Without a doubt, 2018 digital marketing trends will be different than last year. As new trends are emerging, you need to pay attention, or you’ll be leaving money on the table. Predicting trends and how they change audience behavior can help you fine-tune your strategy and gain an advantage. Take a look at the 2018 digital marketing trends that we expect to see or grow:
1. Voice Marketing
As 20% of Google mobile searches are voice activated, the number will increase following the success of Google Home, Amazon Echo, and other devices using chatbots like Alexa, Siri or Cortana. Therefore, creating content that captures these types of searches is a digital marketing trend to prepare for.
2. Augmented Reality in Social Media
The advancements in mobile devices and augmented reality (AR) may encourage big tech companies to invest in AR to better engage with consumers. Pokémon Go pioneered this idea and it achieved great success while it was popular. A way to integrate AR into digital marketing is to trigger sponsored AR content when a user is at a certain spot and time.
3. More Targeted Ads
People naturally have minimal attention spans and tend to ignore the spew of ads across all media channels. Therefore, to reach their audience on mobile or desktop, ads need to become more singularly purposed, with a very specific goal and conversion place in mind.
4. Professional Live Video
Video will continue to be a digital marketing trend in 2018 as it’s a great way to connect with your audience. However, shaky video done by holding your phone will be less acceptable. Professional live video is the best way to benefit from the live video features that social media platforms are adding every month.
5. Native Advertising
As the social media user base has been growing steadily, native ads became an important digital marketing tactic. They are the ads that we see in our feeds alongside normal posts. Native ads incorporate native language and seamlessly integrate into people’s feeds. They continue to help companies enhance market reach, brand relevance, and engagement.
6. AI Marketing
According to Adobe, artificial intelligence will be able to make strategic marketing decisions in the years to come. Machines will use data like site usage, search history or browsing patterns to build segments, start and stop campaigns, and create custom copy targeted at perceived user profiles. AI will help marketers to more effectively engage with prospects and customers.
7. Increased Privacy Protection
2017’s massive data breaches have increased consumers’ concerns about their online privacy and security. Moreover, the new privacy regulations have forced businesses to reinforce their privacy and security measures, such as the “right to erasure”. As consumers will prioritize companies and products that put their information security first, smart marketers will begin using privacy protection and data security as a value proposition.
8. Hyperlocal Marketing
Local businesses can interact with consumers easier than ever. Google Posts and Facebook Local gives consumers a more localized social platform to find businesses. As far as ads go, the Local Services Ads make it easier for brands to prove they’re trustworthy and to compete with big brands. Hyperlocal marketing will continue to be a digital marketing trend as businesses focus more on improving locations ranking.
There’s no saying for sure what the digital marketing landscape will be in 2018. However, many experts believe that these digital marketing trends are the future. As always, socio-economic changes and new developments in technology will determine the course of action.
Need more help with implementing 2018 digital marketing trends? Check out six mobile marketing trends and 10 content marketing tips to avoid.