Digital Marketing Trends

This is especially the case as post Covid digital trends have created a shift in the media landscape towards users valuing higher quality content that is shorter and more digestible. Moreso as businesses had to implement a recession marketing strategy.

To compete in a highly competitive digital landscape and foster genuine interest and relationships with your target audience, you need to consider how you can implement these 6 current digital marketing trends in your marketing plan:

1. Adopt Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
2. Produce High-Quality Content
3. Publish Short-Form Video Content
4. Introduce More Personalisation
5. Elevate Customer Experience Across Devices and Browsers 
6. Implement Influencer Marketing

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) have revolutionised the way businesses approach their digital marketing efforts. AI-powered tools and algorithms can analyse vast amounts of data, allowing marketers to gain valuable insights into consumer behavior, preferences, and trends. 

In particular, ChatGPT has changed the face of digital marketing by providing a more streamlined process for specialists in developing blog posts, landing pages, FAQs, social media captions, schema, or even meta descriptions for website pages. 

It’s important to remember that while marketing automation platforms have been around for over a decade, adoption levels are now very high. This not only includes large automation platforms like Marketo, Eloqua and Salesforce Marketing Cloud, or platforms suited for smaller and mid-market businesses like HubSpot, Autopilot and Infusionsoft. Google’s own machine learning is used to create responsive search ads, responsive display ads, as well as pMax campaigns, which is now the default option for Shopping campaigns. 

Despite it’s vast content opportunities and ability to save time on tedious tasks, all AI tools have various limitations that need to be taken into consideration before you start relying on them. AI should be used to boost productivity increase effectiveness, rather than using it as a substitute for actual quality work. If you find yourself copying and pasting, you will never truly be able to compete effectively in the online space.

Content has always been a key component of digital marketing, but in today's competitive landscape, the quality of what you’re producing is more important than ever. A few years ago, you could publish a handful of blogs, and stuff it with as many keywords as possible and you could rank pretty high on Google - do this today and your website rankings will surely suffer. This is one of the strengths of a digital marketing agency to assist with producing strategic SEO content.

Google and other search engines are now giving priority to valuable and engaging content that resonates directly with your target audience. In-depth blog posts, informative instruction videos, and well-researched landing pages establish your brand as a thought leader in your industry - and Google will favour this level of content over others.

Specifically, Google is prioritising content from brands that fulfill the EEAT criteria:

• Experience
• Expertise
• Authoritativess
• Trustworthiness

Review your current content plan, as well as old blogs and ebooks on your website for opportunities to improve your EEAT by implementing the following:

• Include internal links on your content pieces to relevant articles and research papers that support your product, service, or argument.
• Link your written articles to author pages that summarise the experiences, qualifications and expertise of your copywriting specialist.
• Add specific and detailed examples to your content that answers common problems faced by your audience. This will show search engines that you are creating benefits and solutions for the user.

Example of James Lawrence’s author page.

With the rise of social media platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts, short-form video content is one of the key new trends in digital marketing. These bite-sized videos capture viewers' attention quickly and offer a creative way to convey your brand's message - but only when used purposefully and appropriately.

If there’s one thing you shouldn’t do on Instagram and TikTok, it’s chop up your existing YouTube Ads and TVCs and share them as short-form video content - audiences are just going to skip them! Any content that isn’t purpose-led or feels unnatural is just a waste of time, energy and dollars. 

Consider these points when creating short-form video content:

• It takes Gen Z 8 seconds to decipher what content is interesting and what isn’t worth their time. Get to the point quickly - and don’t leave your core message to the end of the video. 
• Create something eye-catching. Use bold colours, have a clear message, or make your offer stand out. 
• Social media trends come and go quickly (even daily). If you take too long to make your mark, you might have just missed your chance.  
• Low-fi, raw and real content works better on Reels and TikTok. Don’t worry about making it polished and heavily edited - audiences want relatable and entertaining content.

Your consumers want to feel valued. They want content, product recommendations and communication that feels personal and intimate. By leveraging data and automation, you can deliver tailored messages, product recommendations, and offers based on your audience’s individual preferences and behaviors. 

An excellent example of this is through creating personalised email marketing campaigns with dynamic content to drive higher open rates and conversions. This is because your audience is more likely to click through to your website if they see products or guides that are specific to their needs. To achieve this, you need to capture and maintain  relevant contact data in your CRM to establish clear segments, and subsequent email marketing campaigns and messages that respond directly their needs. 

Consider the whether the following personalised EDMs would be effective in driving traffic, conversions or sales for your business:

• Abandoned Cart Reminder: Send an email reminding customers about items left in their shopping cart to encourage them to complete the purchase.
• Product Recommendations: Use customer data and browsing history to send product recommendations based on their preferences and past purchases.
• Post-Purchase Follow-up: Send personalised emails after a purchase, thanking customers, requesting reviews, and providing related content or tips to enhance their experience.
• Onboarding Campaigns (B2B): Create onboarding campaigns that guide new clients through the setup process by highlighting key features and providing dedicated support.
• Content Digests: Curate newsletters featuring relevant blog articles, industry news, and helpful resources based on subscribers' interests and preferences, nurturing engagement and brand loyalty.

As marketers, it is our responsibility to create a seamless, user-friendly, and personalised experience across all digital channels. This is essential for building customer loyalty and promoting your brand as one that truly values the consumer. 

Every interaction with your brand should be a positive one. 

Drive a positive experience for your audience during their buyer journey by reflecting on the following:

• Is your website engaging and answering your audience’s key problems? Or is the copy difficult to read, pages confusing to navigate through, and makes purchasing your product a long and tedious process? 
• Does your website have a short load time? 
• Is it optimised for mobile searches?
• Do you have email campaigns that offer a more personalised experience to a  segmented audience. 
• Can you incorporate chatbots and AI-powered customer support systems that respond to key prompts from your audience? This needs to be supported by contact details incase your chatbot is unable to respond effectively to some queries.

Influencer marketing continues to be a powerful strategy for brands to reach their target audience authentically. Influencers, with their loyal following and credibility, can help generate brand awareness, drive engagement, and increase conversions. 

However, the landscape of influencer marketing is evolving with the rise of micro-influencers, not to mention heavy value being placed on engaging in genuine connections between an influencer and their audience. It is important to build long-term relationships with influencers whose values align with your brand to reap the greatest amount of benefits. 

On the top-charting marketing podcast, Smarter Marketer, Rocket’s Co-Founder and Director, James Lawrencee interviewed the Founder of Australia’s largest influencer marketing company, Sharyn Smith, on how to run successful influencer marketing campaigns in Australia, and reap the benefits from this important channel. You can listen to the episode here.