Digital marketing goes through changes every year due to new developments in technology and the industry. The pandemic forced businesses to go digital to reach their audience. Even as digital marketers continue to help clients meet their goals, they are also looking out for the latest trends in the industry.
Here are some upcoming trends in digital marketing.
Use of Proximity Search
Search engine optimization (SEO) is important to increase the search ranking of a website. While brands are investing a lot in SEO, they focus on ranking well on specific search terms. This is a practical approach since it focuses on terms relevant to the company. But there are some nuances in the way people search online.
Customers typically check online for companies offering products they are planning to buy. While some may use specific keywords or keyword phrases, others do not limit their search to specific terms. With this, a company can rank well if they’re focusing SEO activities on specific terms. But they will lose out to other companies that have not limited their SEO searches to these specific terms.
These types of search activities are also known as adjacent or proximity search. Proximity searching doesn’t limit the search to specific terms, but it also includes results associated with the search terms. So, a company should consider this to increase the chances of ranking well when potential customers search for products or services they are offering in the market.
Management of User-Generated Content
Companies should recognize the importance of user-generated content. User-generated content isn’t only limited to major influencers who have hundreds of thousands or even millions of followers. It also includes users who create content to document their experiences in daily life.
These nano-influencers normally post on their social media accounts nearly every day. They have 10 to 10,000 followers on their account, and these followers normally trust these nano-influencers more than content generated by a company.
Due to this, companies should know how to manage their content so they can take advantage of it. Companies can do this by reposting content that mentions their brand, launch challenges on social media, and publish reviews on their websites.
Acknowledging user-generated content can help the company and the nano-influencer, who may be encouraged to create more content that the company can post on their social media pages.
Create More Interactive Content
Interactive content is not a new concept in digital marketing. It is one way for a company to encourage engagement among its customers. But the pandemic highlighted its importance due to social and physical distancing measures that prevented people from interacting with others outside their homes.
Interactive content allows consumers to connect with the company. With many businesses going digital during the pandemic, companies should make it easier for their customers to connect with them. To ensure the company can produce suitable interactive content, it can look for a reliable creative marketing agency to work on the content for them,
These agencies typically have a host of options for the digital content it creates for the company. Some of the content includes online quizzes, infographics, and interactive videos.
Increased Use of Voice Assistants
The advent of voice assistants facilitated the work of many people around the world. Among the more popular voice assistants are Alexa of Amazon, Siri of Apple, and Google Assistant. Alexa is the best assistant for device compatibility, while Siri is the most popular assistant for mobile devices. On the other hand, Google Assistant is noted for its responsiveness.
The pandemic saw an increase of around 26 percent in the use of voice assistants in the United States. These tools allow users to search the internet, set alarms, play music, create to-do-lists, and control connected devices. They can even facilitate shopping.
With this in mind, a company can innovate its marketing campaign to take advantage of the devices connected to the voice assistant. It can create audio content that is appealing to its market. Since online searching using mobile voice assistants will increase, the SEO campaign of the company should also make content optimized for these types of searches.
Additionally, the company should also consider that users use natural language when performing these searches. The BERT update of Google allows it to understand human speech, which facilitates the voice searches performed by users. Due to this, companies should take this into account when optimizing their content to allow them to connect with their market.
Some companies increased their digital marketing efforts to connect with their customers during the pandemic. With the pandemic about to end, companies should consider updates in the industry to allow them to maintain their connection with their customers in the market.
