As with any other thing in tech and the business landscape in general, trends are inevitable. These will make their way to your business sooner or later — you just have to see which ones would drive your digital marketing campaign to success.
Apart from Google advertising and SEO itself, here are more of the top (and life-changing) digital marketing trends small business owners like you should know about.
1. Short video content
Video has been around for a long time, but it’s only until recently that small businesses are discovering its potential. Its power shouldn’t be underestimated — 54% of consumers expect to see helpful video content from the brands they support.
Video marketing is a trend driven by a seismic shift in customer preferences. A 60-second explainer video or product demo consumes less time than reaching out to sales representatives and waiting for hours for a response. This also highlights the extent of self-service that consumers now prefer; video has become an essential tool that enables consumers to find solutions and answers on their own.
More importantly, it aids them in finalising their purchase decisions while keeping them aware of your brand at the same time. And with the rise of social media (more on this later), video content is a must-have in engaging and reaching your target audience wherever they may be. A lot of online marketing agencies include video content strategy creation in their packages — ask your provider if they can help you build one!
2. Social media eCommerce
Gone are the days when we only used Facebook or Instagram for posting selfies or cute snapshots of our pets — social media is now considered a highly valuable marketing tool. In recent years when the COVID-19 pandemic limited social mobility, businesses turned to eCommerce so they could thrive.
This involved leveraging their social media reach in selling their products and services; all you need to do is create a commerce profile, provide a secure payment system (could be a third-party provider), and curate your business profile in consideration of your branding and target audience. This allows you to use metrics in measuring and tracking results, as opposed to only tracking ad spend/performance that’s not always certain to bring significant, long-term ROI.
3. Chatbots
Consumers need solutions to their problems, and it’s important that you meet this kind of expectation. But how will you be able to do this if you haven’t yet built a dedicated customer response team?
The answer? Chatbots!
A lot of businesses use chatbots on their pages to keep visitors instantly engaged, or give urgent answers to specific queries and FAQs. Chatbots can also be used in social media profiles — in generating leads and providing customer support, keeping your messages personalised and interactive is key. Ask your online marketing agency if they could help you design and develop your page’s own chatbot.
4. Voice searches
In recent years, there has been a heightened focus on voice assistants in terms of their ability to make everyday life a whole lot easier. More and more people are going the hands-free route, meaning even search queries are literally asked out loud.
You can use this voice recognition technology to your advantage! Increase your chances of being discovered by optimising your website and digital content, as well as having your business listed at Google My Business. Also, keep in mind that users tend to ask full-sentence queries rather than keyword-based search phrases when using voice assistants, so be sure to provide answers for the “who”, “when”, “what”, “where”, “why”, and “how” questions.
Trends will test your brand’s adaptability
Whether you choose to focus on paid forms like Google advertising or boost organic traffic through SEO, it won’t hurt to weave other tools into your digital marketing strategy. After all, you’d need to constantly adapt to consumer behaviour and be visible where your target audience is. Develop a plan, create a video or two, then re-evaluate if it doesn’t work. You need not be confined to using only one tool — the possibilities are endless!
