The Future is Digital. Is Your Business Ready?
The world today is exceedingly digital in every aspect. The internet, smartphones and machine learning all play an important role in connecting not only people, but brands alike. Global smartphone penetration is predicted to reach a staggering 40% by 2020 (ref: Marketing Week) and according to smart insights, every 60 seconds 3.8 million google searches are made, 30 million WhatsApp messages are sent, 448,800 tweets are posted, 65,972 images are uploaded to Instagram and 500 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube. The influence of the internet on connected people today can’t be ignored. So what should you be doing to keep up with the latest digital marketing trends?
#1 Create a Frictionless Mobile Experience
It’s 2019, and online customers are changing. With expectations higher than they have ever been before, brands are having to up their game when it comes to their marketing strategy. Today, one of the most noticeable consumer demands is the need for a friction-less mobile experience, so getting mobile fundamentals right is vital to a brands marketing efforts. In order to stay ahead of customers growing needs and expectations, you need to lay the groundwork with mobile developments sooner rather than later. This means that marketing departments should consider optimising the entire mobile footprint if they want to prepare your business for future success.
Data shows that during 2018, eCommerce stores with shopping apps were making the majority of their sales through mobile. It is predicted that mobile will drive 68% of eCommerce visits and 46% of orders during the 2019 holiday season. Chris Brandt, chief marketing officer of Taco Bell believes that mobile developments will continue to enable more personal interactions between brands and consumers. The main possession that people value today is their smartphone and this defines the way consumers interact with both people and brands alike. Marketers have had to cater for mobile-users for a long time, but could 2020 be the year that mobile applications become priority over desktop interfaces?
#2 Know Your Digital Customer
Digital developments also mean that expectations for advertising standards are on the rise. Thanks to new innovations, customers believe that they should receive tailored marketing messages relevant to their personal wants and needs. Consumers are always expecting more information from the brands they use and interact with, including who they are and what they stand for. At the end of the day, customers won’t tolerate bad service, and will happily accept offers from competitors when they inevitably come chasing after them. If you want to stand out in 2020, you need to personalise your marketing – and that means personalised content, products and emails. The whole lot.
#3 Take Advantage of Big Data
Data is the new oil, and big data has become exceptionally popular with the rise of mobile and internet technology. Big Data refers to data sets that are too big and too complex for traditional data processing applications. People are both producing more and accessing more digital data on mobile and computer devices. Companies use big data to the gather, analyse and utilise massive amounts of digital information from consumers to improve their business operations, and you should be too. From digital sales transactions to marketing feedback via social media, rapid digital activities such as these produce and compile data at an incredibly fast rate. The way you then use this information, often determines whether your business will fail or succeed. By analysing the many interactions, patterns and anomalies taking place within a market, you can use this data to drive new, creative products and services to market.
#4 Beat the Amazon Effect
On the topic of digital disruption in retail markets, all fingers point to Amazon as the culprit. But Amazon’s success isn’t simply due to the companies scale and pricing power, it’s because Amazon is fundamentally reshaping and redefining customer experiences. Originally known for selling books, Amazon has built an empire in the form of a website that offers almost everything to everyone. Referred to by some as the ‘Amazon effect’, the global economy has been disrupted by Amazon’s success, which has altered retail practice and customer expectations both online and offline. By mid 2018, Amazon was already responsible for approximately 50% of eCommerce sales in the UK.
This has led to the great difficulty faced by many retailers, particularly brick and mortar stores on the highstreet. Amazon’s huge selection of products, fast shipping options and low prices all serve to create an incredibly high standard of service, against which many retailers cannot compete. Studies show that the Amazon effect has in fact led to many high street business closures, but many companies are fighting back against Amazon and have tackled them effectively in the the competition for customers. Keeping up with digital transformation and implementing a digital strategy will put your brand in the strongest position to slay the online giant.
#5 Produce Video Content
With the rise of mobile technology, comes the rise of video and video sharing platforms. Video marketing is one of, if not the, most important marketing trend today and likely for the next 5-10 years. Video content is popular with both consumers and brands because people love visual story-telling. This has bought about a change in consumption habits that shatter conventional marketing models and forces brands to become nimbler and more creative with their content. One of the biggest hang-ups many businesses have with video marketing is the production aspect. But anyone can harness the benefits of video by using simple recording tools. You have to remember that most people aren’t looking for dazzling special effects. They just want quality content that is entertaining, informative, and story-driven.
#6 Know the Power of User-Generated Content
Marketing is quickly becoming a two-way conversation as the rise of social media has given consumers a voice to interact with brands and customers alike. This has also bought about the surge in user-generated content that often now exceeds branded content. In order to stay ahead, it is important that you embrace this emergence and accept that you are no longer in total control of your brand image. Not only can customers now talk back, they can shout back if your brand doesn’t keep its promises, which can have a detrimental effects on your brand image. Marketers are already leveraging user-generated content to tap into the Millennial and Gen Z markets. By encouraging your audience to generate their own content by offering an incentive, you can increase engagement and smash conversion rates.
#7 Prepare for Voice Search
All thanks to Siri and Alexa, verbal interaction with devices is still on the rise. In fact, voice search is predicted to account for 50% of all internet searches by 2020. Talking is simply the preferred way of interacting, and machines are finally catching up to the way people now search, shop and discover new things. But can you? Preparing your business for voice searches is going to require a different approach. For example, website meta-descriptions may need to be optimised for speech so that they read better when read out loud.
#8 Don’t be Afraid of Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence (see our sister IT business AI blog) makes it possible for machines to learn from experience and adjust to new inputs and tasks. This means that computers can be trained to accomplish specific functions by processing mass amounts of data and recognising patterns. Scared yet? Well you shouldn’t be. People are beginning to notice artificial intelligence and its impressive effect on many aspects of the world. If your business is going to remain competitive, you should start to explore new ways to integrate artificial intelligence into your customer experiences, whether with chat-bots to improve customer service, or automation to supplement customer engagement efforts. New age technology such as virtual reality, augmented reality and artificial intelligence now holds the key to data collection and insights into ever-evolving digital consumers. To cater for today’s consumers, your brand will need insights and technology such as machine learning to keep up in the digital world. Online leader Amazon is already exploring artificial intelligence and machine learning with its smart speaker Alexa. AI has also played a massive role in Amazons eCommerce activities with tools such as algorithms detecting market trends and up selling products via custom recommendations.
Welcome To The Connected World
If you thought that the rapid growth of smartphones and social media apps with all their cultural and societal impact was a big deal – you haven’t seen anything yet. For businesses, smart connected products and technologies are expanding and reshaping industry boundaries. Today, it is impossible to avoid digital transformation, no matter which industry your business operates in. But this is far from a bad thing. Digital advances are providing your business with tools, information and opportunities to optimise your processes, operate more efficiently, tap into new revenue streams and inspire customers with added value.
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