It used to be simple to get digital mileage. Publish cute YouTube videos. Pay for advertising. Get bloggers to talk about you. Get a Facebook PPC. Boom, you go viral.
But the game has since changed. The platforms, technologies, user behaviour, consumer expectations, and business models—all have evolved and have led us to today’s digital marketing strategist.
In this article, you’ll get to check the latest B2B digital marketing trends. They will help you to see with a clear lens where you should pour your money to realize good returns. The bottom line: the trend is towards experience and away from simple exposure. In the process, we’ll talk about the marketing software tools you’ll need to take advantage of these trends. Also, we’ll try to see how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the marketing approach preferences of businesses.
A whopping 28% of US adults state that they are ‘almost constantly on the internet (Pew Research Center, 2019). This statistic is but a part of 81% of Americans who go online every day. Generally, it is pretty easy to reach someone nowadays. Of course, there are nuances like knowing what to say and when to say it through what channel. Yes, these are the classics for marketing communications. At least, at the level of principles, it hasn’t really changed.
However, users don’t use the internet in the same way. There are many devices, browsers, sites, and content where marketers have to fight for attention and positive sentiments. In a sense, this gets more complicated than marketing strategies where it was mostly centred on tri-media: print, TV, and radio.
Also, it is hard to compete for attention when it seems that attention spans have shortened, or probably more correctly, we have the innate propensity to constantly transition from stimuli to stimuli quickly (The Outline). This is touted as an evolutionary adaptation that allows us to pay attention to complex tasks while keeping some level of awareness of our surroundings. And, stimuli are something the internet is not at all short of. So, what do marketers do to deal with these today?
1. Rise of Virtual Events
Before the pandemic, live events were a major avenue for marketers to connect with buyers and to find potential new customers. However, because of the pandemic, agencies and businesses had to cancel live events and move them online. While the pivot happened out of necessity, it is highly likely that marketers will continue as an essential part of firms’ marketing strategies.
2. The Shift to Omnichannel Marketing
Consumers use digital media differently. This is as clear as day. Some consumers surf the net to read articles close to their interests and jobs. Others use gaming apps to pass the time. However, there are some relations and intersections in these usages. Most still go on social media. While many consumers use search engines for news, videos, and research products.
3. Artificial Intelligence and Analytics
The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic jolted businesses to the realization that business-as-usual is not enough to address the kind of resources, capital, and processes needed to scale up to the complex demands of the sweeping global life threat. Amidst it all, businesses have increasingly turned to AI and analytics to thrive, survive, or soften the blow to their revenues.
4. Going Mobile and Progressive Web Apps (PWAs)
There were those times when laptops were considered portable. Now, they are considered to be heavy and bulky compared to their mobile counterparts. Thus, we primarily go with our mobile devices to connect to the internet. They are lighter and they fit in your pockets. This is something that search engines (especially Google) have taken into account. Moreover, Google has also noticed that we prefer the usability of apps over some static or even dynamic websites.
5. Keeping up with Voice Search
The global smart speaker market reached 20.7 million units in the first quarter of this year (Canalys, 2019). China received about 51% of all the world’s global speaker market shipments. The US stayed at a respectable 24%. What these recent voice search data are telling us is that we can expect voice search usage to continue to rise in the future. Smart speaker devices are quickly getting off the shelves and users are getting accustomed to voice search assistants like Alexa, Cortana, and Siri. Thus, if you want to get on this action, you need to be ready with a possible voice search surge in the near future.
6. Augmenting User Experience with Augmented Reality
Augmented reality allows users to insert digital objects into real-life video capture. This can work in many ways. You can even mix this up with your PWA or an app to augment user experience and content. Also, you can use it for cool stunts such as this AR experience from Treasury Wines Australia at World Square in Sydney.
7. Native Advertising: Don’t Intrude
It is not really far out to think and accept that people hate ads (Marketing Week, 2019). They are intrusive and can be a waste of time. This is especially true when the ones that appear have really nothing to do with what they are keeping you from consuming. Also, it is even safe to bet that marketers sometimes do too. We all hate them so much that 47% of all internet users worldwide have ad blockers (Digital Information World, 2019).
How do you keep up with digital marketing trends?
Well, you are doing one thing right by reading this article. And, to answer the question simply, you just have to do what you are doing now with more seriousness and consistency. By that, we mean you should continue to scour the interwebs for valuable resources from gurus and marketing practitioners who blog or are in forums.
Furthermore, don’t forget to browse books on Amazon or your local bookstores. Videos and blog posts can give you general ideas about digital marketing trends but books can give you more detailed information. Also, don’t forget about podcasts. There are many podcasts out there that have digital marketing as their main topic. One of which is Neil Patel’s Marketing School with Eric Sui. It is a goldmine that marketers should exploit.
Moreover, you can actually leverage marketplaces with user reviews to generate leads. These organic reviews are very trustworthy when it comes to gauging user experience. Thus, you’ll have more chances of getting the pulse or sentiments of the market there. Additionally, you can amplify positive mentions of your brand and use them as testimonials. In this way, you don’t only get to keep up with what other marketers do but also with trends among users and their sentiments towards your product or competitors.
