Marketing Trends to Pay Attention

As we do each year, we’re giving some attention to what marketing industry experts predict will be the biggest trends this year.

While certainly not an exhaustive list, the following items are a roadmap for where marketing is going in:

  1. Content remains the single most important aspect of marketing and sales. Content has taken over the marketing and sales departments of almost every business, large or small. If you don’t have a content marketing plan, you simply must put one in place now. If you do have a content marketing strategy, take a look to make sure it is still effective, remembering that standing still is the same as going backward. And one last thing, if you haven’t already, it is critical that your sales team has a voice in your content strategy, remembering that converting sales is what marketing exists to do.
  2. Voice and visual search formats are critical. Marketers are producing different kinds of content and that is a good thing. However, if your target audience can’t find this content it won’t make much of a difference. Now is the time to capitalize on new forms of search methods such as voice.
  3. Personalization is the new normal. Personalized messages used to be the icing on the cake for buyers. Today, and in the future, if your marketing messages aren’t personalized, they will simply get tossed aside. Your target audience is getting more content every single day than they can possibly read or absorb. Personalization is the only hope you have to get your content noticed.
  4. Chatbots make life easier for humans. Chatbots are just another name for virtual concierge and their popularity continues to increase. Automating customer support functions allow users to get personalized interactions without requiring marketers to exhaust manpower. While primarily used for chat, verbal interactions with chatbots also are on the rise.

Marketing is evolving at a dizzying pace and it is important to find out what works best for your unique business. That doesn’t mean, however, that you should try to do it all, all the time. Instead, take a breath and decide what marketing methods appeal to your audience, measure the results of those methods, and focus on the ones that drive your message home. Remember, doing it all usually means you aren’t doing anything as well as you should.