At the beginning of each year, we at Search Optics forecast digital marketing trends to utilise for our clients. In 2015, the focus was on responsive websites, while in 2016 it was on mobile strategies. Last year, we prioritised content marketing, and have seen vast successes month after month. For one client, simply creating a content series increased their unpaid organic traffic by 30%. Taking this into account, it’s clear that relevant, quality content marketing is the bridge to potential and current customers. With an annual growth of 23% last year alone, digital marketing will likely achieve an even stronger advance in the future. To ensure your business thrives in the digital age of 2018, we’ve outlined a few digital marketing trends that we see aiding your success.

Be agile and get to know your customers so that you provide them with the timely, relevant content that they’re looking for. By specifying criteria and outcomes as they relate to your audience’s micro moments, you’ll increase efficiency while decreasing the chance of missing customers or making human errors.

Investing in sectors like chatbots, artificial intelligence, and omnichannel will increase your business’ interaction with customers, while guaranteeing they receive quick, seamless communications in return.

The key to multi-platform campaigns is ensuring that the objectives of the actions have been defined, and that the key metrics can be measured and monitored. With digital marketing, nearly every aspect can be tracked and turned into a clear, results-driven directive. At Search Optics, we developed mobile-first, responsive Blueprint^® website platform, and paired it with our proprietary analytics platform, UPTRACS^®, enabling us to track every response to online efforts, as well as calculate offline conversion rates and cost-per-lead – all in real-time.

Use these metrics to gain the confidence to make critical decisions and adjust your digital strategy for maximum returns; determine what is and what is not working for your business, and leverage only the most successful pieces to increase ROI.

Why display ten different car models to your customer if they already know an SUV is the one? Your customer’s purchase journey has evolved, and we now know that brands who bet on experience marketing are ultimately more successful. Knowing your customer’s path enables you to more effectively participate in their purchase journey by showing them exactly what they’re looking for when they’re looking for it.

To capitalise on selling smarter, we suggest implementing customer-oriented content (focused around base, middle, and top of funnel, when relevant), optimising SEO content, and being creative, informative, and conversational with potential clients.

Streaming video consumption has increased by 90% over the past three years, according to Google data. Video is interactive, and allows you to capture your consumers’ full attention on multiple platforms, instantly communicating brand messaging.

Get the most from video by investing in mobile-specific, fast, dynamic videos, as well as lead-driven video advertising. Additionally, use audiovisual content on landing pages, updated frequently to highlight deals, specials, or brand information.

Reaching consumers in today’s technological landscape requires a cohesive digital strategy that employs a variety of mediums and techniques. From automation to knowing your consumers, from metrics to video, there is plenty of room for success in the coming year. To learn more about any of these trends, leave us a comment below, or contact us today!