With social media and smartphones now firmly a part of life, the average consumer is bombarded with information from various sources. It can become a major challenge standing out in the midst of all the digital noise that is thrown the way of consumers. On the other hand, the abundance of information means the consumer has greater choice. The bottom line is that the nature of one’s content will largely be the determinant of their success. This is why it is important to consider the following going into the future with regards to digital marketing.
Departure from the old
In the early days of digital marketing, it was not difficult to manipulate Google to one’s advantage through, say, search engine optimization. It was easy to improve one’s organic search ranking through the use of a few sneaky tactics here and there. Such techniques as keyword stuffing and backlinking were the most popular. As a result, there were much less than quality search engine companies making a quick buck of consumers because they could get results that much quicker. However, search engines became more aware that they bore the largest responsibilities for the information their clients received, and introduced such tools as penguins and pandas. This filtered out businesses with poor practices and shortcuts. As the digital marketing industry catches up to this fact, there is a general sway towards more stable, ethical and sustainable breed of digital marketing agencies.
Inbound strategies
Nobody can get away with poor marketing tactics. This has left businesses with two options, either toe the line or be phased out by the competition. Sites have to develop a strong inbound strategy or allow themselves to be overtaken by competitors who have a better outlook. Businesses must, therefore, focus more on the attraction, conversion and retention of customers through quality content and powerful inbound marketing strategies.
Shift from email
Old school email marketing was the source of most email traffic for many target consumers. Companies would have the inboxes of their target market flooding with emails looking to solicit sales. It is now emerging that the untargeted email marketing schemes of old will only hurt businesses in the long run. Instead, the trend that is slowly taking root is lead nurturing. As the name suggests, it involves the careful nurturing of a relationship with the potential client. First, the company needs to create a string profile and brand name and provide useful information. Once the potential customer is ready, they will feel confident enough in the company to choose its products. Instead of the allure of the small quick sale, lead nurturing looks at the bigger picture.
New ranking metrics
What used to be important in ranking such as URLs or domains have lost a lot of ground with the major search engines when it comes to ranking. Instead, new systems are emerging which take into account such metrics as website interactivity, social interaction and the quality and frequency of new content.
