Tom Welbourne
Helping Small and Medium Businesses Achieve Their Full Marketing Potential | Digital Marketing Expert
2018 Digital Marketing Trends
- February 11, 2018
- , 2:28 pm
In recent years, the digital marketing industry has undergone a host of changes and with Facebook, Instagram and Twitter continuously updating their platforms, it’s important to keep up-to-date with the latest developments. In 2018, video content, micro-moments and the introduction of GDPR will all shape the way our customers think, interest and want from our brands. Looking ahead, here is our roundup of the top digital marketing trends for 2018;
GDPR
In 2018, the European Union will begin its crackdown on how companies collect consumer data. On May 25th, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will come in to effect which will allow EU citizens (including those in the UK despite Brexit) to have more control over their personal data. So, every time a company wants to collect information from a consumer, they will now need explicit consent from the individual. It is expected that less than 75% of European companies will be GDPR compliant by May which means they could be facing a fine of up to 4% of global turnover or €20 million, whichever is greater.
Micro-Moments
Micro-moments are defined by Google as any moment that drives a customer to use their mobile from wanting to learn something, go somewhere, do something or buy something. In 2018, we will likely see brands whose strategy focuses on capitalising on this see the biggest success.
Video
Video content isn’t a new trend but it looks like social video engagement stats are going to be through the roof in 2018 with Facebook users consuming over 8 billion videos every day. With this in mind, video content provides a lot of flexibility when it comes to formatting from 360-degree videos which are great for showing off properties or live streams which are great for engaging with your customers. One thing to keep in mind is that mobile comes first.
Automation
Automation has been around for some time but it is now more accessible than ever. Every day new aspects of marketing are being automated which will help small businesses do more with less, from automated welcome emails to automated remarketing to visitors of your website. In fact, in 2018 we will see a trend for automation to become ‘more human’ to help bridge the gap between technology and real people.
Social Media
Social Media has long been used by brands as a way of informing them of the latest news and company updates. But with Facebook changing their news feed algorithm which will give priority to posts from friends instead of public pages, 2018 will likely leave brands in a tricky situation. In fact, this bombshell news caused Facebook’s stock price to drop by 5 percent and we expect brands turn their attention to other popular social media platforms like Twitter and LinkedIn.
Personalisation
In 2018, personalisation will be more than just a customer’s first name in a subject line. Personalisation will have a defining impact on a successful digital marketing strategy and we will see a trend of listening more and selling less. Brands need to listen to what their customers are telling them whether that is on social media or to customer service, in order to understand what they want. In fact, a great example has been set by Spotify which has long been a user of personalisation to engage their customers. Their annual data-driven email marketing campaign highlighting each user’s listening habits for the last year has been a big hit and many other brands are starting to take note.
Voice
Dubbed “The Fourth Sales Channel”, one in four shoppers have used a voice assistant like Amazon’s Alexa and Google Home in their Christmas shopping during 2017. In fact, it is predicted that by 2020 half of online searches will be carried out by voice and in 2018, BMW will be rolling out new cars with Amazon’s Alexa pre-installed. The rise in the sales of smart speakers means voice assistance technology is becoming an area of opportunity for brands and businesses.
New Year, New Strategy
All of these trends will shape the landscape of digital marketing in 2018. Whether you’re looking to take advantage of video content or you require help becoming GDPR compliant, our team is on hand to keep your brand ahead of the curve.
