In our modern digital era, establishing a successful startup is only really possible with a quality digital marketing campaign. And with new technologies and services emerging and gaining popularity on a continual basis, it’s also important to keep your digital marketing campaign up to date and in line with the latest trends, if you want to remain competitive. To that point, we’re presenting five of the most significant digital marketing trends to consider implementing (if you haven’t already) for the year to come.
1.) Mobile Push Notifications
If your startup happens to have a mobile application available, conducting mobile push notifications is a relatively simple way to ensure that consumers have the option of engaging with your brand on a regular basis. A write-up at Ruby Garage explained numerous benefits of these types of notifications, from re-engaging past users and increasing conversion rates to tracking actionable metrics and improving customer care. Yes, there will always be some users who choose to disable push notifications and others who won't use your app at all. But these are simple inevitabilities - not negative effects of using push notifications in the first place. It's likely because of this - that there really aren't any negatives - that push notifications only seem to be getting more popular.
2.) Hiring Social Media Managers
Social media marketing is one of the most effective ways to advertise today. However, it also involves a more dynamic operation than some more traditional forms of outreach or advertising. For this reason, there is a trend of late toward hiring people or even full teams to manage a company's social media engagement. In a previous article here at Foundervine, we implored entrepreneurs to ask themselves eight reflective questions prior to starting their own businesses. One of those questions was if there were any roles within your company, you might be unable or unwilling to fulfil. And this is how a lot of founders and managers feel about social media. Ignoring it altogether simply isn't an option anymore though, which is why these hires are becoming so common.
3.) Instagram Stories
This point goes hand-in-hand with the idea of hiring a social media manager to some degree. But lately, Instagram Stories have become trendy enough to warrant their own mention. Social Media Examiner's piece on the topic points to Instagram Stories as excellent ways to increase engagement specifically with younger generations. The stories' engagement stickers, which can include quizzes and polls, are particularly useful, because they give potential consumers ways to interact directly with your brand. Typically, the stories put out by companies are also fairly short and simple as well - though you'll still want to dedicate time and resources to curating strategic content that will generate interest in what your business has to offer.
4.) SEO
SEO is not a new concept, but it seems that more people and companies are recognizing its myriad benefits each year, so it’s still fair to call it trendy. Either way, a quality SEO operation is by this point vital to a successful marketing campaign. Starting up such an operation is difficult, but the marketing professionals at Ayima Kickstart provides a helpful overview of SEO practices and benefits for small businesses that can give you a good idea of where to begin. For a comprehensive approach, you’ll want to have knowledgeable experts analyze your website and existing SEO efforts to compile data, and then use that data to design a strategy for search-friendly content production and external link development. Again, it’s difficult, and it's not something you can accomplish overnight - but it can boost your online presence as few other things will.
5.) Shoppable Posts
Not to harp too much on Instagram, but the social media platform's stoppable posts represent a relatively new feature (having launched in 2017 in the U.S.). If your company happens to be product-driven, these new(-ish) posts provide an innovative and exciting way to advertise your offerings. On the surface, stoppable Instagram posts work similarly to ordinary links. However, the experience differs significantly. Users can simply scroll through their feeds, find a post on an Instagram account that catches their eye, and click on the product therein to be directed to the company's homepage. From there, they can, of course, make whatever purchases they're interested in. From the business perspective, it's a win-win: The product is being made available, but not in a way that makes the potential customer feel pushed, or even marketed to. It's no wonder these posts, too, are becoming trendy in digital marketing.
Angelica Munich is a freelance writer. After leaving the confines of a traditional office setting, Angelica travelled around Asia to find her true calling. Thankfully, being a part-time English teacher and a digital nomad somewhat helped her reach this potential.