As we head into the end of 2017, businesses are starting to take a look at their strategic plan for next year and trying to align their marketing goals to meet their needs. With continuous advances in technology, something businesses of all sizes and industries should consider digital marketing. If your business hasn’t already broken into the realm of digital, here are some hot trends you may want to tap into next year.
Preparing your digital marketing strategy for 2018 can be an easy task if you know where to start. If you tap into these trends, you should have no problem putting together a strong digital strategy.
Content is King
With more people being plugged into their phones, access to information is more readily available than ever before. This means that people can become overloaded with information from businesses trying to push people into buying their products. To stand out among a sea of competitors, producing and publishing quality content is key to attracting and retaining customers. Create a content strategy to share information about your brand with your customers through blogs, social media posts, and articles. Providing customers with advice on how using your products or services can benefit them can set you apart from your competition as an industry expert and humanize your brand. Quality content that’s properly disbursed through digital channels can boost traffic to your site and in turn increase sales.A Personalized Shopping Experience
In a world where customers are often treated like a number rather than a person, personalizing the shopping experience can increase brand loyalty. When customers feel like you truly appreciate their business and take the time to get to know them, it can increase their chances of repeat business or spreading the word about your company to others. You can even tap into customer shopping metrics to create personalized shopping recommendations, customer loyalty programs, and other rewards for choosing your business.A Clean Website
Providing customers with a clean, easy-to-navigate website can make their shopping experience more enjoyable. Offering an optimized search bar, easy-to-find contact information, and nice images can cause customers to spend longer on your site, which can increase your chances of making a sale. Even if you don’t have a background in website design, you can easily make your own website online thanks to helpful guides and website builders. If you build your own website, make sure you use clean, high quality images and video, keep your content reach, and include fonts that are easy to read.Tap into Brand Loyalty
Do you have a loyal customer base who loves your brand so much that they’re repeat shoppers? Having a team of influencers can help spread the word about your brand and reach a market of potential customers you may not have reached otherwise. To tap into your loyal fanbase, encourage customer interaction and reviews on your website and social media. If you’re able to help a customer solve a problem, they’ll be more likely to spread the word to other people which creates a snowball effect of loyalty.The Internet of Things (IoT)
The IoT has exploded in the past few years and there is a lot of untapped potential for businesses to use these devices to reach customers. As tech companies continue to expand applications to smart devices, you may be able to reach a wider audience than you could with traditional marketing.Social Media Marketing
Though social media marketing has been popular for a few years, it’s still a popular way to reach customers thanks to paid reach. With paid reach, you can set your demographics to be as broad or as specific as you’d like. If you want your product or service to reach 35-40 year-old female primary decision makers of a four-person household in the Midwest, you can set the parameters on your ad to do just that.Preparing your digital marketing strategy for 2018 can be an easy task if you know where to start. If you tap into these trends, you should have no problem putting together a strong digital strategy.
