5 Digital Marketing Trends
In an ever changing social media landscape user profiles are flooded with images, video or interactive content. As an evolving brand you should keep up with the current changes and trends which can give your business a competitive edge in the market, increased brand identity and a greater online reputation. It is a must for your business to grow in the digital marketplace. The following article discusses the 5 most important marketing trends everyone working in e-commerce should know right now.
1. Visual content
Picture your Facebook newsfeed for a moment. What do you see? Video over video! Visual over visual! This is not only the case for Facebook but for every other social media platform. Only supporting square pictures in its’ early days, Instagram now features video content not only through the Instagram Stories feature but also in profiles with videos ranging from 3 to 60 seconds. The image based social media giant also introduced visual advertisement, using their new ‘Slideshow’ feature or short video clips incorporated into a user’s feed to promote products fitted to a user’s interests based on algorithms. This ingenious way to promote products fits seamlessly into the user experience, making the advertisement seem like a normal post.
But why have visuals taken over Social Media? The answer is simple. In the information jungle we are navigating everyday, our brain processes visual information 60,000 times faster than text. Furthermore visuals have the power to evoke emotions and feelings which can help you as a brand to be associated with a certain mindset. This will form your brands identity in a way no words could ever express. Creating visual content is therefore not a question of ‘standing out’ anymore, it is a self-evident component of the user experience and a chance for your business to brand itself through logos, infographics or even starting with the design of their website.
2. Live video
There is no better experience for a user to take part in a company’s activities then through the most raw and unedited way which is live video. Being part of the visual content trend, live video has become more and more popular throughout 2017 and is expected to play a role in years to come. Using either Twitter’s periscope, Instagram Live or Facebook Live Video is a choice you have to make according to your audiences on the different platforms.
Having introduced the feature to post and rewatch your finished live videos, the different platforms give you the possibility to prolong the impact a live video can have without loosing it’s raw, unedited edge. Promoting your products ahead of time and being able to interact with your potential customers in real-time creates a feeling of trust and honesty amongst consumers and adds a humanistic component to the brand.
3. Expiring content
Do you know that sense of urgency when you encounter an offer that will expire in the nick of time? Do you not want to buy up the whole stock immediately because you think that this is the best offer you will ever get? It is called Fomo – Fear of Missing out – and it plays an important role when talking about expiring content. This fear plays into the hands of marketers who use expiring content through Snapchat and Instagram Stories to give us a ‘nudge’ in a certain direction. It has the power to pique the interest of possible customers and keeps their eyes glued to the screen to find out what is next to come. Check out our 6 ways to use Instagram Stories for your business here: https://goo.gl/52BceV
4. Personalized content
Here at Teezily customizability and ‘making it your own’ are part of our core values. This goes hand in hand with the current trend for personalized content in Digital Marketing. When it is done right, one-to-one marketing, personalized to a customer’s needs and wishes, can deliver five to eight times the return on investment on marketing costs according to Harvard Business Review. Our very own Teezily Customization feature which allows customers to add a name, number, date or word that they want printed on a design is a valuable asset in this context. Not only are customers able to give the final personalized touch to a great design but this feature is also a strong argument in favour of Teezily that can be used to promote your campaigns.
5. Social Media ‘buy’ buttons
When we want to talk about Social Media ‘buy’ buttons, we firstly have to mention mobile marketing and it’s growing importance. According to comScore, users spend an average of 87 hours per month browsing on a smartphone. The increased usage of mobile devices makes it necessary for sellers to come up with a mobile-focused marketing strategy. That is where Social Media ‘buy’ buttons come into play. The most popular social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram have introduced ‘buy’ buttons to offer convenient purchasing options for customers. How does it work? Users are confronted with product advertisement on the social media channels. Through tapping on a ‘Buy’ button, they are directly redirected to the company’s online shop while never actually leaving the application they are using. With the ‘buy’ button retailers can capture that moment of inspiration and make customers wanting to buy right then and there.