2018 is here and so is the air of anticipation that all marketers experience while they wait to see which exciting and innovative techniques the new year will bring. While it is too early to tell which techniques will surface first, it is the perfect time to look back at past marketing trends to see how they have evolved and how they will continue to evolve. We have created a list of 7 marketing trends that are getting a new look for the new year:
Drip Campaigns
Drip campaigns are one of the fundamentals of internet-based marketing. In the days of yore, they consisted of a series of generic emails that were sent to a large list of contacts with the hope that the information they contained would resonate with someone on the list. Lack of personalization resulted in engagement rates that were typically on the lower side. With the extinction of drip campaigns on the horizon, marketing automation instead brought their rebirth with the introduction of a personalization element. With the new technology, marketers now have the ability to send targeted emails to contacts that are personalized based on their demographics, online behavior and past levels of engagement. The days of the generic email are over and levels of drip campaign personalization are on the rise in 2018.
Ebooks
Ebooks bust out on the scene a couple of years ago, in tandem with the introduction of the e-reader. Their sharp increase in popularity reverberated into the marketing world and resulted in Ebooks becoming one of the top forms of lead generation content due to their desktop accessibility. This also lead to an increase in the length of the ebook, as download capacity was higher. Fast forward to 2018, and our attention spans are as short as ever. Ebooks still have a place in marketing as long as they follow these two very important rules:
- They are mobile optimized
- They are short
Our dependency on mobile devices is something that has been steadily increasing since the release of the smartphone, so creating content that is optimized for mobile technology is necessary. Ebooks that fit this bill and deliver the point in a concise manner- think 7 pages or less will continue to be downloaded in 2018.
Blogs
Everyone has a blog these days. It has become one of the best ways to engage with your audience all the while subtly drawing them in and leading them over to your website. In a sea of blogs, it can seem like a daunting task to stand out, but our one-word rule can serve as a life raft: quantity. Instead of trying to publish a bunch of one-off blogs centered around SEO keywords in an attempt to rank higher on search engines, take the time to do research and find topics that appeal to your audience or questions that they might have. Focus on one of these topics in a blog post instead of trying to fit multiple in. Each blog should serve a purpose, such as driving leads to you lead generation offer or supporting a campaign. Quality wins over quantity in most scenarios and this is one of them.
Lead Scoring Algorithms
While in the sales funnel a numerical value is often assigned to a lead in an attempt to understand and anticipate their behavior. This tool is an extremely valuable asset as it aids you in deciding how much time you will spend trying to move each lead through the sales funnel. This lead score is based off of past behaviors and a lead’s current position in the sales funnel. However, if your lead scoring algorithm is too complex, it can slow the entire process down. Creating a system that follows a round point scale and avoids too many possible point combinations is a guaranteed way to avoid a lead algorithm malfunction. Better yet, implementing a marketing automation platform, such as the one we use here at Marketing Armor, that has an easy to use and easy to follow system already in place that does most of the heavy lifting for you is the best option. 2018 is all about simplicity, so think smarter not harder!
Social Media Strategies
All things Organic may continue to rule the grocery store, but sadly this no longer extends to include the realm of social media. Organic reach on sites such as Facebook and Instagram is at an all-time low, and researchers say that currently, only 2 to 6 percent of your audience is seeing your posts. If social media is one of your primary methods of lead generation it might be time to consider making the switch to include paid advertising and post boosting as a part of your strategy. This will not only increase your reach but it will help to ensure that the right people are being exposed to your message at the right time.
Email has many purposes within the world of marketing. It can be used to connect people, entice clients and to find a chink in the armor of any company. Email is continuously evolving, partly aided by the rise of marketing automation. With the right marketing automation platform, your email can take on many forms and serve many purposes, with complete tracking capabilities. You can send targeted personalized emails to separate segmented lists within the platform and receive the open and click-through rates allowing you to fix parts of your strategy before it is too late.
SEO Strategy that is Text Based
When Search Engine Optimization first rose in popularity the optimization of your text alone was enough to get you ranked on all search engines. Sadly this is no longer the case. Once hungry for text, consumers in 2018 are all about multimedia- pictures, videos and even GIF’s are being shared and downloaded on such a massive scale that technology is struggling to keep up. It is now more important than ever to optimize your images, videos, and audio in order to continue ranking.
If you are interested in learning more about marketing automation and how it can help you take your marketing practices to the next level, click on the banner below to schedule your free 30-minute consultation with us today:
