If there’s one thing that’s constant in life, it’s change. An ideology, practice, or strategy will fail to stay relevant if it cannot keep up with the demands of its circumstances; it would have to keep evolving by accommodating new information and developing better responses to its stimuli.
Try to imagine that you’re driving on a nameless road with only your GPS as a guide. Since a GPS updates in real-time, you can easily get to where you want to go by inputting your destination. And if the GPS receives data that there’s a roadblock in your original route, it can easily reconfigure another route based on the new data it has acquired.
In the same manner that a GPS forms a new solution based on the data it gathers, as a business owner, you should know when to adapt to the changes in your industry. That’s why industry players are always on the lookout for up-and-coming trends which have the potential to become game-changers.
While it’s true that trends always come and go, certain trends are here to stay. You should know how to gauge the potential of these trends to see if they can benefit your business, or if they are fads that aren’t worth joining the bandwagon for. To help you distinguish the trends, here are three digital marketing innovations that you can look into:
Trend #1: Voice Search Engine Optimization
With the prevalence of artificial intelligence (AI) across all industries and more consumers depending on voice assistants on their mobile devices, it seems foolish to turn a blind eye to the benefits you can get from jumping in on the trend. Search engine optimization (SEO) is now brought to a whole new level with the introduction of a voice component.
Voice SEO or simply, VSEO, is seen as an important trend that needs to be adopted as a mainstay marketing strategy to keep up with consumer demands. Through the continuous developments in AI technology, voice assistants are becoming smarter and more dependable by the day.
To adapt to this trend, you can collaborate with your chosen SEO service provider about ways you can improve your current digital marketing strategies. Of course, this is not to say that you should forego optimizing for search engines, but you should make some room in your strategy to cater to voice searches as well.
Trend #2: Interactive Content
In 2021, consumers are keener on seeing dynamic and engaging content than mere textual information on their phone screens. People want easily digestible content in the form of 360-degree videos or pictures, social media polls, and quizzes, as well as interactive advertisements.
The reason for this is that interactive content can make consumers feel like they are a part of something bigger than them. Brands that make use of interactive content can connect to their consumers better because they use fresh and original approaches to customer relationships by maximizing their involvement.
21-century technology has allowed businesses everywhere to develop new and better ways to attract the attention of their target markets, which is why consumers expect nothing but the best. To remain a competitive player in your chosen industry, you need to keep up with trends like this instead of resisting the changes.
Trend #3: Influencer Marketing
Consumers will always prefer brands that they can trust to not let them down. And what better way to sell a product or service than by having an influential person promote what is being offered. Nowadays, one of the most effective ways to generate a sale is through a personal recommendation.
This is the entire premise of influencer marketing. Instead of creating traditional advertisements, businesses hire social media influencers who have a large following to advertise their products or services. In a way, influencer marketing elevates the traditional word-of-mouth marketing strategy.
Although this is not exactly a new trend, the practice of getting influencers as brand ambassadors has generated enough buzz to be considered a revolutionary innovation in the world of marketing. This is especially true because the “influencers” are no longer limited to celebrities or renowned names in the industry.
Any person with a big platform can be an influencer as long as they can carry their name like a brand that can be developed. In fact, everyday consumers prefer brands that feature people like them instead of celebrities because they are seen as more authentic, relatable, and trustworthy.
Keeping up with the trends doesn’t mean that you should accommodate each and every innovation in your industry. You have to gauge which ones are worth following, and which ones you’re better off without. Remember that trailblazers need to make their own decisions; they don’t just blindly follow the trends because other people told them to do so.