The need and power of advertising has grown tremendously over the years. As a result, we are bombarded with a lot of advertisements. Purpose of the advertising strategy is to reach the target audience and persuade them to buy their product or service. The competition within advertising companies brought constant changes in strategies to get attention of the target audience. Further, with the advancement in technology, internet and digital content has become an integral part of our lives and as consumers we rely on the internet to clarify our doubts or get information. It is low-cost promotion methods compared to other mediums and a wide range of users can be reached. So, companies started to deliver advertisements through digital channels like search engines, websites, social media and email etc. But advertising in new media has become more complicated than traditional media. Now, marketers are digging deep to find strategies to make advertisements interactive, personalized and experience based. Let’s look at the recent trends in digital marketing
Interactive ads:
Interactive advertisements are promotions that consumers' effectively take part in. Ad blindness among consumers is pushing advertisers and marketers to discover modern, imaginative ways to attract the eyes of viewers. Interactive ads help us to actively engage with the user than static posts or videos and interactive ads also ensure brand recall. Further, passive ads become less effective day by day. With advancement of technology social media platforms like Snapchat, Facebook and Instagram use augmented reality in creating interactive ads. Interactive content like tests, open-ended questions, overviews, challenges, giveaways, surveys, calculator widgets, etc, will increase the time of users engaging with the brand. This includes three dimensional representations of actual products.
Personalization:
Content personalization is the new found key for unlocking higher sales and increasing trust towards the brand. Personalization is often interpreted as add on but it has become an integral part of the marketing strategy. Studies show that 80% of the consumers prefer business that provides personalized experience. Further, it gives the target audience a sense of belongings and increases customer loyalty. Relevant content with touch of personalization strengthens a brand's relationship with the customer. Important aspects in delivering personalized content are consumer’s interests, consumer’s behaviour and geographic. This helps the brand to stand out from the clutter.
Chat bots:
The inclusion of chat bots with help of AI in the website or platform is becoming popular for business communications. It helps in instant messaging to chat with the visitors of the website to clarify the doubts, offer recommendations and collect additional data about the consumer. Also, it helps small businesses and startups to offer better experience to the consumer. Moreover, this tool helps to provide instant answers, 24 hour service, and less expense on customer service employees.
Video Marketing:
Last but not least, consumers’ fascination towards video content is stronger now. Videos are more engaging and appealing than static posts. Further, marketers believe that video marketing helps in positive return on investment. In order to generate more personalised messages, exchange information more easily, and keep the post from getting lost in a long post, personalised video ads are being embedded into emails. Brand videos make clients feel more secure in what they purchase, and they can provide a great sense of dimensions and features that text and photographs really can't. Now, all the social media platforms have started supporting video posts. The reduced attention level among the consumers has made bite size video preferable. However, live video streaming is also trending now.
In conclusion, new trends keep changing with the advancement to technology and external market conditions. Brands should realize consumers are the epicenter of the business. The more a customer feels valued, the stronger the connection the customer can create with the company. It doesn’t matter which platform or what digital marketing tool you are using, it is important for a brand to provide a better user experience, serve consumers' needs.
