With the ability to adapt and learn, those with a marketing degree can compete in today’s market. The industry is moving at a rapid pace. Using internet marketing as a marketing method ten or five years ago is no longer popular.
Founder of LastMinute.com, Brent Hoberman, says, “Internet years are roughly comparable with dog years,” which means that internet marketing is moving faster than the rest of the world. You’ll need help to keep up with current trends.
Keep up to date with the latest changes in internet marketing. Here are some differences in internet marketing this year and how to stay on top of them.
1. Privacy concerns
Based on your online activities, companies collect and use consumer information. Each interaction you make online is being tracked, especially on company websites.
This information is mainly used for advertising purposes. Companies can automate advertising and reach more targeted audiences based on past purchases, search habits, and other online queries.
This raises security concerns. It’s no surprise that customers are more concerned about how companies handle their personal information after recent security breaches at companies like Equifax and Target.
Successful internet marketing requires data collection. However, it would be best if you had the plan to collect consumer information and keep it safe privately. Secure your network. Using a virtual private network can prevent hackers from accessing customer files.
VPNs create a secure tunnel between your company’s devices and the network. It has multiple layers of security that make hacking extremely difficult. Many types of VPNs are available, from small businesses to large corporations.
Other security measures should also be updated, such as updating passwords often, using secure communication, and installing software upgrades. Share any changes you make with your customers in your customer privacy policy. This will ease their concerns and increase their trust in you.
2. Influencer networking
Word-of-mouth marketing is a powerful form of marketing. It is no secret. Marketers are now turning to influencers for help spreading the word about their businesses.
“Influencer marketing” refers to word-of-mouth marketing that uses crucial leaders to push your brand’s message to the broader market. Raghav Haran is the consultant at Single Grain. Instead of directly marketing to large groups of consumers, you pay influencers to spread the word.
If you don’t use this technique, staying ahead in today’s market is challenging. This practice significantly expands your reach with little effort and time.
Although celebrities can be influencers, it takes work to get endorsements. Many companies rely heavily on social media or YouTube channels with a large following. They can endorse your products or engage customers on your behalf.
3. Voice Search
Voice search usage has increased dramatically in recent years due to the increasing number of voice-activated assistants on the market. Customers rely on this service, whether searching from their smartphones or using an intelligent assistant like Amazon Echo or Google Edge.
Experts estimate that 50% of searches will be voice-activated before 2020. This is especially relevant for millennials, who use voice search every month at nearly 40%.
Atanu Shaw, Forbes suggests which focuses on getting your content to the top results. Voice search can produce pages but only the most relevant results for answering a speaker’s query.
What does this all mean for digital marketers?” Shaw states that optimizing content for voice searches means optimizing it. “Publish content that answers or solves consumers’ questions. Natural conversational language is important, along with longer phrases and full sentences used as keywords. This not only helps the end-user but also makes the content voice-search-friendly.”
4. Video dominance
While images and blog posts are still powerful tools for internet marketing, videos are considered the most effective medium.
Toby Nwazor, the founder of Entrepreneur, says that video marketing is now the poster child for digital advertising. “Recently, video content has proven to be the most effective medium for garnering traffic and engagement, gaining leads, and boosting conversions…Videos are head and shoulders above other media strategies because they don’t just provide content for your website users — they demand engagement.”
Cisco research shows that 82% of all internet traffic will be linked to a video by 2021 as more companies use videos in their marketing campaigns.
You can easily keep up with the trend by creating more videos. This should be your preferred marketing tool, even if you hire more staff or change your marketing strategy.
