Top 20 Digital Marketing Trends To Watch In 2018 And Beyond

It’s 2018 and the digital marketers are getting ready to face the disruptions and challenges coming in the way of achieving their goals. They bank on technological advancements time and again to address the client’s requirements and gain the optimum outcome.

As we witness a transformation from a laptop and desktop-driven age into the mobile-driven era, the advent of new marketing trends is inevitable in the digital world.

Here we go through twenty noteworthy digital marketing trends that are going to impact the marketing strategy in the year 2018 and beyond:

1. AR Will Be Game Changer

Pokémon Go has already shown what AR (Augmented Reality) integration with social media can do. As the number of smartphone users steadily increases across the world, different brands will tend to use AR to establish better engagement with consumers in the near future.

For example, the AR technology will enable the brands to show content based on the customer’s location. Experts are of opinion that Instagram and FB will soon integrate AR into their platforms.

2. Importance Of Influencers Will Decrease

Companies spend a lot of bucks on influencers, but, they are unable to measure the results they could get.

In the coming time, it is fairly possible that the influencer market will collapse as the brands move to organic promotional methods that are more affordable and effective than high-cost influencers. When it comes to increasing RoI, there is no alternative to traditional organic methods.

3. Data Will Be Dominant

Data analysis has been mainstreamed in the year 2017, and now onward, we can see the rise of data-driven marketing. Marketers will make their strategies on the basis of clear understanding of consumer behavior and their overall journey from search to shopping.

It is fair to mention that the digital marketing professionals will monitor the customer’s purchasing path from scratch to learn what compels them to buy.

Source: Teradata.com

4. Complete Mobile Takeover Is Obvious

These days, handheld devices account for over 60 percent of all digital minutes worldwide. It includes Facebook advertising and searches.

In the year 2018 and beyond, we will witness a complete mobile takeover and digital marketing techniques will be based on the mobile platform. However, it does not mean that desktops and laptops will become obsolete, but yes, their charm will fade with time.

5. Micro-Moments Will Remain In Focus

Customers use their mobile devices for almost everything ranging from searching to purchasing.

In 2018, we certainly expect that more people will make instant decisions with the help of smartphones, which will lead to the rise of micro-moments. An integrated marketing strategy should be woven around these micro-moments to ensure that the brands show real-time information to potential customers whenever they look for information or advice.

Google calls these moments Micro-Moments. They’re the I want to know, I want to go, I want to do, and I want to buy moments that are loaded with intent, context, and immediacy. And the marketers have to be ready for it.

Source: Thinkwithgoogle.com

6. Ads Will Be More Purposeful

In any digital marketing campaign, ads play a vital role to reach a targeted audience. But then, people have already started giving less attention to the ads, marketers need to rebuild the ad strategy in 2018.

Only purposeful ads with a highly specific objective and capacity to attract a targeted audience will work wonders. With this, we can also expect that mobile ad platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat will post a major growth in coming years.

Source: Wearesocial.com

7. Video Would Not Enough

Though around 79 percent customers prefer to watch a video to know more about the product, the simple product video would not enough for 2018. Professional live videos will replace the product video and we will witness the active participation of social media platforms in showing them.

The live video provides a great way to connect with the audience, and the customers like it more as compared to the simple video.

8. Privacy Will Hold The Key To Success

Do you know that as per a KPMG survey, almost 55 percent of consumers change their purchase decisions against some products due to privacy concerns?

In other words, commitment toward protecting the privacy of the consumers will benefit marketers in 2018 and beyond. It is, therefore, necessary to keep privacy protection in mind while making digital marketing strategies.

9. Conversational Interfaces Will Become A Norm

Voice and AR/VR interfaces or conversational interfaces are here to stay. Amazon’s Alexa, Google Assistant, Cortana, and chatbots will find their place in the consumer’s daily lives. Brands can interact naturally with the consumers’ thanks to such interfaces.

65% of consumers feel good about themselves and the company when they can handle an issue without talking to a live person.

Chatbots facilitate the consumers to get the useful information or transaction assistance. Conversational interfaces will eventually bring the trend of voice marketing, which we will discuss later.

Source: Marketingoops.com

10. Personalized Content Is Necessary

Every aspect of digital marketing is dependent on content in one or other way. Personalized content can attract and retain customers with ease, and lead them toward the purchase of products. Therefore, big brands will opt for personalized and unique content more than ever in 2018. We cannot rule out the possibility of the content-rich marketing campaigns combined with voice search, interactive tutorials, and featured snippets.

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