Running a successful business means getting the message out to your potential customers. If the people who would buy from you are unaware of the products and services you’re selling, then your business will suffer.
Marketing has evolved considerably in recent times, thanks largely to the rise of digital tools, and digital ways of consuming media. Modern customers have high expectations, and meeting those expectations often means offering special services like same-day delivery.
If your marketing strategy is going to be competitive in the coming year, you’ll want to take stock of recent trends and make sure that your marketing approach is laser-focused on the needs of your clients.
But what matters when it comes to marketing?
Short-form video content
The human attention span is being slowly withered by the rise of the internet. We now have so many competing demands on our attention that we won’t commit extra time for a minute-long video. Sites like TikTok and YouTube shorts have been associated with a narrowing of our attention span – which means you’ll have a shorter window than ever to get your message across.
Influencer Marketing
As social animals, human beings are highly sensitive to the activities and behaviours of our peer group. If our friends all go out and buy air fryers, then we might be more inclined to do the same thing. In the digital age, however, there exist online personalities who fulfil a similar role. Influencers can shift the behaviours of large audiences by endorsing a product or service – and, as such, their endorsement is worth paying for.
Local SEO
Search engines are increasingly focussed on the location of the person performing the search. Businesses that want to rank well should therefore optimise their websites toward local keywords. If you’re a hairdresser based in Slough, in other words, you might publish blogs and other content with a specific focus on the local area.
Chatboxes
Chatbots offer a way for customer’s needs to be addressed extremely quickly. Common questions can be handled via AI, with conversations seamlessly handed over to a human agent when the questions become that little bit more specific.
There are several statistics to consider. According to Forbes, 60% of millennials claim to have used a chatbot, with 70% of that group claiming that the experience was a positive one. Research by MIT Technology Review reports that ninety percent of businesses that used the technology were able to achieve substantial improvements in complaint resolution.
It seems likely that, for a certain kind of business, this technology will become the norm sooner or later – and thus it might be a good idea to get ahead of the curve, and adopt the chatbot right here and now!