Digital Marketing and Social Media Platforms: Emerging Trends

The Covid-19 pandemic has completely transformed the way businesses operate. Due to health and safety concerns, many businesses have chosen to virtually market their brands and conduct customer interactions online. The world has turned to the internet for everything from groceries and medicines to clothing. Marketers now face a potentially much longer-term digital-first future in which strategy, roles and responsibilities, technology, and buyer behavior will look very different from what they did previously.

Marketing technologies, primarily digital, can aid in increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of marketing efforts. Companies that are the quickest and most adaptable to the new reality will have a huge advantage in the market and will become industry leaders that others must follow. In this new race to be recognized as a market leader, marketing is critical. It generates more business, attracts new customers, and, most importantly, builds and strengthens customer loyalty to the brand.

There are numerous moving parts in digital marketing. Through SEO, companies can increase visibility and organic traffic while also building a brand through social media presence. Marketing automation can help save time while also providing more personalized engagement. Managing PPC (pay per click marketing) can imply “skipping the line” on search engine results pages. These and other moving parts are constantly changing as new technologies, techniques, and near-constant Google and Facebook algorithm updates keep many digital marketing teams on their toes.

Some of the most popular and in-demand digital marketing technologies available to marketing teams:

• SEO – The goal of search engine optimization (SEO) is to keep organizations website visible in search engine results pages. Because Google’s algorithms are constantly changing, it can sometimes feel like an arcane art. Staying on top of these changes is difficult enough, but the real challenge is adapting customized SEO to these changes and staying ahead of competitors.
• Social Media – Organizations can use social media to build brand identity, reach out to existing customers, and find new audiences. It can be used for thought leadership, to improve a company’s SEO rankings, and as a direct channel for people to interact with the company’s brand. Understanding what organizations are doing with social media is critical to using it effectively. Are companies attempting to increase brand awareness? The goal must then guide how businesses use social media: they must target their audience, create relevant content, and maintain a strong brand.
• Paid Media – Paid media is a type of external marketing that involves a paid placement. This can include pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, branded content, and display ads. Paid media is an essential component of any marketing strategy: Organizations can ensure that their message reaches the right audience by selecting the right platform and targeting the right demographic. However, they will need the right tools to track marketing campaigns in order to do so. There are numerous excellent tools available to aid in the development of a competitive strategy.
• Email – Email marketing enables companies to create, send, and track emails to their subscriber list. Using software facilitates the creation of well-designed emails and provides access to key metrics such as open rates and click-through rates.

Digital marketing has a lot of moving parts. Organizations can use SEO to increase visibility and organic traffic while also building a brand through their social media presence. Marketing automation can save time while also allowing for more personalized engagement. PPC (pay per click marketing) management can imply “skipping the line” on search engine results pages. As new technologies, techniques, and near-constant Google and Facebook algorithm updates keep many digital marketing teams on their toes, these and other moving parts are constantly changing.

In a changing market landscape, organizations are aiming for a higher purpose due to evolving buyers and technology, as well as changing values and expectations. With this in mind, here are 5 trends that the marketing team should incorporate into the organization’s digital marketing strategy:

1. Artificial Intelligence – Companies in industries such as retail, banking, and healthcare are already incorporating artificial intelligence into their marketing strategies. While AI is most commonly used in marketing automation to automate basic tasks such as reporting on website traffic and recommending keywords that can improve a company’s organic search results, marketers are also investigating AI applications that can predict what customers are likely to buy in the future based on their previous purchases and browsing history.
2. Virtual Assistants – Assist businesses with a variety of tasks that were previously only performed by humans. To assist people or automate tasks, virtual assistants (VAs) use semantic and deep learning (such as deep neural networks [DNNs], natural language processing, prediction models, recommendations, and personalization). VAs observe and listen to behaviors, create and maintain data models, and predict and recommend actions. Virtual assistants (VAs) can be used for a variety of purposes, including virtual personal assistants, virtual customer assistants, and virtual employee assistants. There are numerous advantages to using virtual assistants or “chatbots,” including:
   • Chatbots can answer consumer questions without requiring company intervention.
   • The chatbot’s AI gives it a distinct personality, which enhances the customer experience.
   • Chatbots improve customer interactions by offering a personalized and enjoyable experience.
3. Mobile-First Marketing – People nowadays spend a lot of time on the internet. Unsurprisingly, “constant” internet usage among adults has skyrocketed in recent years. What does this mean exactly? In the marketing world, the way people buy and shop has changed in tandem with the rise in internet usage – and this includes how people access the internet. As more people use smartphones and tablets to browse products and services on the web rather than desktop computers, businesses must create mobile-friendly content that ranks higher in search engines. One simple strategy is to optimize the design of company’s website so that it automatically adjusts for smaller screens. AMP (accelerated mobile pages) also speeds up the loading of content on smartphones and tablets.
4. Content Marketing – Organizations that want to be market leaders must align their public relations, leadership, and SEO efforts. Companies will benefit from increased visibility, credibility, and authority by aligning these three key areas.
5. Alternatives to Third-Party Cookies – Consumers want stronger privacy safeguards and more control over their data. Concurrently, Google recently announced its intention to discontinue support for third-party cookies. So, what should today’s marketers do? Begin by stepping up efforts to collect and fully utilize first-party data. To achieve personalization and consumer targeting without invading user privacy, tools such as Google’s Privacy Sandbox or FLoC (Federated Learning of Cohorts) can be used. CRM tools, surveys, and interactive content, on the other hand, will become increasingly important for marketing success.

Conclusion

In an increasingly interconnected world, organizations’ marketing strategies must be just as integrated. Companies should seek customized marketing solutions for their businesses by combining marketing tools and technology in novel ways while focusing on end-user experience.