COVID-19 has brought changes to how we interact with one another and how we do business. From necessity, digital marketing and digital delivery of goods and services has grown substantially. These are the digital marketing trends that made a difference and are here to stay (in alphabetical order). With the exception of those in italics, these trends put the needs of your customers first.
Analytics help you identify the needs of your target audience and improve their user experience. You can find more details in our posts “Why Are Analytics Important?” and “The Real Value Of Analytics.”
Artificial intelligence provides instant answers to your customers’ most pressing questions online or over the phone. This allows them to do business with you at all hours of the day and night from the safety of their homes. You can read more in “Getting Started With A Chatbot For Business.”
Automation improves the user experience, facilitating contactless ordering and delivery. It also enables you to do more with your time as we explained in “What A Bot Can Do For Your Business.”
Branding establishes your company identity in the hearts and minds of your target audience.
Content marketing benefits both you and your prospects. While you provide the answers to their questions and the solutions to their problems, you enjoy more traffic to your website, blog, and social media sites and this leads to business results like more conversions and sales. High-quality content also permits you to establish the expertise, authority, and trust that Google and customers desire. Read more in “E-A-T For Today—A Visibility Strategy.”
Exceptional user experience has become more important than ever. A mobile-friendly website and glitch-free mobile app are key ingredients.
Local search, and Google Maps and Google Business Profile (formerly known as Google My Business) in particular, became even more popular during the pandemic as a source of reliable information about what was actually open. Now “buy local” is a rallying cry to save the businesses in our own neighborhoods.
Micromoments, as we shared in “What Is A Micro-Moment And How Do I Use It For My Business?” are brief moments in time where you have the complete attention of someone who wants something you have. They may be searching for help/answers, making a purchase, looking for directions or your hours, or are simply bored and want to be entertained. This is your time to shine.
Multiple ways to search including visual searches, voice searches, and zero-click searches all reflect how your target market uses mobile phones and smart devices and how they put a premium on immediately finding the information they desire.
Pay-per-click advertising provides targeted traffic for the price of your choice of key words.
Personalization is now more important than ever. Mask-wearing, social distancing, and working from home have left people feeling isolated and insignificant.
Privacy and security will always be a concern to your prospects and clients so it needs to be a priority for you, digital marketing trend or not.
Select use of social media reflects both individual choice on the part of your target audience and a weariness of too much of it. This is good for you because you can focus your efforts where they choose to spend their time instead of trying to be on all social sites.
Shoppable content has made life from the confines of home a little more fun. When you provide links in your social media or blog posts to simplify purchases, you provide a service and increase sales.
User-generated content continues to be a great way to engage customers and build trust in your products and services and create brand awareness.
Video conferences and virtual events are here to stay, both for their cost-effectiveness and for their accessibility.
Video marketing (the premium version) offers something for everyone because, contrary to popular belief “everyone” does not like video. You get content you can easily repurpose in multiple formats. Your target audience has their choice of the video, the transcript of the video, the video with subtitles, the audio only, the audio in a podcast, a blog post about the video, an e-mail campaign including the video, and social media posts with snippets about the video.
Customers want to know you care. Put the needs of your customers first. With a personalized marketing strategy from Tate Design, you will know which of these digital marketing trends to use. We also make it easy for them to find what they are looking for with enhanced search engine optimization and Web design. Call us at 610.725.0702 or e-mail [email protected] to get started.
Updated April 2022
Digital Marketing Now, As The Pandemic Eases
