Earlier this month, Steve Gasser, President of Vivid Image, presented at the Central Minnesota Social Media Breakfast in Hutchinson, Minnesota. The topic was 2018 Marketing Trends, and as we know trends appear and disappear in time scales. While some are short-lived, others are longer-term trends. Here is a peek at marketing trends that Steve and the Vivid Image team expect to see in 2018.
2018 Marketing Trends – Watch for them!
2018 Marketing Trends in Search
ADA, Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 and Section 508
The ADA standards for web accessibility are not finalized yet. But the Department of Justice is looking to these guidelines for organizations to comply under the ADA. Many websites catering to people with disabilities are making their web content more accessible now and this will continue to grow and become more widespread.
Voice Search
Voice search with the use of technology such as Apple’s Siri, Google Home, Amazon’s Alexa, and others and going to continue to evolve and grow. 71% of people use voice assistants for tasks such as asking a question or searching for something. Partnerships (or lack of) will affect how the searches and device play together. For instance, Amazon is not offering Google devices for sale, and Google is not referencing Amazon in their searches.
Dominate Voice Search
Marketers will take a closer look at how they can get their products and content represented online to be relevant in not just text searches, but also voice searches. This involves actively managing your knowledge and content, refocusing on conversational long tail phrases, and embracing the Schema mark up.
2018 Marketing Trends in Social Media
Facebook Ads Focusing more on Mobile Experience
More of the advertising options that Facebook is offering and is designed for mobile use, such as Canvas and Collections formats.These are full-screen and designed to scroll and interact on a mobile device rather than desktop. They are also integrating more use of the Messenger app and allowing people to respond to the brand immediately thru messenger.
Instagram Stories
Instagram Stories are like Snapchat Stories but in the more popular platform of Instagram. In fact, Instagram Stories now has 250 million daily users compared to Snapchat’s 166 million. Stories allow the user to pull together images, video, stickers, and text overlays in an interactive story.
Facebook Local
Facebook Local is a combination of Yelp, Foursquare and the previous Events app. Facebook Local helps you to see more of what is going on in your local area – the latest from your nearby friends, events and things to do, and a calendar of what is coming up.
Other 2018 Marketing Trends
Video & Live Video
Video is engaged with more on Facebook than any other type of content. But all videos are not created equal… For instance, did you know that square videos are more likely to be watched than landscape videos? Short, catchy, messaging that is thumb-stopping is best. Live videos that are more candid and conversational rather than scripted and polished will continue to be an upward trend in 2018.
Mobile Marketing and Cross-Device Optimization
Smartphone adoption is skyrocketing, with more than 50% of searches happening on mobile. It will be increasingly more important to optimize the mobile experiences, which may mean providing more tailored experiences on different devices through an adaptive design. Google wants to make the mobile experience better for users too, and is moving to reduce rankings of sites using pop-ups on Smartphones.
Increased Use of Conversational User Interfaces – Chatbots
Chatbots on platforms such as Facebook Messenger are giving people another way to get in touch with a business. Automated messages that are human initiated help customers to get answers they need while a human customer service rep is not available.
Creatively asking for Reviews
Reputation management is becoming increasingly more important. Methods of efficiently and effectively managing reviews and local search will be imparative. Companies will more proactively ask for reviews from their customers in 2018.
Marketing 2.0 & CRM
The Customer Relationship Management tools (CRM’s) of 2018 will provide a single 360-degree look at our customers by integrating all of the business’ platforms that hold customer data. This single view will allow marketers to have an accurate understanding of the relationship and the best ways to communicate with them.
As we move into 2018, there will be trends that come, and others that go. But there are a few questions that remain constant as you re-think your 2018 marketing:
- What are your goals?
- Who is your target market and what do they want/need from you?
- What is the value of a lead for you?
- What is it that makes your business remarkable?
Contact Vivid Image if we can help you with your 2018 marketing and staying on top of the ever-changing trends!
