3 Smart Marketing Trends To Better Engage Your Audience In 2018

For the past 30 days, my email has been inundated with subject lines littered with police car revolving light emojis alerting me to the “hottest marketing trends” coming down the pike in 2018.  As a marketer, I understand the urgency as I, too, see trends on the horizon that will impact our client’s ability to find smarter ways to connect with their audiences without wasting a lot of money. So, I’ve compiled a list of my favorite marketing trends we’re sure to see more of this year and why I think they have staying power… well at least until next year:

Live Video Content

According to Facebook, live videos receive 6x the engagement as non-live videos.  With Facebook’s new algorithm, live videos will benefit from increased prominence in the newsfeed. This could potentially improve organic engagement and reduce ad spend. Live video offers a more authentic experience with audiences which inspires them to contribute to the conversation.  The more your audience feels like you are truly speaking to them, the more connected they become to you and your business.

Voice Search and Artificial Intelligence

First, there was Siri, then Alexa and now voice-controlled assistants are being built into everything from smartphones to smart speakers and TV’s.  As voice technology evolves, so will the opportunity for businesses to capitalize on the data consumers feed their smart devices to personalize the experience. Consumers are expecting brands to be there, too, but in very specific ways. According to Google, voice-activated speaker owners would like to receive from brands things like: 

The challenge for smaller businesses will be understanding the technology available and creating a cost-effective voice marketing strategy.  You may need to hire a pro for this!

Location-Based Marketing

Connected consumers leave a digital data trail that gives businesses the power to lead them right to their door. Location-based marketing uses real-time data (i.e. the location of the owner’s mobile device) to deliver targeted content to the right person at the right time and NOW, at the right place.

This emerging marketing technology offers benefits to both businesses and consumers. Businesses enjoy higher foot traffic and sales opportunities, and consumers get content of interest to them delivered to them conveniently and timely.

The more marketing trends change, the more they stay the same?

Marketing is a learning process. One of the best ways to see what works for your business is to try new strategies. These three trends are worth exploring to see if they fit into your 2018 marketing strategy. But, don’t ignore the basics that are good year after year:

• Always have a marketing plan.  Create a 90-day strategy, measure the results and repeat.
• Identify and understand your ideal customer/client. The more details you know, the better the outcome.
• Engage your audience. People like to buy from people and companies they like.  The more your audience feels that you’re speaking just to them, the more connected to you and your business they become.
• Continue to focus on your content marketing. Content is what catches the attention of your audience and builds a trust with your brand.

Do you need help building and measuring your marketing strategy?  We’d be happy to sit down and strategize with you.