The Rise of the Chatbots

We’re all aware of bots being used on social media, but they aren’t just about allegedly gaining a certain outcome in an election. They can be used for many purposes. The AI technology which is used to create bots is improving constantly and they are now much easier to interact with.

Millennials are the target demographic for this kind of strategy. A massive 71% of them said that they would interact with a brand chatbot. Employing this method would mean there would be less need to have a social media team in place, at least one which constantly monitors a brand’s feed and the bots would be able to field any user questions.

Tell a Story

Everybody loves a story, but you don’t need to read a book to get this kind of information. Stories are getting ever more popular for users of Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook to present small sequences of film or photographs to tell people about their day. This method is spreading throughout social media and the advertising world is beginning to catch on to this. Now is the time to make stories a part of your digital marketing strategy.

Video Star

Video content is something that catches the eyes of social media users. Many people have their smartphones set to automatically play video content and as they scroll through their feeds, a particularly great piece of video will make them stop and look. There are more than 8 billion video views on Facebook every single day and 82% of Twitter users regularly view video content. These numbers simply can’t be ignored.

Getting noticed is the key and with the right video you could be reaching millions of new customers. With most social media consumed on mobile devices you absolutely need to be using video in your marketing campaigns.

Under the Influence

Social media influencer-based marketing is now an established method used by a number of top brands, but this year the influence of influencers is set to increase. Social media influencers can be used by a brand to gain traction and even celebrities are a part of this now. This can backfire in some cases as consumers can spot a disingenuous advertising campaign – knowing full well that some celebrities will say or do anything if the paycheck is right.

Authentic influencers with a genuine belief in a brand or product are the way to go and we can expect many brands to be taking advantage of this this year. One bonus of this is that it doesn’t need to cost anywhere near the price of a traditional marketing campaign.

A Halt to Data Collection

The harvesting of data has become something of a hot issue as it has been revealed that Facebook and Google, among others, are watching our every move. It has been said that this is to aid them in tailoring advertising campaigns to our needs and showing us content that is more likely to be of interest, but many people are beginning to find it intrusive.

The EU are ready to clamp down on this practice and that could spell disaster for some marketing campaigns. Any company that wishes to use a consumer’s data must now inform them of this and gain their consent before doing so. Failure to do this could result in hefty fines. Even if your business is primarily outside of the EU, the new rules are expected to have a knock-on effect worldwide. It means that brands will no longer be able to rely on algorithms to bring their content to users and they will need to do much more of the legwork themselves.

2018 is certainly going to be a challenging year for digital marketers, but not an impossible one. By thinking about the above trends when constructing a marketing strategy, you should be able to stay ahead of the pack and your brand will have as much reach as it’s possible to get in a fairly crowded market place.

Remember to keep learning and to keep an eye on your figures when employing any new methods. Growth might not always be immediately apparent, but in the long term, following trends is the best way to move your brand forward.

The post The 5 Digital Marketing Trends You Need to Be Aware of in 2018 first appeared on MediaHype.

Digital marketing can be presented through so many channels and you need to make sure you’ve got all your bases covered, whether you are focusing on SEO to help generate leads and sales or if you are more reliant on organic searches. The content and methods you use need to be consistent right across the board, and if you think about the following points you’ll be on the right track.

Set Your Goals

You should have a clear idea of what you hope to achieve. Whether it’s an increase in customer numbers and sales, to be more successful than a competitor or to reach a wider online audience you need to have a clear plan. With such plans in place, you’ll be working your way towards your end goal in a proactive way.

Be realistic with any increases you expect to see. Growth will occur more slowly in the first quarter than the fourth and your projected figures should reflect this. Success isn’t always easy and patience will be required, in addition to meticulous planning.

Brand Identity

Think of a famous brand. Chances are you can immediately say what colours they use in their campaigns, what their logo looks like and even what font they use in all of their campaigns. This is a sign of true success. It’s not just about creating a great marketing campaign, although that is very important, but it’s about a brand identity.

You want people to instantly recognise your name and your brand and that can be done, or at least helped along the way, by a consistent use of the same style. Make sure your logo is always present and make sure your use of colours and fonts are always the same. That way you have a greater chance of being noticed.

Your Voice

Content isn’t just there to pad out a website – it’s incredibly important to engage with your audience. That’s why more careful consideration need to be place on it. What kind of voice do you wish to have? It should be friendly and informative, never patronising or overly wordy and above all, interesting.

It might take a while to master this, but once you do you need to again ensure consistency. Every platform you use for digital marketing should present your content with exactly the same voice.
You don’t need to use identical content on every platform and you don’t even need to employ the same person to write it all for you. What you need is a style guide which any writer can follow in order to produce consistent content for every platform you use.

Learn from Your Audience

Customers are important – without them you’re nothing. Make sure you pay attention to them. If they give you feedback about any aspect of your marketing, make sure you take it on board. Look at analytics to see which aspects of a campaign are having the biggest positive effect and make sure you target people at the right time of day. Depending on where in the world your customer base is, it could pay to schedule posts for different times of the day or night.

Tick All the Boxes

You need to make sure you always follow the basics with your content too. If you’re using keywords, make sure they are evenly distributed throughout your content and never seeming forced or spammy. Make sure you use images and give them appropriate tags. Videos and links to other pages are also helpful.

The length of content is something of a bone of contention and it should never be too long or too short, but what is too long or too short? 500 to 1,000 words is considered the ideal length which customers will engage with. Make sure to break the content up with headings or lists – nobody wants to read a 1,000-word paragraph on their smartphone.

Observe and Learn

When you launch a new campaign you need to make sure it’s a success. Keeping a constant eye on your numbers will help you to tweak your digital marketing methods if necessary. You’ll find out which channels work better than others and where you should be concentrating the most effort.

Every piece of information or feedback you receive about your campaign is helpful and can be used to your advantage. Remember that digital marketing is an ongoing process – it’s not just about saying ‘go’ on day one and sitting back and reaping the rewards.

The post Planning Your Digital Marketing Strategy for the Year Ahead first appeared on MediaHype.