This year is almost done and the next one is peering round the corner. People are planning and plodding on what to do in the next year taking into consideration the marketing trends this year. There is so much of information out there and the options are diverse, such as Youtube, podcasts, forecasts, blogs, etc., following too many will only get you confused further.
But for some people the ploy that works would be to wait and watch the marketing trends than to head off in the wrong direction.
There are in fact many interesting marketing trends that will have a telling effect on your tactics, read on to know more.
Trend 1: Cash in on branding
You could be having an advantage that has given you the edge until now. It could be some interesting feature, the costing of your products, a technological advantage, the requisite manpower or it could even be a marketing advantage.
This is a competitive world, folks notice what works for you and take efforts to follow suit. Hence slowly but surely you would notice that the said advantage is wearing-off and you know for sure it wouldn't last.
But what lasts is branding.
Ralph Lauren Corporation is a fashion company known for designer clothes, fragrances, and accessories. They accomplished 50 years in the business. An event held to commemorate the achievement was attended by celebrities such as Oprah, Hillary Clinton and Kanye West. They are finding difficult to attract young American shoppers. Hence they are now tapping young influencers and have roped in Emmy Rossum, Cameron Dallas, Iman, Taylor Hill and others in their campaigns. They are aiming for the Gen Z generation through young influencers.
The Kardashians also know how to get the vein on branding going strong. Kylie launched a billion dollar cosmetic company. There isn't anything different regarding the products introduced, just that they are monetizing on her branding value.
Branding is the reason why firms spend billions of dollars on influencer marketing.
Trend 2: Optimize for voice search
It is predicted that over 50% of the searches next year will be voice based. So how do you make sure not to miss the boat. This may not be considered as a new trend, but then how do you make it succeed in a bigger fashion for you in the coming year. By making the search optimized in your favour. So how are you going to ensure that it works for you and enable you to cash in on the opportunity with sales conversions?
There are plenty of voice based search available right now such as Siri or Alexa or Google Home and they work with most popular devices.
But there is a new entrant in the market that is going great guns- Jetson.AI People can buy stuff from any site using voice search and this works with all popular devices.
The AI in it is helpful as it gathers data on repeated usage and utilizes the information to help you complete your purchases quickly during future searches.
If you have been ordering a particular product brand with a certain feature, the next time you get on the system to order the same product, the system recognizes your requirement and makes it easier for you to order the product.
Trend 3: Google Analytics to the rescue
Google Analytics is a game changer when it comes to providing you vital information regarding your website. It's a tool worth every penny, but it doesn't cost you anything - hence it's worth your time.
Marketing is not static but very dynamic is nature. New channels such as voice search makes you alter your approach. Transactions are not just a purchase interaction.
There are plenty of features and possibilities such as upsell, down sell, cross sell, repeat purchase and order bumps. There are umpteen opportunities to generate revenue as in partnerships, affiliate marketing and webinars.
Firms are beginning to look for better analytic and business intelligent solutions to collaborate with their database, this where Amplitude scores. There are other options such as Google Data Studio. Data studio stores data on business and marketing in one place which is wonderful to be mined later for information. Granular data from Facebook ads can be saved into Data Studio while it's cumbersome to do so with Google Analytics.
Business intelligence also is gaining ground quickly. All this will help you make logical and long term decisions to optimize earning potential on the long run as data is stored centrally.
Trend 4: Alternative Communication Channels
The click rates of Emails are tapering. And open rates hang around a similar figure for most marketers. But Emails will hold fort, because Emails and the corporate world go hand in hand.
But firms will have to find diverse avenues to communicate. Chatbots will certainly shift gears with ManyChat and MobileMonkey for takers. These two leverage Facebook Messenger to a larger extent. And once they connect with WhatsApp and Instagram their popularity should soar.
Push notifications with amazing click through rates will not be left behind. There are tools like Subscribers to do the trick.
Chatbots and push notifications will be the game changer for marketing.
Trend 5: Marketing needs automation
Ad budgets and paid ads were huge expenditure for smaller firms a few years ago, now it's a level playing field. The smaller firms played around with SEO to keep up with the competition. Now you have options to go for the paid ads through credit card loans, institutional loans, and financing firms. You could spend on marketing and pay them back later.
In fact more firms are leveraging AI for better solutions via SEO and other possibilities. There are few catering in this niche are RankScience and Clickflow. You can automate your SEO to a large extent. Automated SEO solutions can increase page views and provide more keywords.
The clients are big software firms and they see better results than other companies. Many software companies leverage AI. The marketing field is getting more even. You will have to leverage AI and automation or you are going to be left behind because it will make changes faster and more accurately than a human. This is the credible option to continually compete.
If everyone is leveraging the same AI marketing technology then how will you beat the competition?
It will all be down to costing, customer service, upselling, operations, sales and all the mundane stuff that is going to help you win.
One size doesn't fit all is certainly a cliché. But in marketing terms its credo. If it's your lucky campaign then you could look at 2 to 3% conversions. That's because it's a one size fits all marketing approach. The key is personalization.
Do you visit Amazon site often, you would have noticed of late- they show you products which you have been purchasing or searching for repeatedly. And lo, it certainly works. A home-maker would see household supplies because that is what is searched the most by them. And they would see lots of advertisements on such products. A pet owner would notice dog food and this is smart- they would end up buying either because they want it or would want to stock it.
Businesses should take the effort to personalize online or offline shopping experiences to so as to convert customers.
Firms such as Amperity collect first-party data from the brand itself, not third-party data purchased from others - to create a customer relationship model to serve each consumer better, whether online or offline.
Marketing is turning into a personalization strategy. Ad costs and marketing costs are rising, but you got to figure out how to get the 97% back.
Conclusion - Marketing Trends
A lot of the stuff mentioned above isn't discussed a lot and they aren't popular marketing topics everyone notices but it is the future. These are trends will come true and you have to adopt them.
You can have your cake and eat it too - you are privy to the information and now have a chance to act on it before your competition does. This is the chance to take the first step and beat your competition. Whether you are a big gun or a start up on a measured budget.
