{"id":9325,"date":"2021-12-22T12:12:57","date_gmt":"2021-12-22T17:12:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.atyourbusiness.com\/blog\/?p=9325"},"modified":"2021-12-22T12:13:13","modified_gmt":"2021-12-22T17:13:13","slug":"the-top-11-upcoming-marketing-trends-your-business-needs-to-be-using","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.atyourbusiness.com\/blog\/the-top-11-upcoming-marketing-trends-your-business-needs-to-be-using\/","title":{"rendered":"The Top 11 Upcoming Marketing Trends Your Business Needs to Be Using"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Effective marketing is the lifeblood of a business, but not every business owner is good at it. Business owners estimate they waste about 26%<\/a> of their marketing budget annually. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the biggest reasons businesses fail to market effectively is that they use outdated marketing methods. You don’t want to be putting out ads in the thrift paper when your competitors are advertising on social media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your marketing strategy needs to be cost-effective and reach as many potential customers as possible. What is the best way to do this? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keeping up with marketing trends will give you the edge you need in marketing. We’ve put together a guide to eleven emerging marketing trends that are sure to put your business on top. Read on to learn more!<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

1. Chatbots<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Gone are the days of the majority of your customers sending an email or making a telephone call.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These methods are time-consuming at best. With our increasingly hectic lifestyles, many customers may opt out of communication entirely if these are their only options.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chatbots are one of the fastest-growing marketing tools. They’re not just for customer service purposes anymore. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chatbots have several distinct advantages. They can catch customer inquiries early and direct them to the appropriate salesperson. Bots are also available 24\/7, reducing your need for staffing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Customers also really like to use them, especially for quick questions. And chatbots can also be personalized via customer information forms. This also allows you to collect customer information for further marketing purposes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As artificial intelligence continues to expand, so do the capabilities of chatbots. If you get in on the ground floor of this marketing trend, you can grow your chatbot use with your business. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Interactive Content<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Static webpages are so last-decade. Data shows<\/a> increased customer engagement and experience satisfaction when businesses use interactive content. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are many routes your interactive content can take. Let’s take a further look at some of the most popular.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Virtual Reality<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This is an excellent choice if your business revolves around spaces, such as interior design, architecture, or landscaping.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As more and more people purchase virtual reality equipment, this is an increasingly popular method of marketing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Offering virtual reality tours or service experiences is a great way to give potential customers a glimpse of what your business has to offer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Polls and Quizzes<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

People love taking quizzes and polls<\/a>. They tap into their desires to learn more about themselves and define their personal tastes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fortunately for businesses, quizzes and polls also let you tap into your customer’s interests and habits. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These are cheap and relatively easy to produce on a regular basis. Quizzes and polls also drive customer engagement and serve as an excellent stepping stone into personalized marketing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interactive Calculators and Configurators<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

If you offer a customizable service or product, integrating an interactive calculator or configurator into your website is a homerun for marketing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It lets customers price out their options ahead of time while giving your business a way to funnel them to the necessary salespeople. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Personalized Communications And Segmentation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As we’ve touched on in earlier sections, personalized marketing is one of the latest marketing trends. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This uses data collected from other customer experiences (such as quizzes or interactive calculators) to give you insights into individual customers’ needs and wants. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This allows you to market to that customer directly, making for a much more cost- and time-effective marketing campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to collecting customer data, you can also segment your customers for advertising. This has been a common tactic in marketing for years (ever heard the term “target audience”?) but is now easier than ever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This allows you to target customers by data points such as age, education level, gender, and even individual interests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Social Media Stories<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If your business is not on social media, you are about a decade behind on marketing trends. Social media is currently the leading frontier of marketing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s easy to get engagement through quick viral videos and images. Many businesses use social media stories (such as on Instagram and Facebook) to create quick-hit video advertisements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And they are extremely effective. These ads come up in customers’ feeds, often with the option to buy or contact sales through the touch of a button. Check out some media pitch examples<\/a> for an idea of how this works!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. Video Advertising<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

While cable video ads are probably not the most effective form of advertising anymore, video ads are still alive and well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Streaming services are an extremely lucrative way to get your ads in front of your target market. However, this can be one of the more expensive platforms for video ads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mobile games are another excellent avenue for video advertising, and much cheaper than streaming services. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, YouTube and other video platforms make targeted advertising simple, easy, and cost-effective. Running a five- to ten-second ad can potentially reach hundreds of thousands of customers a day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, this takes some video-making savvy and investing in paid advertising but pays off in having a massive online presence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6. Local SEO and Google Ads<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Getting good at SEO is an art and science unto itself. Services such as Google MyBusiness and many online SEO companies make getting your business to the top of search results easy and fast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The key point to local SEO is making sure that your website follows SEO best practices.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, you want to display good customer engagement through things such as testimonials and social media engagement. All of these factors drive your SEO higher, resulting in your appearance at the top of searches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Google Ads are tied to your SEO ranking. The higher your SEO ranking, the more targeted your Google Ads become. So don’t invest in a Google Ad campaign until your local SEO is already ranking well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

7. Smart Speaker Ads<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As smart speakers make their way into more and more homes, smart speaker ads are becoming more common as marketing ideas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Services such as Amazon and Google allow you to broadcast your own ads, bringing in segmented marketing practices to allow you to reach the most viable potential customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An added benefit of smart speaker ads is that they are generally pretty easy and cheap to produce. This is a sharp contrast to video advertising which can often get expensive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These ads also find their way around ad-blockers more often, as customers often do not use those on smart speakers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

8. First-Party Cookies<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Person-first marketing is becoming one of the best marketing strategies. This is the concept of treating people as people, rather than data points in a spreadsheet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This goes hand-in-hand with people’s increasing anxiety over their personal data and security. Most people nowadays are aware of what cookies are, and are getting fed up with their data being collected and sold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First-party cookies put the power back in the people’s hands. This requires businesses to be upfront about when and how they collect data. It ensures customers that only that business is using it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First-party cookies are a great way to get more personal with your customers. By letting them know the purpose of your cookie collecting, many customers will implicitly trust you more with their personal data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

9. Voice Search<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As smartphone voice recognition technology improves, voice search is becoming a more viable way to market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The basic premise of voice search marketing is as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Customers ask their smartphone a question such as “where is the best burger restaurant nearby?”<\/li>
  2. The phone’s search engine queries local SEO rankings for “best burger restaurant”<\/li>
  3. If your business ranks well in local SEO, the search engine will return your business, along with a map pin and contact information.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    There is a lot of power and potential in voice search marketing. And it hasn’t even really hit the ground running yet. Ads specifically for voice search are not available yet but are coming soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    10. User-Generated Content<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    User-generated content is this century’s form of word-of-mouth marketing. It harnesses your existing customers’ brand loyalty to market to new customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Businesses run promotions to encourage customers to feature their products in posts and stories. In exchange, they feature customers’ work on their own pages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    When those customers’ friends see them using and enjoying your business’ products, they will likely see your business as trustworthy and worth patronizing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Take advantage of social media campaigns to increase customer engagement. Host photo or video contests featuring your products, or repost customer-created testimonials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    11. Influencer Marketing<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Much like user-generated content, this marketing strategy relies on social media to reach new customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    However, instead of building on word-of-mouth, businesses are turning to social media influencers to act as brand ambassadors. Think of influencers as digital celebrities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    They attract huge followings of people through engaging posts, leading to more exposure for the brands they represent. Many social media influencers have made a career out of business sponsorships. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    If you are interested in influencer marketing, look for influencers who fit your brand’s image and interests. Chances are, their followers will fit as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Marketing Trends: 2022 And Beyond<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Technology is evolving rapidly, and the marketing world is largely digital nowadays. Staying on top of marketing trends may seem like a lot of work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    But in reality, you are probably already participating in several of the trends on this list. If you are agile and embrace new technology, it will pay off immensely in customer engagement and sales!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    For more business marketing advice, make sure to check out the marketing category on our articles page. And feel free to contact us with questions or comments any time! <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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