Although it might seem as it is a rather young industry to those who are not familiar with it, digital marketing has actually been around for almost three decades now, since 1993 to be precise.
Understandably, it has evolved throughout the years, following all the innovations and changes in technology, communications, and the internet. Today, this advertisement form has become essential and perhaps the most powerful for most businesses and using it or failing to do so is, in most cases, the key to success or failure.
However, while the basics of the industry remain the same, its trends keep changing with each passing year, especially since more and more people are joining the internet world every day.
source:unsplash.com
This is why it has become important to stay informed and follow these trends as closely as possible. After all, every business wants to gain loyal clients or customers and the best way of doing this is by having an effective and efficient advertising strategy and campaign.
So, let’s take a closer look at what kinds of changes and trends we can expect in the future as digital marketing enters a new decade.
User-Generated Content (UGC)
source:firstmotion-international.com
Recent studies have shown that consumers are becoming increasingly wary of brand messages and instead rely on other activities for checking the quality of a product or service before purchase.
In the eyes of the consumer, reviews, influencer posts, ratings, testimonials, and similar UGC content is much more trustworthy and authentic and this is something that should and probably will be leveraged more by brands in the future.
Quality UX Design
source:interaction-design.org
UX or user experience design entails creating products that offer meaningful and relevant user experiences. With the ever-rising popularity of smartphones and apps, it is more important than ever to provide quality user experience since it is one of the key components of a brand’s success.
This includes careful and meaningful planning, acquiring, and integrating of a product along with its branding, usability, function, and design. As such, the product’s consumption and use should not be the most important but instead providing pleasure, a good experience, efficiency, and fun are things that should be brought to the forefront.
There is no denying that people love interacting, so more and more advertising strategies will shift their focus towards such content and give consumers what they are looking for. Polls, 360-degree videos, and quizzes are just a few forms that can garner more engagement and raise a brand’s visibility.
Not only is it fun but it is also extremely original and shareable too. This can greatly raise your brand awareness and give visitors a reason to stay on your website longer too.
The internet and digital platforms have been changing the marketing game for quite some time now, rendering traditional advertising methods almost useless. Customer values are rapidly shifting away from a cluttered media landscape, to something more simple and minimalistic.
This does not mean that less thought is put into creating an impactful message but instead focuses on making something powerful by following the idea that less is more. This type of advertising heavily relies on making a visual impact as opposed to using words or writing.
This is also why an increasing number of digital marketing agencies such as Punch Bug Marketing are now offering not only services related to online advertising but also ones like graphic design, content creation, web design, and similar services.
Personalization is the Way to Go
source:helpdeskgeek.com
Traditional and generic ads are no longer appealing to the masses and have almost entirely lost their promotional effectiveness.
Today, people not only prefer personalized ads but are also increasingly starting to expect them. For those who are unfamiliar with personalization, it entails dynamically creating and showing messages and ads based on a customer’s preference, behavior, demographics, purchase history, and the likes.
In fact, 80% of people said they are more likely to interact and buy something from a company that offers such services. This especially applies to emails since they are the most useful and strongest online advertising tool to use. So, making things personal is definitely the way to go in the future.
Augmented & Virtual Reality
As mentioned above, quality UX experience is what gets the most consumer engagement and traditional content is simply not enough anymore. AR and VR technology has brought on a completely new and different way of promoting one’s products or services.
While augmented reality can offer consumers previews of how things can be set up or how they can look like, virtual reality can take them into a simulated environment where they can test and get a life-like feel of a product before they decide to purchase it.
This type of technology brings excitement and fun into consumer’s lives while being convenient at the same time.
There is no e-commerce without social media and over half the users on several different platforms have said that they have discovered new goods through it. Due to this, social media websites have also made it easier for businesses to share and sell their items online.
Shoppable posts are available on several platforms and they offer sellers a chance to simply tag their posts with the name and price of an item while users can make a direct purchase from them. This is also a great way to direct and generate more traffic on one’s website.
These types of posts are slowly becoming popular and they will most certainly continue to grow and be used more often over time.
People have grown accustomed to the convenience technology brings into our daily lives and are constantly looking for ways to utilize this to make it even more convenient. This is why voice search is rising in popularity.
Moreover, an increasing number of individuals are buying and using smart speakers and it is estimated that over half of all online searches this year will be voice ones. Hence the importance of such a service is larger than ever before.
It will be interesting to see how the industry will evolve in the future and what new things and trends it will bring to the table in years to come. However, one thing remains certain, it will continue to play an important role in the success of many businesses.