As the marketing trend changes rapidly, it’s not easy to keep up. Marketers have to be alert and stay informed at all times in order to stay ahead of the current market situation. In the second part of this blog post, we keep you updated on the latest marketing practices that you simply can’t look past. You can read the first part of the blog here.
#6. Peer marketing
When customers go online to buy a certain product, chances are that they will compare different brands before they actually decide to purchase. As a business, you want customers to choose you. One thing we know customers do is read online reviews about your product and products like yours. Businesses spend huge amounts of money every year on their brand reputation, and good reviews are what you need to build an impeccable one. So, make sure you do everything you can to make your customers happy and ask them to leave a review on your website after every purchase.
Of course, gathering reviews takes some time, especially because you’ll probably have to ask customers to write a review more than once. Happy customers tend to need some reminder emails and incentives before they leave a review, while unhappy customers write one before you know it. But if you manage to get enough positive reviews, you’ll definitely benefit from it. Studies have shown that 95% of online shoppers read online reviews before making a buying decision.
#7. Interactive content
Along with images and video content, we see that an increasing number of online buyers are actively looking for interactive content. It’s dynamic and engaging, and it offers customers an immersive experience. Popular interactive content includes:
- Quizzes and polls
- Embedded calculators
- Augmented reality ads (we will discuss that some more later on in this article)
- 360-degree videos
Customers like interactive content because it’s fresh and original. Not too many businesses are currently producing this kind of content, so it’s a great opportunity to distinguish yourself from the competition. Interactive content helps customers connect to your brand and feel more involved in the buying process. Similar to images and videos, interactive content is very memorable and has a more lasting impact.
#8. Virtual reality and augmented reality
We mentioned augmented reality earlier on when we were discussing interactive content. Virtual reality and augmented reality are marketing trends we’ll see more and more in the near future. Virtual reality is viewing a computer-generated, lifelike scenario. Think of a 360-degree video, something we mentioned when discussing interactive content as well. Augmented reality is viewing the real world augmented with visual, haptic or olfactory additions. Brands increasingly use it to enhance the consumer experience and increase sales.
A good example of augmented reality is the IKEA PLACE app from IKEA. With this app, you can visualize virtual furniture, like the furniture that you can buy at IKEA, in your own home. All you have to do is take a picture of the room you want to place the furniture in to see what it will look like. Businesses use both virtual reality as well as augmented reality to improve the customer experience online and at events. As VR glasses and AR apps become more accessible, businesses should be ready to implement this trend into their marketing strategies.
#9. A responsive, mobile-friendly website
After marketing trends like interactive content and augmented reality, a responsive, mobile-friendly website may seem obsolete. But, as it turns out, there are still quite a few businesses that don’t have a mobile-friendly website yet. When you know that 48% of searchers use their mobile phone, and the first position on Google search on mobile has a 31.35% click-through rate, you know that your business really can’t do without one. As a business, you should make sure that your website is discoverable and readable on mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets. The speed of your website is also important since Google gives fast websites a better ranking in the search results. So, make sure you have a responsive website that is optimized for mobile use.
#10. Content marketing
Content is king. If you don’t know that by now, you must have been living under a rock. Content will continue to be king and therefore you should do everything you can to get it right. If businesses want their customers to find them online, well-written content is extremely important. Of course, this content has to be SEO optimized, but the most important thing is the quality of the articles and blogs that businesses publish. Many marketers believe that publishing well-written content makes readers view the organization as a credible and trusted resource.
Well-written content is readable, aimed at the right target audience and inclusive. At Textmetrics, we have tools that can help businesses create this content. Useful for marketers and copywriters who create content on a daily basis, but also a great help for recruiters who post job vacancies, for example. It guarantees that everyone in the organization communicates in the same way, which positively contributes to the credibility of the business.
Are you looking to stay ahead of the marketing trend and implement Textmetrics within your organization to maximize your marketing effort? Don’t be shy and contact us for more details!