7 Marketing Trends to Pay Attention to in 2018

The goal of many marketing professionals, business owners, and other persons entrusted with the growth of an organization is to build positive connections with targeted audiences. Many of these individuals invested in cultivating such relationships are always looking for ways to improve such relations through a myriad of means, where almost all are centered on implementing marketing and/or public relations strategies. If you are looking to find new approaches in order to connect with your audiences for 2018, here are seven marketing trends for your consideration.

Build your team of Macro & Micro-Influencers

Many organizations for quite some time have reached out to individuals who’ve gained a certain level of prominence in outlets such as YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, and so forth. Whether you are partnering with a person who has 5,000 followers (Micro Influencer) or over 10 million followers (Macro Influencer), these influencers gained such following because audiences see a part of themselves through these individuals. In return, an influencer can obtain trust and credibility. Consider partnering up with one or a few to reach an audience. An influencer may advertise or promote a certain product or service in a way that an organization cannot. So, if you would like to tap into a particular audience in an organic form, consider adding an influencer to your marketing strategy.

Video: Mobile video, live video, explainer videos and more

If you are not incorporating video in any of your marketing strategies, we suggest you should start in 2018. Did you know that video streaming accounted for 75% of all internet traffic in this year alone? It truly is incredible how video has found itself to be an essential tactic in order to disseminate information to the masses. This shouldn’t be surprising though. Mobile video consumption has gained prominence over the years as well, and we can expect this to increase, especially with the evolution of smartphones that occurs each year. Many distinguished organizations and individuals use live streaming to announce products, services, reports, while simultaneously getting feedback from consumers. When it comes to explainer videos, the significance of this type of video is to inform consumers about products and services in a more efficient and accessible manner. Consumers can grasp topics and any other related information much easier thanks to explainer videos. With all this in mind, if you have an announcement, product or service to release, consider using video.

Investments in content developers

In today’s ever-changing media landscape, companies should consider obtaining and shaping content development talent. Organizations should consider the significant impact that content developers can have in acquiring and retaining desired audiences. A great content developer can create persuasive and informative content that can create a positive impact on an organization. Content developers are characterized by their creativity, their constant need to learn and absorb information, and create messages that are clear and concise through a diverse range of ways. The content developer’s mission, in our opinion, is to humanize an organization to create a much-needed, organic connection with audiences. If a connection can be obtained, trust can be created between the organization and its audience. This is why we consider content development to be of significance to any company.

Integrating content marketing

Have you integrated content into your marketing strategy? If you not, we highly suggest that you consider focusing your attention on this form of marketing. Content marketing entails creating and distributing content to influence or attract desired audiences. In today’s age, there are so many ways you can publicize your content, a personal or business blog, and perhaps the most effective of methods, social media. But even with these options, many companies do not consider creating strategies through carefully crafted content. Using content to obtain an audience has been one of the most successful ways of building strong relationships with customers. A podcast, an email newsletter, infographics, videos, articles, and other forms of content can create a significant impact on audience engagement if an effective content marketing strategy is in place. Consider content to be a driving force in shaping a positive effect on the audiences you would like to inspire a connection with for 2018.

Make use of AI (chatbots)

Artificial intelligence sounds like a science fiction concept for many, but in reality, artificial intelligence is not fantasy. One of the most known forms of artificial intelligence is through software referred to as chatbots. The most important reasons as to why chatbots are so significant to marketing strategies are because they create an easier way to interact with customers and have a positive effect in the relationship that an organization has with such audiences. Experts estimate that 85% of interactions between customers and service/product providers will be through chatbots by the year 2020. If you are looking to improve customer satisfaction, look no further and consider the use of this software.

Optimize for voice

How do you usually search for content? You probably text or type into a search box to find what you are looking for on the web. Well, many have used voice search to conduct such activities in recent years. In the future, we will see a significant increase by 2020 in individuals using voice search. Brands are starting to take notice of this and are creating content that is voice search-friendly. If you are considering revamping content to align with voice search, we suggest that content to be more detailed.

Get Growth Hacking

Growth hacking sounds a little suspicious, right? It’s not what you are thinking. There is no actual hacking involved, at least not in the traditional sense. Growth hacking consists of creating strategies that build financial growth and significant visibility for an organization. One of the most effective ways of creating such growth lies in implementing search engine optimization strategies. The most effective of SEO strategies that can be used to improve the visibility of a website is by creating impactful, ingenious content that drives individuals to buy a product or use a service.

You have probably heard the following phrase “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” This expression can be applied to many areas of our lives, but it is certainly not the case for marketing and public relations efforts. As professionals in these fields, we should always strive to look for different ways to achieve our goals to maintain wanted audiences. Advances in technology that are occurring year by year are affecting the way we communicate and interact with audiences. We should always welcome the ever-changing landscape. Because of this, we can implement new strategies thanks to such advances and new mechanisms to help grow our businesses. Change in this industry is such a good thing. Embrace the change!