It is that time of the year again—the end of Q2 of the financial year 2017. It is the time when digital marketing strategies and budgets need to be prepared for the year 2018. Tactics that have been in use for the year 2017 need to be questioned with regards to their effectiveness in a smooth and efficient customer conversion. Also, current SEO services need to be reviewed for their efficiency and new services like The Hoth need to be considered.
But in order to actually start preparing for the coming year, the digital marketing and SEO trends and predictions for the year 2018 need to be taken into consideration like:
- Mastering micro-moments
The year 2017 was the year of mobile optimisation with smartphones actually making a huge difference in customer engagement and interaction with the different brands. This was a global phenomenon and this shift was powered by the concept of what is known as the “micro-moments” which refers to any impulse which makes the user reach out for his mobile. And these micro-moments are said to be extremely crucial evaluative touch-points wherein customers expect pertinent information the moment they need it, irrespective of the time of the day or the location of the customer.
Thus it is very important for brands to properly anticipate the needs of the customers and to ensure relevant information is always available to them. This is set to define the success of digital marketing strategies in the year 2018.
- Visualisation acquires greater importance
Leveraging on the use of interactive and visually-rich element depicting a meaningful story or a relevant message is also set to continue in the year 2018. The need to have absolute ability to capitalize on highly engaging visual content especially on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter etc., will ensure further engagement with SEO services like The Hoth.
- Native ads to gain prominence
Today the appropriateness of native ads has made it a much sought after tool in digital marketing. Using methods which are non-disruptive and which enable the ads to blend in seamlessly with the content being viewed by the user, enables brands to put relevant information in front of the customer at the most appropriate time. This too facilitates a higher conversion rate and consequently brings in greater profits.
- Customer centric content to rule
Content marketing is slated to form the basic core of every digital marketing strategy even for the year 2018. But the coming year will see a serious drift from the static content which has been the tradition till date. Customers will now be treated to much more personalized and customer relevant dynamically rich content to create a unique experience matching their personal needs, wants and preferences.
- Content developer investment to grow
The goal of every digital marketing strategy in the coming year will be to inundate the customer with unique content which has been creatively written. For this brands will need to invest in good content developers; people who will be able to produce content having the potency to make the customers come back to the website looking for more.
Other trends include raising a team of influencers, acquiring and utilizing the right Big data etc. The rise of sophisticated technology and its easy acceptance across the globe has increased the scope of digital marketing endlessly. The only crucial factor is to formulate a proper digital marketing strategy which will enable brands to capitalize on it.