Dragon Horse Refresh: Digital Marketing Trends

 

 

Is it time to give your digital marketing plan a refresh? With all the uncertainty of the current business cycle, your business can’t afford to fall behind in terms of digital marketing strategy.

Machine learning and artificial intelligence software drive all kinds of enhancements across the digital marketing landscape. These systems are tapping information garnered from customer support dialogue, surveys, online communities, forms, chatbots, and chat threads to better understand what customers and clients want, and now, machines are primarily responsible for deciphering this information and learning subtle behavior tendencies.

As a result, new digital marketing trends are focused more on building trust via testimonials, clear, concise information, the overall mobile experience, and personalization. If a potential client goes to your site and doesn’t find what you advertised, they will immediately move on.  Having the relevant information that ties directly to your advertising initiatives is critical.

As an advertiser, your business needs a strong presence that helps you stand out among your competitors. Your marketing strategy needs to account for the latest platforms and tactics, such as changes in Google pay-per-click advertising, new SEO trends, emerging social media tactics, and recognition that your marketing creative matters.

In a constantly evolving industry, you may wonder: “What are the latest digital marketing trends?”

Is Keyword Advertising Dead?

Well, not exactly. New marketing trends are rapidly changing; however, at the moment, Google keyword advertising is still the bread and butter for many advertisers. Machine learning and results-oriented algorithms are getting smarter about finding your target audience on both the Google and Bing advertising platforms.

This means that some of your legacy search engine marketing (SEM) campaigns, keywords, and ads are no longer using the best solutions available. New responsive search ads, dynamic search ads, and other algorithm-based tactics are designed to allow the machines to do their thing and deliver results.

This does not mean you should march out and convert everything immediately. However, you should start testing the new capabilities soon.

Pull quote: Did you know that Google pay-per-click ads can have images, such as logos, headshots, and merchandise?

Recent Trends for SEO & Web Design: You Are What You EAT

So many changes are happening in the world of search engine optimization (SEO) world. Google has multiple algorithm changes per day. Google has close to 6 billion searches each day. SEO is part data-driven and part hypothesis. In most cases, there is way more content online than the search that coincides. So, how do you stand out and measure up?

Today, the search algorithms from Google and Bing are looking for EAT, also known as Expertise, Authority, and Trust. People want helpful advice and education on how to handle or do something. By using these tactics and then showing how your products or services help, they feel they can trust you more. For example, suppose your organization sells organic baby products. In that case, you might include a page explaining the benefits of organic products and how to shop or evaluate organic claims on product labels. Tying your brand to expertise, subject matter authority, and trust is everything.

The focus on EAT extends into local search rankings as well. Actively managing your Google Business Profile (GBP), formerly known as Google My Business (GMB), is one of the most important tools any local business has for being discovered online. While your website is table stakes, your GBP account has a great deal of influence on how visible your brand is on Google search results, so it’s absolutely vital that you spend some time and effort setting up and optimizing your Google Business Profile.

Recent Trends in Social Media Marketing

Influencer marketing is continuing to gain traction. People want to trust the brands they do business with or buy from, and influence marketing is more trusted than traditional methods. This can also work on numerous levels. For example, Health guru and fat loss expert Thomas DeLauer has a dedicated and substantial following. Thrive Market sponsors his channel, and he touts products for other companies based on peer-reviewed studies and research.  If you sell supplements or a keto product, someone like Thomas is your winning lottery ticket.

Another tactic that is picking up steam for business-to-business marketing is LinkedIn. Whether you use LinkedIn to build your brand, post articles, or for a job search, it is here to stay. LinkedIn is now one of the top social media sites and is well-respected. Some of the leading are optimizing new styles of searching through the help of chatbots to include audio and imaging are helping reach new customers.  This tactic also branches out for an alternative to face-to-face meetings. By offering your customers a new way of communicating with you or your brand, you will have greater depth and breadth of scope and influence.

Of course, TikTok is a social media phenomenon that is also ripe for expanding awareness for your brand. No longer a stronghold for just the youngsters, TikTok is where hobbyists of all types share videos about their passions. Let the advertising algorithm find the right hobbies that match your business offering, and, voilà, your target audience is located.

Other Digital Advertising Trends

Digital advertising trends and ideas are constantly changing. And while Geofencing isn’t brand new, its ability to reach clients is exponential.

Geofencing is a location-based GPS technology software to translate a defined geographic area, such as a building, art festival, hospital, or mall, into GPS coordinates. The software then sets a virtual barrier around the area you’ve defined. When a trackable device enters the wall, the geofence software senses this and permits a response action, such as serving up an ad to the device or registering the date and time. Geofencing location-based mobile advertising tactics has grown significantly in recent years.

Breathe New Life into Tired Creative 

Creative matters, and understanding when it’s time for new creative is essential to your brand. Don’t be cookie cutter—stand out. In saying that, you still need consistency, but you need to stand out above the noise.  A good way to check your creative isn’t in a rut or if you need to make a few tweaks is to look at a bigger brand.  For example, if you own an online life coaching business, check out your mentor’s creative assets and see if you’re on track, i.e., Tony Robbins or Brooke Castillo.

Another example is interactive digital communication. With avatars and chatbots available on the majority of sites, your creative needs to compete. Do your interactive features hold the client’s interest?  That’s where tracking and understanding your client’s needs are of the utmost importance.

Turn to Dragon Horse Agency for Current Digital Trends and Your Advertising Needs 

A new digital advertising campaign can add energy and excitement to an existing marketing strategy to escalate your business to new levels. A competitive message delivered to clients at the right time is powerful.

Dragon Horse Agency can expertly guide you through digital marketing and manage your campaigns from content to execution. We’ll also provide you with thorough reporting and analysis.

Let’s take your marketing to a new level with digital marketing efforts that are on-trend and evolving. Contact us today at 239.325.5088 for more information.

Genie O’Loughlin is the Digital Director for Dragon Horse Agency, Southwest Florida’s dynamic full-service marketing and media agency. Genie is a 25+ year marketing veteran and broad-based digital marketing expert who has helped organizations succeed in a wide range of disciplines, from search engine optimization (SEO) and pay-per-click (PPC) to social media and lead generation. She served for ten years as a Board Director for the South Florida Interactive Marketing Association.

A unique talent with a penchant for data analysis as well as creative execution, Genie has worked both for marketing agencies as well as in-house for some of the nation’s largest brands, including Tribune Company, a Fortune 500 company at the time, and JM Family Enterprises, among the top 20 privately held US companies, according to Forbes.

Let Dragon Horse Agency take your marketing to the next level.
Contact us today at:

Dragon Horse Agency
100 Wilshire Blvd, Suite 700
310.917.1009

848 1st Ave. North, Suite 200
Naples, FL 34102
239.325.5088

info@dragonhorseagency.com | www.dragonhorseagency.com

Dragon Horse-West Coast Contact:
Robert Kenney
310.917.1009
rkenney@dragonhorseagency.com

         “There is marketing, and then there is business marketing, only at Dragon Horse.”