Digital marketing might be many things, but static is not one of them.
Think of where we were just 10 years ago. The average internet connection was 8.6 Mbps (it was 256.0 Mbps last year). And only 63.6% of people owned a “handheld computer” (which is apparently a term we once used for “smartphone” and then immediately blocked from our memory).
We might as well have been living in the dark ages!
The thing is, just like how people use the internet changes, how we market on the internet needs to change, too. Here are some trends to keep an eye on — for better or for worse!
4 Future Digital Marketing Trends to Watch
Google Stealing the Cookies From the Cookie Jar
In case you haven’t heard, Google is doing away with third-party cookies. They’ll begin migrating people to their new Privacy Sandbox early next year, with full disablement expected by mid-2024.
While this is fantastic for privacy-conscious consumers, it’s not so fantastic for businesses that rely on those cookies to collect data about their customers.
You should start planning ways to gather zero-party data, which is collected directly from your audience. Surveys, forms, social media polls, contests and giveaways are all great ways to do it!
People Are Screaming for Voice Search
Believe it or not, a full 50% of your audience is using voice search on the daily. So if you’re not already tailoring your search engine optimization (SEO) efforts toward it, you’re at risk of missing a very important boat.
While typed search queries tend to be a bit impersonal, people talk to Alexa, Siri, Cortana and similar smart assistants in a more conversational tone. Thus, we suggest concentrating on keywords and phrases that sound like the way humans talk.
For example, instead of “tacos in Tacoma,” think “Who serves the best tacos in Tacoma?” The root phrase “tacos in Tacoma” is still there, but by expanding the query a bit, you’re making it easy for your audience to find you regardless of how they’re searching for you.
Immersion Is All the Rage
Do you want to ensure your competition never gets their claws into your customers? Create an immersive experience!
Immersive experiences use things like virtual reality, augmented reality and projections to create something that appeals to several senses at once. Your audience isn’t just seeing something; they’re taking it all in.
A hair stylist who has an app that allows clients to see how they’d look with different hair styles or colors. A wedding boutique that lets brides-to-be virtually try on dresses, shoes and accessories from the comfort of their own couch. A farm-to-table restaurant that offers virtual “field trips” to the places where they source their ingredients.
You can’t beat that!
The Robots Are Coming, The Robots Are Coming!
Actually, they’re already here. And they can do some pretty cool (albeit occasionally spooky) things.
Towards the end of 2022, OpenAI and Microsoft combined forces to release ChatGPT, an AI chatbot trained to do a host of high-level tasks. It can write code, generate images, compose emails, explain complex topics and plenty of other things that would have seemed impossible for a non-human to do just a handful of years ago.
While tools like ChatGPT can often be downright useful, we caution you to tread carefully. Can they write your next blog post for you? Technically, yes. Should they? Absolutely not.
Here’s the deal: If you use a robot to generate your content, your content is going to look like it was generated by a robot. Best-case scenario? Your brand looks lazy and uninspired, but people don’t notice. But if you want to know how poorly it can go, look at what happened when Gizmodo and CNET went forward with error-riddled AI content.
Our expert opinion? Save the chatbots for mundane tasks like giving your customers shipping updates and answering generic FAQs. Leave the content development to real, live humans.
Are You Ready to Embrace the Digital Era?
Keeping your finger on the pulse of digital marketing trends isn’t just highly recommended — it’s absolutely crucial if you’re going to be successful in 2023 and beyond. From zero-party data mining to voice search and immersive experiences to using AI responsibly, there’s always something new to learn!
Are you having trouble keeping up with the digital details? Let Mischa Communications lend a helping hand! We’re here when you need us.