Digital Marketing Trends of 2018
Now that we are settled into 2018, we have been a-brewin’ about what the big focus for marketing this year will be. We aren’t alone with this question. According to a survey taken by Smart Insights, content marketing was named the single most important tactic for digital marketing this year. Content marketing does not stand alone, often times it is just a part of a company’s complete marketing strategy. As such, we will be diving into the top three trends: content marketing, big data and artificial intelligence/machine learning, plus our trend prediction for this year at the very end.
Source: https://www.smartinsights.com/digital-marketing-strategy/10-marketing-trends/
Content Marketing
Content has gotten a lot of attention over the last few years. It has been realized by marketers far and wide that the quality of content you produce can make or break your campaign. Content creates the engagement that brands are hungry for and it often translates across various different platforms – websites, apps, emails, and more. In our world of sponsored posts, photos and videos, it is really hard to stand out unless you are “paying to play”. At BTI we believe that all great content begins with a story. What does your story tell?
Big Data
What good is your strategy if you don’t have the data to back it up? At BTI, insights are our game and creating plans always starts with thorough research. Insights help us zero in on which techniques and tactics to use to build plans that move the needle. In addition to ensuring we have the “why” answered before we even get started, big data is also critical when it comes to measuring campaign results. For us, this means understanding the details of the customer or potential customer’s journey and sometimes, it means changing up the game based on this response.
Artificial Intelligence
It is no surprise that AI makes the top of this list of marketing trends in 2018. AI has the capabilities to rock almost every industry, but no one is certain exactly how just yet. Never one to shy away from technology, BTI has been thinking about why machine learning matters to us here and here too. From a marketing perspective, AI has the potential to automate personalization and segmentation, and that’s a pretty big deal.
Bonus trend:
Customization
One trend, not noted in this survey that we know will be a recurring theme in 2018 is customization. All of the above trends fall into this category too. Customization is so important because marketing works better when you have the right audience. So take your awesome content, your data and insights and make sure it finds the right eyeballs. Eyeballs that care. This goes for all sorts of business, no matter how specific their product or service. It really doesn’t seem that futuristic when we consider how far we have come already.
What do you think will be the next big marketing trend? Contact us, we would love to talk!
