It’s that time of the year again… As we reflect on 2017’s hits (and sometimes misses!), we long with enthusiasm for 2018 and the new challenges it will bring our way. What lies ahead for us marketers and brand experts in these upcoming months? How will we step ahead of the curve, in order to reach and engage with tomorrow’s consumer?
Here are 3 digital marketing trends to seriously consider integrating in your 2018 plan.
1. Creating personalised experiences
The days of ONE SIZE FITS ALL are over. Today’s consumer is seeking personalised experiences. Uniquely crafted digital experiences designed to meet the consumer’s needs and taste. Pertinent information is key as consumers are exposed daily to an overwhelming amount of advertising messages. The result? Consumers only engage with personalized ads, and in turn, ignoring the marketing messages they perceive as clutter. Personalisation can be as simple as implementing customised landing pages for various campaigns or as sophisticated as offering a fully personalised browsing experience based on the web-users history. Many different types of solutions are now available at lower costs such as those integrated into content management systems (CMS) or into analytics solutions. Standalone software as a service (SaaS) can also offer personalised options which integrate your brand’s CMS and analytics. A unique and profound digital experience for a unique consumer!
2. Embracing Artificial Intelligence
Using Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology as a tool to deliver an individualized experience to each customer is also on the rise. 1-to-1 personalisation using AI is based on the same principles as optimization and segmentation, but offers a solution to their two greatest challenges: delayed results and inability to scale. In 2018, you can expect AI website personalization services to be adopted across more sectors than the transactional sectors it had originally become popular with. Could being an early adopter of this trend be beneficial to your brand?
3. Creating content to garner customer engagement
This one is quite simple: integrating content marketing into your consumer’s digital journey creates customer engagement. Marketers are seriously going to have to treat content as a strategic resource: creating an engagement strategy utilizing various media in your product’s lifecycle is a must for 2018. Using techniques like personas and content mapping are a great way of achieving this goal. The use of video will also change the game in 2018 as video will gain the biggest uplift in this upcoming year. Take YouTube for example: its traffic and engagement has increased year over year. It has become the second biggest search engine after Google. Video is quickly evolving from simple ads to highly engaging content. This change is fuelled by social media: live streaming on social platforms such as Facebook for example is taking the digital world by storm. Making video content shine throughout the consumer lifecycle from pre-roll YouTube ads to explainer videos to live feeds are just engaging ways to have your consumer engage with your brand.
The digital world is constantly evolving and staying on top of trends can sometimes feel overwhelming. Just like surviving the Holidays, planning is essential. Your digital marketing agency is an important partner on which to lean on in order for you to achieve your 2018 goals. Don’t hesitate to discuss these trends with them in order to find the best solution for your brand.
2018, here we come!