evolving trends. With so many interactive marketing platforms and techniques, there has never been a more exhilarating time for companies with enormous opportunities to connect with their audience. However, success always revolves around the understanding of what technologies and platforms can work best for your business.
In order to plan a first-rate online marketing strategy for your company in 2018, consider the following trends and incorporate them into your planning process.
Visual content
The growing significance of visuals suggests that marketers have clearly realized that the business content is of no use if it’s not retained by people. This is why visual marketing has become and will continue to be a critical tool for businesses and marketers to grab the attention of their customers. Content with interactive and visually-rich elements makes people take favorable actions in terms of sharing and likes. Take a look at the following stats:
- 41.5% of marketers said that infographics had the highest engagement
- Using a video on a landing page increased conversion by 86%
- 60% of marketers said visual content was integral to their 2017 marketing strategy
- Facebook posts with images see 2.3x more engagement than those without images.
Being a company, you should understand what motivates your audience to watch video content on their devices. Creativity and brilliant ideas are certainly important components of an effective visual asset. In order to remain relevant and successful in 2018, make visual content a key part of your online marketing activities.
Personalized customer experience
Lack of personalization has been one of the leading factors that affect the brand experience. 74% of people get frustrated with websites when content appears that have nothing to do with their interests. Personalized customer experience can help companies increase revenue and loyalty. Futuristic online marketing strategies put heavy emphasis on delivering a relevant and unique experience to each targeted individual.
The use of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies has enabled marketers to deliver an individualized experience to each customer. One of the ways to ensure a personalized experience for each customer is to create a dynamic website and use an intelligent automation tool that delivers customer-centric content.
The use of chatbots
It is established that people prefer a business that is available to reply to their queries 24/7. Deploying a chatbot is an incredible communication solution that will help you respond to your customers 24/7. Marketing experts have repeatedly highlighted the need for companies to deploy chatbots to facilitate customer service. Before your business enters 2018, figure out how you want to build and deploy chatbots to your site. Being an essential tool in modern inbound marketing campaigns, the use of chatbot will give you a clear advantage over your competitors.
Machine learning
Machine learning is on the rise as new algorithms and tools are being introduced. It is believed that machine learning will continue to expand in terms of accessibility and applicability. Sophisticated data analytics tools are evolving rapidly. The scope of machine learning is no more limited to large organizations. Businesses of all sizes can make a good use of the potential of the data-driven revolution. Machine learning can be of great help to optimize content, PPC campaigns, SEO, and link building. However, to fully adapt and accept new marketing technologies, you need to make sure that your web presence is responsive and optimized for search.
Corporate blogging
Corporate blogging, being an effective platform to communicate with customers, has emerged as the integral part of online marketing activities. It is an incredible way to generate organic traffic and inbound links for your business. Following the positive impact of maintaining a corporate blog, businesses are increasingly focusing on educating their audience through best corporate blogging practices.
Micro moments
It is anticipated that the most successful brands will be those that would quickly and correctly anticipate and address micro-moments. Delivering the right information at the right time has been a key to success. In 2018, micro-moments are expected to rise. Your brand definitely needs a responsive website that can offer instant and appropriate information.
If you offer a web experience that truly and sufficiently understands the needs and interests of your audience, it will become easy for you to increase the number of loyal customers down the road. It is time to plan for the future and embrace techniques that will impact your online marketing success in 2018.
About Reach First
Reach First is a digital marketing agency which provides top-notch branding, web development, paid advertising, social media marketing, and SEO services in Canada. We design and implement future-centric online marketing strategies for businesses. Our marketing experts offer proven expertise to create agile marketing solutions for your unique industry. Schedule your free consultation to see how we can help your business prepare for 2018.