I’m sure we all know by now that digital marketing is important for a company today. If you haven’t spent time on your digital marketing strategy, you are in for a surprise because digital marketing has just begun and still has a lot of potential. The number of internet and mobile users increase every year. Currently, India still has 55% non-internet users and that means we have that much more potential to grow.
If you want to stay in the game, now is the best time for you to get started. In the next five years SEO is believed to grow in many possible ways:
Changes in SEO Strategies
As you may already know, Google Algorithms are constantly changing. This may be tedious for website and blog owners but to ensure that we always receive a quality experience, Google and other social media websites must constantly revamp their algorithms. As a result, we will see some drastic SEO changes in the years to come.
More websites will become mobile friendly as search engines will make it mandatory for ranking. Companies will hire more people to handle company SEO, mobile SEO and so on, ensure that they remain ahead of the competition.
Changes in Content Strategies
There is a constant debate about content lengths. While short articles worked well till 2015, we are now focused on longer articles. However, since we have visual content readily available to us, the format of written content will change drastically over the next five years. Companies will compete against each other by giving their customers a wholesome experience. Blog articles in the years to come may be both short and long for different readers, but more importantly, it will have a lot more visuals, infographics and embedded videos to keep readers interested.
Advertising Techniques that Seep Through Ad Blocks
Almost every computer has an ad block installed and now with the increase in marketing, mobile users are also installing ad blocks for better user experience. This is causing companies to incur heavy losses. They are constantly finding ways to advertise without being blocked by computer and mobile users. This is where native advertising and influencer marketing comes into play. Native advertising refers to adding sponsored content on a foreign website and mimicking their style of content and providing links that direct customers to the advertising website. It is similar to guest posting, just that, as an advertiser, you will have to pay to appear on the host website.
Native advertising has received a lot of mixed responses but with companies constantly taking time and working on their native advertising skills we can expect to see more of them in the future.
With the coming of the , companies are starting to realise that Virtual Reality is worth investing in. In the next five years, we predict to see more companies having virtual reality programmes, learning sessions and so on.
VR technology is constantly improving, which will lead to games that allow for sensory stimulation and this will change the way we view content altogether.
Maximum Use Of AI Bots and Behavioural marketing
Google Search, social media websites, e-commerce websites have done its part in spoiling us and getting us accustomed to receiving what we ask for. This makes us more demanding and in five years our demands will only keep escalating and companies will strive to give customers unparalleled service to make a sale. In 2018 many companies have adopted different kinds of AI bots to reach out to customers who were already interested in their services because they increase the chances of a lead and are much more efficient than a person. In the coming years, we expect AI robots to be on demand for efficient customer service. They will also get more responsibilities and will help companies reach out to customers in efficient ways. With more companies resorting to AI Bots we should expect better service, faster responses and more care from companies in the future.
Frequent Live Streaming
With videos becoming the new medium for faster reach, it is not a surprise to see a growth in live streaming. shows that 81 % consumers have watched live streaming videos in 2015 and 2016. Companies can connect with their customers easily with a live discussion, or product launch. However, we must keep in mind that some live discussions are not as good as others. Customers tune out of discussions as quickly as they tune in if they don’t find it to be worth their time. As companies learn and get better at their live streaming skills we expect to see more of them in the near future.
Growth in Influencer Marketing
Over the past few years, traditional advertising is almost becoming redundant as more companies have noticed that influencer marketing can generate leads and drive sales. Research shows that influencer marketing has been around for longer than we think. Earlier, companies used celebrities and other famous personalities to pose with their product and this led to an exorbitant amount of sales. This kind of influencer marketing is still present – like Priyanka Chopra modelling for Pantene and Aishwarya Rai modelling for L’Oreal and so on. However, people are starting to understand that these advertisements are contract based and that celebrities are paid to say the things they say.
In 2010 to 2012 we saw the growth of influencers. They were no celebrities, rather they were normal people living everyday lives, trying new products and giving an ‘honest’ opinion. In fact, the pioneers or modern influencer marketing perhaps didn’t even know they were writing history. Consumers appreciated honesty and started gravitating to personalities who gave honest opinions. Now, a well-known influencer is respected like a celebrity and more companies invest in them. In the coming years, influencer marketing will see more growth and companies will invest further in influencers rather than traditional advertisements.
Digital marketing is still in the embryo phase – it is growing and trendsetters are constantly making new changes and learning along the way. This aspect of marketing is yet to show signs of slowing down and we are expected to see many more changes. As a company, franchise, niche or entrepreneur all we can do right now is hold on to the current trends, keep experimenting and finding out what our customers enjoy the most.
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