The impact of COVID-19 on business activities and operations has been overwhelming. Some businesses have shut down while others have reduced their budget and staff to stay afloat. However, even amidst the virus, there are exciting marketing trends that have proven to be resilient in the digital world.
Businesses are employing creative and advanced marketing methods to reach their target audiences that are helping them grow their brands and sales numbers. With online channels now playing an integral role in any marketing mix, companies are continuing to reinvent and redefine their strategies to adapt to the “new normal.”
Here are some of the exciting trends in digital marketing you should definitely explore and monitor during this period.
Related: 6 Best Practices for Inbound Marketing During the COVID-19 Pandemic
1. New-Breed Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Nearly every year, Google makes algorithm changes that affect the search results. It’s possible to notice shifts in your ranking positions and web traffic after such changes.
The average SEO conversion rate stands at 14.6%, way higher than that of traditional strategies like print ads and direct mail, which is about 1.7%. This proves SEO is still a potent technique for generating leads and earning new customers.
By adhering to the best SEO practices and following Google’s recommendations, it’s possible to secure your rankings and traffic during this period. You need to stay abreast of any algorithm changes and update your website accordingly.
2. Smart Bidding in Google Ads
With many businesses cutting their staff numbers, it makes sense to automate specific tasks, such as manual bidding in AdWord auctions. You can simply enable smart bidding to save time and improve performance.
Keep in mind that you must enable conversion tracking in your account to use smart bidding. Smart bidding uses machine learning to optimize your ads for conversions, thus improving their conversion value. It allows you to factor in a variety of contextual signals, such as location and device, for optimal performance.
Smart bidding takes the guesswork out of managing your campaigns, allowing you to focus on other crucial elements of growing your business.
3. AR and VR
Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) are allowing brands to deliver the best possible experiences and meet their customers’ expectations. VR is not just for games; you can use it to offer an immersive digital experience to your customers, instead of a physical one. It helps you to showcase your existing products as well as those that are in development.
With AR, it’s possible to offer augmented shopping experiences to your customers like the ability for them to try on your products before buying. AR can also help you improve your business cards and brochures. Customers can simply scan your materials to get more information about your business.
Taking advantage of these new technologies now can give you an edge over the competition and will appeal more to tech-savvy audiences.
Related: 5 Effective Strategies for Growing Your Market Share During COVID-19
4. Social Commerce
More and more people are now using social media to communicate and engage businesses during the COVID-19 lockdowns. Facebook alone has over 1.4 billion daily active users, offering a massive pool of customers for any brand to tap. This is possible through social commerce where you can sell your products directly to customers via social media networks.
With autofill technology and chatbot checkouts, you’re able to optimize the purchasing process, thus streamlining your customer journey. At its core, social commerce is all about making it easier for customers to make purchases. Take the time to strategize your sales plan to include Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter in improving your sales performance.
5. Interactive Content
Static content has been relatively effective in capturing target audiences, but interactive content takes things a notch higher. With marketers struggling to create content that actually engages visitors, interactive content offers a way to captive your audience and improve your engagement rates.
For example, polls, surveys, and quizzes allow you to engage your visitors, while at the same time receiving valuable data and feedback from them. This is a win-win. You should also invest in creating infographics, videos, and ebooks to diversify your content offering. If you have the resources, assessments and calculators are also great options to add to your content mix.
Final Thoughts
During these challenging times, the focus of many businesses is to stay afloat. But that shouldn’t take your mind off the vital objective of growing your business. Even with a limited budget, it’s still possible to implement some of the above content marketing trends to widen your reach and build your brand.
Marketing is dynamic, and it’s possible to update your strategy and try new techniques to navigate the current crisis. By continually educating your audience, you’ll be able to capture their interest and keep them engaged. This can lead to improved conversion rates and solid sales numbers now and post-COVID-19.