Get your brand the #Digital edge with the #Trends2018 focus on shortening & personifying the #Communication pathway between #brands and #consumers. Buyers are empowered & educated so marketing must be #Consumer centric in order to be effective.
1. Chatbots - Brands need to be in communication with their audiences 24/7 so the ability to use automated response messaging with Chatbots will soon become a top priority. They are also more efficient than call centres and far more cost effective particularly for small businesses. With Facebook messenger you can chat with brands just like you chat with your friends, it's a quick and easy interaction despite mostly being automated responses. One of the keys is to ensure there is clear definition between a human response vs the chatbot response. This is to ensure authenticity in the brand interactions. Read more here.
2. Video - By now we are likely all familiar with using video on social media, however the evolution is LIVE streaming. Live video is quickly outpacing pre-recorded video with over 113% growth rates over the past 12 months. The experience of Live feels intimate and is in realtime so delivers a more personal experience with the brand. The key to being successful in Live is to plan well so when you execute the Live stream your message comes across quickly and clearly to your audience.
3. Predictive Analytics - Using data to predict behaviour is now the reality of online marketing and Google and Facebook are fighting for this space. It's no longer enough to understand historic trends, brands must be able to predict future behaviours in order to leverage return on investment in marketing. Google are clearly leading the way in this space with analytics and search console updates.
4. AI - Artificial Intelligence will be taking a dominant role in ecommerce in 2018 and beyond. By integrating AI into ecommerce platforms brand will be able to predict and personalise the shopping experience based on the unique tastes and behaviour of it's customers.
5. AR - Augmented Reality will continue to develop it's presence throughout 2018. Brands will continue to explore the uses of AR. Beauty and fashion brands have a great opportunity to demonstrate applying their product on an image of the person to see how it looks before purchase. Ultimately closing the gap between browsing and buying through innovative shopping experiences. Estee Lauder are a great example.
6. Voice Search in SEO - Voice search is expected to reach new heights in 2018 with the growing popularity of Google Home and Amazon Echo. Voice search queries will push for content specific to the nuances of speech and more longer tailed keywords. Your website needs to be optimised specifically for voice search.
7. Net Neutrality - this means that every internet user has equal access to all websites and services. In the US Obama passed a law to protect net neutrality, however this has just been repealed, meaning handing over of power to the ISP (Internet Service Providers). So what does this mean for us here in NZ? Basically as more of the tech giants are buying up vertical services there is greater control and a more competitive marketplace occurring online. Without Net Neutrality laws in place in the US it leaves the market open to abuse of power by way of control of access and/or additional charges for accessing certain services through other providers. An example of this is without Net Neutrality laws in place Verizon who own yahoo and AOL would be allowed to charge Google to access their customers which would inevitably be passed on to the consumer. Bottom line is we as the consumer ends up paying for the tech giants to outbid each other in the war to win the online space. More about this here.
To get your brand ahead of the pack in Digital 2018 talk to us about how we can help.
