Digital Marketing Trends That Aren’t Going Anywhere | Sales & Marketing Technologies

Internet technology is constantly evolving which is why it’s crucial for businesses to keep an eye on digital marketing trends to gain a competitive edge. Digital marketing includes a wide range of strategies such as web design, search engine optimization (SEO), pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, social media, and content. With so many strategies, it can be hard to know which trends are the most relevant for your business. We’ve compiled the top digital marketing trends your business should know to help keep it ahead of the curve.

Regardless of your industry, it’s important to stay up-to-date on digital marketing to ensure your business is competitive online and not using old practices that will hurt your company. Here are five digital marketing trends that are or will be affecting brands around the world.

Tracking and data privacy concerns have increased over the last several years in part to ground-breaking legislation like the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in 2018 and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) in 2020. Even major tech leaders like Apple and Google have implemented new privacy policies due to mounting concerns. As a response, we’re seeing more privacy-conscious tracking that involves first-party data gathering (i.e. data collected directly from an audience) as well as contextual and demographic targeting options.

The top spot on Google’s search engine results pages (SERPs) used to be the first position, but it’s been replaced with ‘position zero’ — a featured snippet of information that appears above the search results. SERPs show different elements like featured snippets, Local Packs, Knowledge Graphs, and more to answer users’ queries, which is creating more ‘zero-click searches.’ This means the SERP answers the query so the user doesn’t need to click on a link.

While position zero is a boon for brand visibility, it generates less site traffic because the information is on the SERP. Although zero-click searches offer benefits and drawbacks, you can optimize your content for position zero to include keywords like “what,” “why,” “how,” etc.

Google Ads has been investing in AI and machine learning technology, resulting in more automation features over the last several years that help reduce redundant, time-consuming tasks. The downside of automation means less control which can hurt a PPC campaign if left unchecked. Automation must be used carefully and still requires the human touch of marketers (at least for the time being).

According to a Voicebot survey, 87.7 million U.S. adults were using smart speakers as of January 2020 — exceeding a third of consumers. Additionally, smartphones offer voice assistants like Siri and Google Assistant which are another driver of voice search’s growth. There are several ways to optimize content for voice searches like long-tail keywords and context.

Quizzes, polls, surveys, shoppable posts, virtual reality, augmented reality, and 360-degree videos are just some examples of interactive content that increases engagement and provides a more personalized experience. It can stand on its own or be used within other content like landing pages, emails, blog posts, etc. Interactive content is also perfect for guiding prospects through your customer’s journey (e.g. awareness, engagement, conversion).

It’s never too late to review your digital marketing strategy to see if it’s up-to-date on the latest trends and best practices. Even a strategy that’s over a year old can be less effective for driving the kind of results your business needs. An experienced digital marketing agency will be able to create or upgrade your strategy to ensure your company is positioned for online success.

Call 407.682.2222 or schedule online for a free 30-minute strategy session with Sales & Marketing Technologies!