Many have already noticed drastic changes in their viewing public on major social media platforms thanks to sweeping changes in privacy and the ever moving tide of popularity common to the fickle public. Some are emerging victorious, are you?
Changes In 2018
Privacy
This is probably the single biggest change of them all this year thanks in large part to the heavily impactful GDPR from the EU.
Marketers all over the world have rushed to become GDPR compliant, and Google Searches for GDPR compliance spiked just before it was implemented, which says plenty about most of us. Though there was plenty published for a year prior to its implementation – we’re a bunch of procrastinators. There is no shortage of things to learn about it now that it’s in place either, people are still looking for more ways to be sure they’re getting it right.
One thing is surprising a lot of people, however… despite all of this, people aren’t deciding outright to block advertisements or being advertised to, despite being given every chance to do so. Only 11% of internet users use some kind of ad blocker and that’s plenty strange, considering the fact that privacy laws are ever-tightening. This is great news for marketers who need people to see them to do business, and it seems those people aren’t completely against seeing new faces either!
AI
Artificial Intelligence is only getting ‘smarter’ and it’s happening at a lightning pace. If you’re not currently using some form of it, you’ll want to catch up quickly because this is the way of marketing in the future.
All over the world, chief marketing officers make their predictions about the future and 58% say that companies are going to need to compete with AI in order to be successful within the next five years.
There are plenty of articles out there about getting AI integrated into your marketing strategy as well as free services to get it done, or at a reduced rate at least.
Marketing Skills Needed by 2020
Consolidation & Automation in 2018
Live Video/Visual Content
This form of media has grown exponentially in popularity, and many companies are already well-versed in how to utilize it to its fullest – video.
The only thing better than normal video to the public is live video, and it is even better with the small but significant option to ‘vote’ or speak during the live video via a live chat option. (link)
It isn’t just live video however, it’s also things like GIFs, memes, and other media beyond static photos and written text. People want more.
People would rather watch a brand’s video than read any post made by them, and it’s become glaringly obvious that the more people have to interact with in any publication made by the company, the better traction it will get.
Trends For 2018
Programmatic Advertising
This is the art of using AI to automate the purchase of ads and then being able to pinpoint audiences with specificity – thus increasing the chances of success.
84% of digital display ads in the US are expected to be programmatic by 2019. (source)
Chatbots
By 2022, they’re expected to help businesses save over 8 BILLION every year. It’s no wonder why people often prefer to utilize a chatbot than call a company these days. They enable instant communication to solve a problem immediately, and that instant satisfaction cannot be overstated in terms of value.
You’d be surprised by what they can do. There are plenty of options out there, and most of them cost in order to provide the level of service you’d want, but they’re affordable.
Personalization
This is extremely powerful in 2018 mostly due to the long-reaching effects of the GDPR, because now more than ever, it’s hard to get to know someone, but imperative to do so. The companies who can, have a definite edge.
There are some extremely valuable articles that can help give the edge needed to figure that part out here:
GETTING TO KNOW YOUR CUSTOMERS IN 2018
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