When you work in a world that’s fast-paced and constantly changing, it’s hard not to think about what the future of digital marketing can hold. Trends come and go in an instant, and making sure that we’re always looking ahead can ensure that we don’t get lost in the transitional phase of things getting renewed. Things still fade in and out—for instance, though click-through rates are lowering by the second, cold emailing is still a foolproof tactic that marketers can fall back on in order to reach out to these new and undiscovered leads.
However, when our plans don’t work anymore, we need to think big. The future of digital marketing relies partly on the climate of the environment, but also on what we’re doing as creators, innovators, and proprietors of the business field. Digital marketing requires you to think on your feet, and to be able to go with the flow when the flow can change at the drop of a hat. Marketers from all around the world will give you their two cents on what the future of digital marketing can bring, and together, these are some of the top things we can all agree on. Keep your eyes to the future, and let’s get started!
1: Voice Search
You’ve heard about it by now, and if you haven’t, you must be living under a rock. With how innovative people have become with smart speaker marketing, it certainly makes sense that voice search is the future of digital marketing. Alexa, Google Home, and Apple HomePad are some of the best selling smart speaker devices that people from all around the world are buying at insanely high rates.
With how popular these devices are and how many can be used in one home, tapping into the power of smart speaker marketing is beneficial for every single marketer out there. Understand the medium, get into the idea of recording short segments of yourself giving some top-tier business tips, and let those tips bring people back to your company through valuable information and an irresistible offer!
2: Mobile Accessibility
In tandem with voice search comes the power of mobile marketing. It’s no exaggeration to say that smartphones run the world. So much information and power is now in the palm of our hands and being able to use that tool anytime we can for any reason gives the customer unlimited ways to get what they need. Therefore, when it comes to marketing, what we do in the future of digital marketing has to be mobile phone accessible.
When you make your website, you need to make sure that it’s mobile friendly! Additionally, the design still needs to maintain a sense of professionalism. Otherwise, people may be quick to dismiss your business as unkempt. Nearly everything is done from a smartphone nowadays—voice search, online shopping, and connecting with people across social media. If what you’re marketing can’t be accessible to someone with a smartphone, you might want to rethink your strategies.
3: Automation
As a business owner, your time is valuable to your company, and to your brand. Therefore, there’s no reason you shouldn’t have a sense of automation when it comes to the daily tasks that must get done. The future of digital marketing relies on business owners to spearhead the campaign of making the business better, more productive, and more creative. You can’t focus on those things if you’re still stuck trying to get emails out.
That’s where the importance of automation comes in. There are handfuls of software out there that can help you get the job done, whatever that job may be. A list of things that need to be done on a daily basis is the standard for any business, and the number of tools at your disposal to make those tasks easier and simpler than ever are just waiting to be used! Invest in creating a system, and use your creative thinking in order to better your brand.
4: Video
It’s no secret that video now plays a huge part of most marketing strategies. Whether it’s YouTube, Facebook Live, or webinars that we host, the video is changing the way we can relate to our audience. Therefore, it makes sense that the future of marketing lies with video marketing and how we can reach out to people that are interested in hearing more from us!
Facebook Live is one of the best examples when it comes to video marketing. Though many people think they should be going live just for the sake of it, there’s an important formula. With the right content, the right message, and the right schedule, Facebook Live can bring hundreds of new people right to your technological doorstep. With how much YouTube is growing every day, the same can be said about a strict upload schedule and videos that provide content relevant to the wants of your audience.
5: Instagram At the Forefront
Social media has always played an important part in the world of digital marketing. However, where Twitter used to reign supreme, Instagram has stepped into the limelight. Sometimes predicting the future of digital marketing doesn’t come easy, and a form of social media that relies entirely on images doesn’t quite make sense on paper. However, hear me out! Instagram has revolutionized the way digital marketers can reach out and improve their business.
Going forward, it’s only natural that Instagram continues to flourish. For starters, Instagram is an application that’s meant to be used entirely on your smartphone. Tied in with mobile marketing, Instagram is a gold mine of untapped potential. Hashtags enable you to put your content in with some of the best, and the easy to use comments system not only lets you engage with your audience, but also encourages you to create content that promotes activity!
6: Authenticity
In a time where the digital marketing field can be congested with too much information at all times, what customers are looking for is a sense of authenticity. Your content doesn’t always have to be flashy, so long as it’s good. Creating quality content while showing that your intent as a marketer is truly authentic and based on trust rather than sales is a good tip for the future of digital marketing.
One of the most important things we can learn as marketers are how to sell to people without forcing products down their throats. We need to become trustworthy, and we need to make sure that our audience can connect with us on a human level beyond the sales process we go through. Additionally, with how much content can constantly be shoved into the faces of consumers, we need to make sure that our content stands out among the rest. Not because of high-end techniques, but because what we’re creating is simply better.
7: Influencer Marketing
It’s not new, per se, but the idea of influencer marketing is certainly starting to take hold of digital marketing strategies far and wide. Influencers hold a great deal of say over particularly dedicated audiences, and being able to tap into that power to further the reach of your own business is certainly the future of digital marketing.
Whether it’s small scale or large scale, being able to reach out to these influencers in order to expand your business to new audiences is important, and successful. Though it may seem counterproductive, the smaller influencers usually have a highly dedicated audience rather than larger ones that tend to have following full of fake accounts. You want to make sure that you’re connected to real people behind those screens, and starting with someone who represents those people is an easy way to get your foot in the door.
The Future of Digital Marketing: Always Think Ahead
Predicting trends isn’t always an easy task, and making sure that we’re looking forward instead of backward is really the only trusted and important thing we can do as business owners. Our willingness to stay current and make sure we’re doing what we can to ensure that our business thrives is what sustains our potential in this fast-paced world. The future of digital marketing isn’t always about things you need to be doing. It’s also about things that you’ve already done that can be improved upon. Make your life as a marketer easier by taking on things that will improve the success of your business in the long run, and make sure that you’re always thinking ahead!
