MARKETING TRENDS

Some?of the?most?famous marketing strategies from this generation will go down in history,?as they struck while?the iron?was?hot.

A brand’s preparedness to react to emerging technology, best business practices, trends, news, and changing circumstances?define its ability to gather followers, engagement, and customers.

?Keeping up with social media trends and the latest marketing tactics will allow you to create content around those hot topics, increasing impressions on social media and Google search results. Creating relevant content for digital marketing trends will ensure that you keep your target audience engaged, and will likely help you to be noticed more frequently by the consumers of your information, and ultimately, your potential customers.

DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS FOR YOU TO CONSIDER

Here are some fresh marketing tools and the latest marketing trends happening right now that you or your marketing team can utilize to enhance your marketing efforts to help improve customer experience, build awareness, reach your target audience, and hit your advertising goals.

MEME CRAZE

Take advantage of memes. They’re funny! This is one of the best ways to create awareness of your brand and attract customers in a light-hearted way.

While social media is a platform for communication, memes are a way of expressing a culturally relevant idea. A meme is an image or video representing a specific audience’s thoughts and feelings. Most memes are captioned photos intended to elicit humor.

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Memes work for brands because they’re designed specifically for social media platforms and provide value through entertainment. Memes aren’t overly promotional — they make people laugh with a casual reference to your brand. Because of their entertainment value, it’s easier for your micro-influencers and followers to share memes.

Important Point!

If you don’t understand a meme – do not post or share it! You don’t want to share something with your audience that could be offensive to viewers or harmful to your reputation.

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These visual content memes are continuing to rise in popularity. Adding these witty social media posts to your marketing efforts can increase your reach. This is a marketing trend that you should continue to analyze by determining what resources and images you can use and how you can incorporate them into your current social media and email marketing strategy.

TRENDING AUDIO CLIPS ON INSTAGRAM

Video or images combined with music, sound effects, or voice-over via Instagram Reels are gaining a lot more traction. Short-form videos are ideal for social media because users typically scroll quickly, so their attention is limited. These videos have higher customer retention rates, making them more likely to capture the eye of the viewer.

Reels allow you to share bite-sized fun and engaging information with your followers. This feature allows you to create short video clips, and you can add filters, music, and/or text. This is an effective way to reach an audience outside your current followers. Videos featured on the explore page can reach a whole new audience. These Reels can also be researched on Instagram Stories. This is beneficial because Instagram Stories are presented at the top of a user’s feed, meaning they’re the first thing your existing followers see when they open the app.

Remain at the front of your customer’s minds with engaging visual content that helps them feel a part of your brand’s journey. Nurturing positive customer relationships will present significant benefits for your business. This can include customer retention, loyalty, and satisfaction, resulting in repeat business that will pay off in the long run.

MARKETING CAMPAIGNS (VIDEOS)

Videos are continuing to get more and more traction! Using videos is a common marketing tactic that you should definitely take advantage of. With the right element and marketing mix, your brand could be the next viral thing on the internet. Music videos, comedy sketches, pet videos, and film trailers are all categories ripe for going viral.

Video content is best for driving social media views and engagements. Consumers like it because it’s easy to digest, entertaining, and engaging. On the other hand, many marketers like it because it can give a potentially huge return on search engine optimization through many channels.

According to brand ambassadors, video content has helped eCommerce platforms increase user understanding of a product or service. Customers will only buy your product when they understand what it does and how it will help them.

Using videos in your marketing efforts is by far the most effective of all the marketing strategies out there. And telling people about your products or services helps increase engagement on your digital and social channels. It educates your audience and allows you to reach them with a new medium. Just remember to make it consumable for mobile devices and consider putting subtitles on your videos to make them accessible to a greater number of social media users.

INFLUENCER MARKETING (REVIEWS AND UNBOXING)

Another digital marketing trend that is continuing to gain attention is influencers and marketing campaigns. These videos and social media posts have become so popular in digital advertising. Getting a review of your services or unboxing your products done by a social media influencer helps increase your sales, expand your reach, and build customer loyalty.

Online reviews help consumers through their purchasing decision process. Customers are more likely to trust brands with online reviews compared to brands with no reviews. Influencer reviews can also be a form of experiential marketing, where consumers can watch and learn about a product or service, weighing its pros and cons. A lack of reviews makes buyers feel increased risk, which makes them less likely to buy.

Influencer marketing bypasses ad blockers and conveys the brand message to an audience that eagerly consumes digital content. Unlike traditional media or targeted advertising, these messages are not forced on the audience. People opt to listen to the messages conveyed through brand ambassadors or social media influencers.

Influencers and expert speakers are the best channels for this type of digital marketing strategy, as they already have a strong community of followers. Using this marketing strategy will allow you to reach a broad audience to showcase the benefits and features of your services or products. Digital business models can launch these marketing campaigns on different social media channels to build curiosity and enticement with their target audience.

TIKTOK

Here is one of the marketing trends that has experienced some of the most growth, placing a heavy emphasis on serving visual content that’s intuitive to consume. TikTok has a unique algorithm that is different from its counterparts. The app uses machine learning to show you a personalized feed known as the “For You Page” that is different for every user. TikTok has a user-centric design and focuses on what you like and dislike.

Social media marketers can benefit from TikTok as it provides a level playing field regarding reach and engagement. Unlike social media platforms such as Instagram or YouTube, TikTok users with zero followers can get millions of views on a video thanks to the viral nature of the algorithm.

Brands can also use this space as a more direct e-commerce platform. TikTok creates a great customer experience because users can buy products directly in the app by clicking the shopping tab seen in the video. It’s an easy way for people to shop and an effective strategy for brands.

TikTok for Business users can create TopView Ads, In-Feed Ads, Brand Takeover Ads, Branded Effects, and Branded Hashtag Challenges. TikTok is a great social media marketing strategy for increasing your audience reach, consumer engagement, and brand creativity.

REDDIT

Another digital marketing trend that’s growing in popularity is Reddit. This is a social news, content rating, and discussion website where you can answer questions, post links, or upload images and videos that are relevant to your brand. It is a network of communities where you can discover emerging business and new marketing trends, new digital advertising tactics, and rising social media trends.

Reddit is a bit of an untapped goldmine for digital marketers. The site is made up of thousands of niche communities (subreddits). This platform allows you to communicate directly with your target audience. If your post rises to the top, you can reap the benefits of some pretty significant traffic.

The best way to market on Reddit is to create relevant content that users find valuable and interesting. Take the time to engage in discussions, listen to marketing professionals, answer questions, and create content exclusively adapted for the platform. Continue being active, and remember that it’s a long-term game.

PODCASTS

While podcasting has always been seen as a niche tool that may or may not be relevant from a marketing perspective, its popularity is increasing. Every year, we see more and more content creators and brands leveraging podcasting for business and marketing practices. The number of active podcasts and podcast listeners is increasing daily. This means that discussions of marketing trends, news, personalities, technologies, and everything under the sun echo all over the digital space.

Podcasting allows brands to communicate to a captive audience. The ability to have podcasting on demand allows companies and brands to tell their story anywhere at any time, even to people with lifestyles on the go. Having the ability to reach so many people via podcasting can help your business establish authority within the industry and create brand advocates along the way.

If you are thinking about starting your very own podcast or want to learn more about podcasting, then this is the episode for you!

Rhea Allen, President and CEO of Peppershock Media and founder of The Marketing Expedition, teaches you about the tools, tricks, equipment needed, and things to keep in mind to get started and get going on your very own podcast journey!

https://www.peppershock.com/2021/02/episode-61

MARKETING STRATEGY (FROM “BRICK AND MORTAR” TO “CLICK AND MORTAR”)

E-commerce trends are boosted with the rise of technology and social media. Even consumer behavior has changed rapidly over the past few years.

Traditional advertising is going through a huge digital transformation, continuing to evolve. Click and mortar is the business model with online and offline operations, typically including a website and a physical store.

Conversational Marketing

Good marketing should improve customer experience and provide a fast, responsive, and frictionless experience for consumers. Brands offering great digital customer experience provide a cohesive and consistent online experience that delights their customers.

Conversational marketing is a way to keep online experiences positive by building relationships with consumers. Chatbots that pop up when a consumer needs help are an excellent example of conversational marketing. This allows the consumer to ask questions or comment and receive real-time responses.

Social Commerce

Short-form video content incorporated with direct links to purchases is an effective marketing trend that is happening right now. Social commerce is what happens when savvy marketing teams take the best of eCommerce and combine it with marketing tactics on social media.

Consumers, mostly Gen Z’s, use the internet for almost everything they purchase. Even if they make a purchase in person, this generation is very likely to research the product online before purchasing. They might want to see reviews about a product or learn what the company stands for before making their purchase. This generation is more focused on organizations practicing social responsibility and finding environmentally friendly products. Because of this, the social responsibility consciousness paired with online shopping, and e-commerce platforms will continue to grow.

E-commerce

Running an e-commerce business in 2023 is not an easy task. The competition among online retailers is so high that you must always come up with something unique to stay on top. E-commerce businesses have to prepare themselves to keep up with ever-increasing customer expectations.

Drive growth with influencer marketing and think native for each social media platform. Empower your existing customers by sharing user-generated content. User-generated content is a smart way to engage loyal customers, build trust with your target audience, and attract new users.

SEARCH ENGINES

With so much content out there the internet would be essentially useless without search engines. Internet users would drown in a sea of irrelevant information and shrill marketing messages without this tool. Search engines provide users with search results that lead to relevant information on high-quality websites.

Voice search tactics for SEO Marketers can be leveraged as a powerful search engine optimization (SEO) tool. These digital assistants are designed to answer short, informational queries and they’ve also started to process more customized searches with ai technology (artificial intelligence) functions. Machine learning aids in SEO that is up to date and seamless for users.

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What’s the most popular?

Google is the largest search engine followed by Youtube and Pinterest. Think about how you can capitalize on all the different ways people are searching for information. Adjust your marketing strategy to adapt to these new digital marketing trends based on ways you believe your target audience is searching for their information.

QR CODES

People are using QR codes more and more; one of the outcomes of the pandemic. Consumers weren’t touching menus or catalogs, so QR codes took off in the digital world, and we now see them all over.

Think about spaces your consumers are likely to be and develop a strategic plan to get QR codes in those spaces. This will allow for more touchpoint opportunities creating more reach and brand awareness.

“Scan Here” can be a great call to action that gets people to the exact web page you intended. QR codes can take users to many landing pages. This can be helpful if you want people to sign up for an event, take a survey, or even just learn more about a specific topic.

MESSAGING APPS

Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Google Hangouts, Google Chat, MSN, and other social media messaging apps are growing exponentially. People are using direct messages to purchase and inquire about products and services. These make perfect marketing channels for digital marketers to promote their businesses and increase brand awareness.

Almost all social media platforms have a direct message feature. You need to check on your DM’s regularly to unlock a goldmine of people who are trying to reach out or buy from you. A direct message from a consumer via social media or messaging app could provide your next big, really awesome deal! Responding quickly to customers through DM will increase conversational marketing and build users’ trust in your company.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Artificial Intelligence, also known as AI, is a way that we can use our computers and systems to help us create something amazing. AI works together with machine learning to process difficult algorithms and quite frankly, make our lives easier.

Artificial Intelligence technology works in the marketing realm in many ways, such as collecting data from websites to predict trends, capitalizes on said trends, or making automated decisions based on what information is sees with that data. This advanced technology turns out to be super helpful with predicting what comes next in a marketing environment/campaign.

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UTILIZING THESE TRENDS

Trends put forward new ideas and opportunities that allow businesses to push the boundaries within their industry. Using these marketing trends will help your brand extend it’s reach while communicating your values in a variety of different ways.

Think about the different ways that you can implement new trends into your current marketing strategy in order to build your brand and bottom line.