There’s no doubt about it. Even in the hectic pace of the modern era, the online world changes faster than pretty much anything else. What worked last year for digital marketing might be obsolete already.  And, when your business depends on a solid digital marketing strategy, it’s important to keep up with current shifts.  If you can take it a step further and get ahead of the game, you get a huge edge over your competitors.

This is truer now than ever before.  Some of the recent trends are still building momentum.  Chatbots are now more responsive and convincing than ever before. They are a great way to engage with your customers while saving heaps on personnel and man hours. Voice search is becoming more important each year, with digital assistants like Siri and Alexa becoming commonplace. This shifts how keywords are used as well. SEO now has to focus on more natural, conversational long tail keywords to optimise voice search results. Finally, video marketing is becoming both easier and more essential, offering you a great way to pass along loads of information to your customers in a way that they are comfortable receiving it.

That’s not all, though. The arrival of 2020 brings with it an explosion of new technology and a massive shift in how we engage with online commerce. Here are a few of the most important trends in digital marketing to keep in mind for the coming year:

Shoppable Posts

One of the key challenges to omnichannel commerce has been getting customers from your social media page your website. This is becoming a thing of the past. Shoppable posts now allow customers to buy directly without ever having to leave the site.  On some channels – like Facebook – shoppable posts have been around for a while.  However, now all the major social media sites offer ways to sell to your audience and it’s gaining a rapid following.  It makes sense, after all.  Most people use social media to research purchases before they make up their minds, so it’s an easy step from a decision to a conversion.  And if this sounds complicated, no worries. An experienced, high quality social media management agency can easily transform your social presence into a new sales channel.

Direct Messaging (DMs)

Personalisation is a key to a strong digital marketing strategy, and one of the best ways to personalise in the social media context is with the DM, the direct message. DMs can be sent to customers through private messages on Instagram, and Twitter, or through messaging apps like Facebook Messenger, Viber, or WhatsApp. They are great for creating a stronger relationships, taking sales orders, addressing complaints, or passing along deals and discounts, all within a convenient medium that the customer is already comfortable with.  The key is to encourage the customer to message you first, giving your username and offering great deals or coupon codes.

Micro Influencers

Influencer marketing isn’t a new thing. Social media is powerful and it’s woven into the fabric of modern living. Social media influence is valuable. It’s a great way to reach new customers, to get more legitimacy and boost brand awareness. A few years back, it was enough to just send a free sample to someone with a huge social media following in the hopes that they would review it.  These days, though, you’ll find yourself in competition with global corporations if you want to be reviewed by major influencers.

The biggest influencers are overloaded with sponsorship offers and often become out of touch with their followers. It’s both cheaper and more effective to look for medium- and small-sized influencers who connect with the right kind of audience for your product. These micro influencers offer more targeted presentation and better engagement, giving you a much better bang for your buck.

High-Quality, Gorgeous Interactive Emails

Email is still a robust form of marketing with a huge ROI. At the same time, plain text newsletters and other emails aren’t getting the same traction as they used to. The new trend is to include high-quality images and stylised clickable buttons. The idea is to put as much thought and design savvy into the email as you would into a page on your website. The more beautiful and interactive you make your emails, the more it will stand out from the crowd and boost customer engagement.

Sentiment Analysis

One of the most important aspects of marketing is to understand what your customers want.  And this means listening. Sentiment analysis lets you analyse the reactions of your customers to your product or service. Social media is an excellent medium for reviews, surveys, and consumer feedback. But this is just the beginning. Customer feedback is rarely as straightforward as a simple yes or no.  There are usually aspects of a product or service that a customer will appreciate, and others that could use refinement. With modern data collection processes and algorithms, sentiment analysis tools can review all available customer responses to help you refine both your products and digital marketing strategy.  Premium social media management services can help you to incorporate sentiment analysis into your marketing strategy and dramatically boost your ROI.

These are just a few of the trends that are transforming the face of digital marketing.  If you want to know more, click here to read Top Trends for Digital Marketing in 2020 – Part 2, or feel free to contact us and learn how your company can corner the market in the coming year.