BlogDigital Marketing / Inbound Marketing

Digital Media and Marketing Trends 2018

By Ritesh Singh
January 15, 2018

The advent of the New Year has given rise to many predictions across multiple points of interest. One such point has to be the digital world, which is known for being an ever-changing landscape, with trends that come and go at the drop of a hat. This can make it somewhat hard for businesses who want to take advantage of these trends to take the steps that will help them optimise their tasks with ease. More often than not, by the time that business finally adopts the required practices, these developments in the digital world end up losing their potency, which reduces the level of benefits that they can avail. To make this process somewhat easier, here are the various digital trends that will become highly prevalent in 2018. By keeping these points in mind, organizations will be able to avail the first mover advantage and optimise their processes to make the most of these emerging developments in the digital world.

1. Video will continue to be a key content marketing driver:

It goes without saying that content has become one of the most engaging marketing tactics that can be used by businesses to drive their digital marketing strategies. And, when it comes to the various forms of content, it’s video that has completely taken over as one of the most widespread methods of content marketing. Livestreams, 360-degree videos and VR video marketing are some of the significant forms that will see increasing prominence in today’s day-and-age. However, one of the most promising developments in the realm of content marketing has to be the technology of 3D projection, which will allow the use of holograms when it comes to advertising.

2. Voice search will become key search driver:

With the advancements in voice recognition technology and the increase in the use of smart home devices such as Amazon Alexa and Google Home, it’s evident that voice search will gain a lot of prominence in 2018. Just to put it into perspective, Google has reported that 20% of the total search through their app already occurs through the medium of voice. comScore has also estimated that by 2020, 30% of the total searches will voice activated.

3. Marketing Automation to facilitate higher levels of ease:

The sheer amount of repetitive and menial tasks in marketing is – quite frankly – astounding, and the fact of the matter is that it’s utterly wasteful for businesses to assign resources to these functions when they could be used for activities that are strategic and require a more human touch. Not only will automating these processes help you save time and resources, but it will also enable you to follow through with a seamless omnichannel journey. This will prove to be very beneficial when it comes to mass marketing, and will also ensure that you don’t have to compromise when it comes to adding a personal touch to your marketing efforts. Single integrated marketing automation platforms allow you to keep your data intact in one place and provide in-depth marketing insights through useful analytics and reporting.

4. Social Selling through stronger social profiles of key executives:

Social media is already a robust platform that can be used to sell products, and in 2018 more and more people will realize the sheer importance of maintaining a visible presence on social media. Aside from the apparent benefits of enhancing the company’s brand image, key executives with a noticeable presence on social media will actively partake in social selling. For B2B industry, LinkedIn will be the best platform for Social Selling. Industry leaders can use their profile authority to bring in more traffic and leads to their website by posting value-driven content regularly and engaging with the buyer persona through direct messages.

5. Facilitation of a memorable mobile journey:

Let’s face it – a noticeable proportion of internet traffic comes through mobile devices. So, it’s incredibly necessary for businesses to make sure that they are utilising responsive website design so that people who access their site through their mobile devices don’t experience any unnecessary delays. After all, a great mobile journey facilitates a pleasant website journey, and this perfectly complements a customer’s retail journey as well.

6. Digital PR will become a key area of interest:

One of the significant ways to make the most of this digital landscape is through the utilization of Digital PR. This will prove to be extremely useful when it comes to improving the online presence of the organization. Building quality relationships with key content writers and online journalists, forming high-quality backlinks, and utilizing the services of digital influencers to achieve this goal with ease.

7. Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning:

Anybody who has a vague knowledge when it comes to how technology has affected marketing can vouch for the fact that chatbots have proven to be a revolutionary marketing tactic, and have also assisted customer support as well. This has been facilitated mainly through the development of both AI and Machine Learning. This technology will also prove to be extremely useful when one needs to go forward with social listening and ORM in the consumer research space. Chatbots will become an inevitable part of the marketing plan that will help in driving and nurturing business leads.

8. The growth of Blockchain technology in the Digital Marketing domain:

One might associate blockchain technology with cryptocurrency only, but the fact of the matter is that this couldn’t be further away from the truth. To put it into the right perspective, blockchain technology can help when it comes to establishing trust with ad buys, removing intermediaries from their marketing strategies, gaining a better understanding when it comes to the target audience, and facilitating transparency of information. So, if you thought that blockchain is only transforming the Fin-Tech industry, think again! Blockchain offers many advantages for marketers when it comes to of security, transparency, efficiency, and performance which can be leveraged to transform the way Digital Marketing is practised. It is for these reasons that early adoption of the technology could really make a big difference. Get those blockchain resumes in quick! These trends in the digital world will inevitably arise in the grand scheme of things, and it’s of the utmost importance that businesses develop their marketing strategies accordingly so that they utilize digital marketing to its fullest extent. With the highly competitive nature of multiple industries, it absolutely must be said that following updated and latest digital marketing practices will help a business cope up with this intense competition, and – ideally – surpass them as well.