The vast world of Digital Marketing encompasses an entire dynamic industry, which is constantly changing and evolving. In this progress, technology plays a key role. Therefore, it is imperative that professionals in the field are constantly updated on the latest trends and innovations in digital marketing, in order to optimise their results.

Staying ahead of the curve is very important if we seek to position ourselves in the market and stand out from the competition. It is worth remembering that innovation is nothing but planning the right strategies and making sure that these strategies go hand in hand with what people, our customers, really want and need. Brands that know how to adapt to new scenarios will be the ones that stay in the market for a longer time, obtaining great benefits.

As we mentioned, keeping up to date implies knowing the trends that are renewed in the digital marketing industry. This helps brands to achieve an easier and quicker online positioning. Some changes are more relevant, others not so much, but they all help to optimise promotion and visibility strategies.

At this point, it is essential to understand precisely what customer behaviours may or may not affect our marketing campaigns, so that we can take them into account when making decisions when changes occur.

On this opportunity, we have gathered for our readers the ten trends and innovations in digital marketing that are currently having more popularity and good results. Our goal with this is to provide tools that enhance future strategies.

Innovations in digital marketing

PROCESS AUTOMATION

Nowadays, brands must consider the availability they have for their customers. It can negatively affect a brand’s reputation if customers have to wait days for an answer. Fortunately, automation can be an infallible ally in these cases.

Automation consists in the implementation of a series of reliable tools to complete and optimise tasks. It also offers the possibility of evaluating and correcting actions in real time, which allows an effective and unsupervised planning.

A clear example of this are AI-powered chatbots. Messaging has become one of the preferred ways for users to contact brands, a task that is perfectly handled by “Chatbots” (computer tools that simulate human conversations). In fact, many companies are using Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp Business, in which a Chatbot responds quickly and appropriately to customers.

PERSONALISATION IS ESSENTIAL

Until not so long ago, using the name of our customers when sending the emails was enough. Today, that has changed. Brands need to deliver individualised content, using refined email segmentation in order to collect customer data on every step.

The best way to take personalisation to a new level is through complex data analysis and cross-platform data mining. With the help of these digital marketing tools, we will be able to differentiate ourselves from the competition and establish an emotional bond that drives customer loyalty.

However, personalisation of ads is also a key factor, so as to provide our customers with all the advertising that is relevant to their interests and needs. The purpose here is to promote dynamic user experiences, created from predictive use of data that resolves into functionally targeted ads.

VIRTUAL AND AUGMENTED REALITY

Virtual and augmented reality are no longer exclusive to films or video games. This strategies are also directly influencing the consumer’s purchasing decisions, as they involve the user’s interaction with a computer system that simulates a digital environment.

These are two of the most important trends and innovations in digital marketing nowadays. Their use has grown among large companies as a marketing strategy to:

• Encourage interaction between the brand and the customer.
• Enable the customer experience from the digital and remote environment.
• Present prototypes to a specific audience.
• Attract customers interested in technology.
• Make innovation a feature of the brand.

COMPETITIVE SEO STRATEGIES

Consistently refining search engine optimisation SEO strategies allows brands to optimise their organic positioning and to maintain their digital presence.

It is undeniable that SEO is changing at an exceptionally rapid pace, especially when brands are looking to rank globally. The future of digital marketing cannot be conceived without the presence of skilled SEO professionals. They will be the ones who responsibly develop the most appropriate strategies to achieve a presence in the digital marketplace, through strategies like customer behaviour analysis, advanced data collection and continuous web updates.

VOICE SEARCH

Today’s customers prioritise practicality, which is why the technological boom is taking hold. One example of this is voice search for navigation, which makes work substantially easier and saves a lot of time.

As a result, brands are almost forced to keep up with the times when it comes to practicality. Our efforts must increasingly focus on improving the consumers experience when it comes to voice search.

It’s not just about improving our content to reflect the voice search trend. We can -and should- take advantage of the benefits that Artificial Intelligence provides in order to go much further in our digital marketing strategies.

SOCIAL ADS, SOCIAL MEDIA ADVERTISING

Social networks have unlimited power, to such an extent that they have become authentic shopping platforms. This represents an excellent way for positioning ourselves in the consumer’s mind, as we can take advantage of all the opportunities for reach and visibility that social media provides.

Nowadays, thousands and thousands of people use social media and networks to explore products. This fact alone manifests a clear purchase intention or need. All these platforms, without exception, get the most out of advertising, developing ad management with innovative formats that, in return, allow to perform a really precise targeting.

In other words, investing in social ads is undoubtedly one of the trends and innovations in digital marketing with the greatest impact, in addition to being profitable and very versatile.

CONTEXT MARKETING

Context Marketing must be applied at every stage of the sales process. With this method, it is possible to obtain data about the users in order to offer them the relevant information they need at the right time. The main challenge is to personalise offers according to the needs of each consumer, so they can be provided with a highly unique experience in real time.

With this goal in mind, we could experience an increase in important indicators, such as purchase recurrence and customer recommendation levels. The key is in Customer Relationship Management (CRM) strategies and tools, where Context Marketing will become more relevant.

OPTIMISING NATIVE ADVERTISING

Gone are the days of traditional display ads. Today, the key is to disseminate paid “in-feed” content, which is much less invasive for the user.

Although an increasing number of companies are opting for this, it is not a strategy that should be taken lightly. Transparency in this advertising format must be guaranteed.

Indeed, advertising disguised as quality content is not well received by users. It is important, therefore, to adapt to the tastes of our target audience and to enhance the creativity of the ways in which content is presented. Why? So that the user can relate to the latter in a more natural and spontaneous way, perceiving it as useful and attractive.

THINK OF THE EXPRESS USERS

Immediate content could be the most successful one. “Express users” are those who access the Internet via their smartphones, and they are growing exponentially. They access the search engine on their mobile phones at any time and in any place, hoping to receive information in a quick and easy way.

Therefore, having a presence there is really important, but how to do it? Through platforms such as Facebook Stories or Instagram Stories. The point is to merge creativity with the ability to synthesise content, to promptly move that audience characterised by consuming information quickly.

IMAGE RECOGNITION IN SEARCH

Locating products in the physical world that are also available online has become a boom. Whether a user photographs something in their environment with their mobile phone or simply obtains an image from the Internet, image recognition technology makes it possible to locate items on the web.

One of the technologies that works with this is Google Lens, which helps users to perform generic searches or searches with a shopping purpose. The Amazon platform also has a functionality that identifies products and shows whether they are for sale in the marketplace.

For brands that sell online, taking advantage of these technologies, which are also present on Pinterest, is really important.

What can you do as a brand to access this type of search? Optimise the images included in the product cards: quality, visibility and diversity of perspectives. All of this can increase the chances of recognition from an image uploaded by a user.
The strategic and functional use of this digital marketing tool, as with all the ones previously exposed, contribute in different and valuable ways to the web positioning of a brand, business or company, guaranteeing its growth and success in the market.