Marketing Trends to Watch Closely

Jun 14, 2022

It’s easy to be excited about marketing at the beginning of each year as we recover from the holiday shopping season and look to drill down on a strategy for a new year. But as the months go on, it can be just as easy to lose that excitement and stay motivated. If it’s time to sharpen your marketing strategy for the year’s second half, below are some marketing trends and strategies we know offer ROI. 

Do Some Research

We love a good marketing trend, but not every one is good. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that just because your industry peers are doing it, you should too. Take the time to do your homework, look into the content and channels others are using, and consider carefully if your audience will respond. This is especially important regarding world events or social action causes.

Make Customers the Creators

You can spend every penny you have on a slick marketing campaign and plenty of paid advertising, but it won’t be as powerful as your customers telling everyone how good you are. User-generated content (UGC) is a marketing trend that brands of all sizes are taking advantage of, and it’s a smart way to cut the cost and time it takes to create content in the first place.

Don’t Set It In Stone

If we’ve learned anything about marketing in the last few years, it’s that our strategies need to remain fluid and flexible. World events, extreme weather, and global pandemics can throw an editorial calendar on its head, and your marketing needs to be agile enough to respond. It’s a great idea to know what to post, but you may have to pivot or tweak your message at a moment’s notice.

Keep Your Content Social

Consider that you can also share every piece of content you post on your website, YouTube channel, newsletters, and emails on social media. Now more than ever, your audience is on at least one social media platform (if not several), and it’s a cost-effective and popular channel to amplify your brand. Take the extra steps to optimize content with particular specifications so your audience can easily view it on all social media platforms.

Keep It Real

Keeping your marketing messages consistent is one thing, but don’t let your content become repetitive, tone-deaf, or overly promotional. Use language without technical jargon, offer behind-the-scenes looks at how your business runs, and use social media to engage and educate. Customers are savvier than ever these days and can smell inauthenticity a mile away; practice empathy in your marketing or risk them leaving for the competition.

Tailor to Each Channel

Omnichannel marketing has been a top trend for some time, but now it’s clear that a one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t help conversion rates. You find different demographics for each channel, and your marketing messages have to be tailored to fit each to harness each channel’s power. For example, videos may be getting tons of engagement on social media, but they’re not quite as shareable if you send them out in a monthly email newsletter.

Outsource Your Marketing

It’s not easy for business owners and entrepreneurs to keep up with the seemingly endless parade of marketing trends; frankly, they should be spending their time on more valuable work. Handing these marketing tasks over to an expert should be as seamless as handing over the books to an accountant or your contracts to a lawyer. You can still stay as hands-on as you like; a good marketing partner will customize a package to fit your level of participation and business goals.

If you’re ready to get serious about continuity, consistency, and results in your marketing, you need an experienced professional to help you build and deploy a marketing system to land your new best customers.

All of our programs include fundamentals like building or redesigning a new website. Most importantly, we also nurture and maintain your site for you with ongoing new content, technical updates, security, and SEO best practices to continuously improve your search results.

Whether you just want to look professional to prospective customers or employees who are “kicking your tires” or if you also want to gain a steady stream of new leads and phone calls generated from Google searches that lead to your website, we can help. Contact us today to get started!

The post Marketing Trends to Watch Closely appeared first on Cole Dalton.

Forecasting the Next Ten Years of Marketing

10 Apr, 2024
Marketing is gearing up for significant changes as we enter the new decade. With new technologies, shifts in buyer behavior, and changes in consumption culture, the way businesses reach out to customers will look very different in the coming years. While we can't say what marketing will look like in 10 years, we can examine emerging trends and strategies to forecast its future. Here are some predictions experts are suggesting could take shape moving forward. Increasing Personalized Advertising Personalized marketing should undergo even more profound transformations in the coming decade, leveraging advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence and data analytics to forge deeper customer connections. With the ability to glean insights from vast amounts of data, companies will craft highly tailored ads and messages that resonate with individual preferences and behaviors, fostering stronger brand-consumer relationships. From dynamic content customization to predictive marketing algorithms, the era of hyper-personalization will redefine how businesses engage with their target audiences on a one-to-one level. Advanced Device Communication The proliferation of voice-enabled devices and virtual assistants heralds a new era in consumer engagement, requiring marketers to adapt their strategies to communicate effectively through these mediums. As voice technology continues to gain traction, companies must anticipate the rise of voice commerce and tailor their approaches to accommodate this emerging trend. By leveraging conversational AI and natural language processing, brands can deliver seamless, personalized experiences that resonate with consumers, whether shopping, seeking information, or interacting with digital assistants. Wider Use of Virtual Reality Virtual reality (VR) is poised to become a ubiquitous tool in the marketer's arsenal, offering immersive experiences that transcend traditional advertising methods. With VR, brands can transport consumers into captivating virtual environments where they can interact with products and services unprecedentedly, fostering deeper engagement and brand loyalty. As VR technology becomes more accessible and sophisticated, expect to see a proliferation of immersive marketing campaigns that leverage the power of virtual experiences to captivate audiences and drive conversions.

The Power of Storytelling

12 Mar, 2024
Marketing tends to focus on analytics and systems, but we sometimes forget about one powerful tool that has existed since the beginning: storytelling. From our ancestors telling ancient myths to be passed down for the generations to come to modern-day brand narratives, stories have held the power to inspire and connect in all different ways. Today, consumers face a constant bombardment of advertisements and catered content; using the power of storytelling in marketing campaigns has become critical for businesses, especially smaller firms aiming to create meaningful connections with their target clients. Why Storytelling is an Effective Strategy When a brand uses storytelling to convey its message, it connects with the audience emotionally. By telling a compelling story, marketers can create a memorable experience for consumers, making them more likely to remember and engage with the brand. Additionally, storytelling allows marketers to communicate the brand's values and personality more authentically. Instead of bombarding consumers with sales pitches, storytelling enables brands to share their stories and build trust with their audience, increasing brand loyalty and customer engagement. The Emotional Resonance of Stories At the heart of storytelling lies its ability to bring out emotions and create profound connections on a human level. Unlike traditional marketing messages focusing solely on product features or sales pitches, stories can engage the audience's imagination, stir empathy, and spark genuine interest. By weaving narratives that resonate with their target audience's hopes, dreams, and challenges, small marketing firms can create a powerful emotional bond that transcends transactional relationships. Building Brand Identity and Authenticity Storytelling is a potent tool for small businesses to authentically define and express their brand identity. Through compelling narratives that reflect their values, mission, and vision, small firms can differentiate themselves from competitors and carve out a distinct identity in the minds of consumers. Whether recounting the founder's journey, highlighting customer success stories, or showcasing the company's commitment to social responsibility, storytelling allows small businesses to humanize their brand and foster customer trust and loyalty.

A Guide to Employee-Generated Content

13 Feb, 2024
In a world of "influencer marketing" and brand deals, companies can easily overspend their marketing budgets and get caught up in the frenzy. An influencer may feature your product or brand only for their videos to perform poorly. At best, you lose out on the money spent sending the product to the influencer and whatever you spent on hiring them. At worst, your business gets a bad reputation online, and customers don't take your brand seriously. Consider that influencer marketing is just the "shiny new toy" in marketing. In that case, companies should continue to produce consistent, cost-effective outcome. One source for this? Your Employees. Employee-generated content refers to any videos, pictures, or copy that employees publicly post about their position and the company. Find out the benefits of employee-generated content (EGC), what this content can look like, and how to implement EGC into your overall strategy. What Does Employee-Generated Content Look Like? The beauty of employee-generated content is that it can take many forms. Any content your employees make that involves details about their role, the company itself, or the relationships they've developed with coworkers or customers/clients can be EGC. A simple, straightforward EGC piece can be an employee spotlight for new hires or veteran employees. You can choose to craft employee spotlights as infographics with a picture of the employee along with some fun facts about them, write a long-form piece from an interview with the employee speaking about their time at the company, or even long or short-form videos with the employee speaking on their experiences. While these methods may require the help of a graphic designer, copywriter, or videographer, the idea is that the employees generate the content by speaking about their experiences and introducing themselves. Other ideas for EGC pieces might be "day in the life" videos following a specific employee throughout their day, reflections employees have from conferences or professional development opportunities, employment milestones or recognitions, or even just pictures employees take with each other or showing what happened that day. There are limitless options and iterations for employee-generated content, and the key is to find out what works well for your business and why.
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