Digitization has affected the world in the last two decades, and we rely more and more on gadgets, the internet, and digital marketing to stay connected.

After the outbreak of COVID-19, people can no longer go outside to work like they used to, so they switch to online businesses.

Many businesses have already shifted online, while some are still moving as they are not sure about how to promote their businesses online.

However, digital marketing is one of the best ways to reach potential customers.

But, digital marketing is not a piece of cake as you need to know some tips and techniques if you want to promote your business online.

There are eight essential digital marketing trends that you need to follow to get better results.

These tips will help you engage your customers and generate more traffic to your website.

Read on to discover the key digital marketing trends.

Video Marketing

They say that video content is more effective than written content or images.

It is proven that video content is viewed more than other content. Therefore, it is the best way to promote your products through video marketing.

Since videos are the best way to communicate, you can tell every detail of your products/services through video marketing.

For example, vloggers are more famous than bloggers. Have you ever wondered why?

Because readers cannot read bloggers’ emotions and expressions, while vloggers can easily share their feelings in their videos. Therefore, video content is worth it.

By saying this, we do not deny the importance of bloggers. But just to state that visual content is seen more than written content because the more you show, the better it sells.

Quality videos level the playing field in the business world. So, start video marketing your brand now to reach more users and potential customers.

Marketing for Social Media

People spend half of their day on social media platforms. Due to the pandemic, the amount of time spent online has increased.

So, a better way to reach and target your audience is via social media marketing on the many available platforms.

You can use Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, Pinterest and others to promote your products or services and reach out to your potential customers.

For example, if someone is a freelance graphic designer, they can create an advertisement for themselves.

They can either use written content or video (preferred) and post it on different social media accounts.

This way, they can get more clients in a short time and also engage long-term clients.

Trending on Google with Powerful SEO

Most of us prefer to use Google to find a product or service. It is a fact that we do not usually look beyond the first and sometimes the second page of search results.

So, ranking on the first page of Google will help you reach maximum potential customers.

Now you must be wondering how to compete with thousands of high performing websites in your niche.

The best way to rank your content or website on Google is to be unique but valuable.

The more unique your content, the better chance you have of being ranked higher on Google.

Not only that, you need to find out the low competition but high-volume keywords. Then, incorporate them into your content by following all the SEO rules.

SEO is a complicated and intricate process, yet the most impactful way to increase search engine rankings, drive traffic to your website, and increase conversion rates.

Add Interactive Content

Your content sells your product. So, if you put interactive content on your website, you can quickly grab customers’ attention.

The more interactive content you put, the more customers you will get.

For example, if you have a website about skin products, you can insert a call to action, such as “Hey gorgeous, do you want to look more beautiful? If so, make sure you click here”.

By doing this, you are directly addressing your customers and making them comfortable.

Such small phrases will make them click on your products, and significantly increase the chances they will purchase from you.

Examples of interactive content include quizzes, polls, and video experiences to give your audiences a chance to participate.

Focus on Content’s Quality, not Quantity

In recent years, the online business has grown so fast that many marketers try to compete by putting excessive content on their websites.

This is often at the expense of quality to meet the Google algorithm and be ranked.

Some of this content may be related to their products, but most are useless and do not answer a consumer’s question.

This way, you might get ranked on Google, but do you think ranking like this will help you attract customers?

Obviously not, because if customers are not answered correctly, they will automatically switch to your competitor’s website and that way, you can lose a lot of potential customers.

So don’t focus on the volume of content on your website; always focus on the quality.

Ensure that every piece of content you publish answers your customers’ questions so that they have a better customer experience and eventually come back.

Voice Search

If you always want to be in the top search results, it is better to optimize your site for voice search and include keywords in the content that people can ask from Alexa, Siri or Cortana.

It has been observed that nowadays, people talk more to their digital devices than to their family, and they ask them things as if these digital devices are for real.

For example, if someone wants to reach the nearest dentist, they might type in “dentists in the city of New York” on Google, whereas with these voice searches, they just ask: “Where is the nearest dentist?” 

Now you see the difference, so if your keywords fall into both categories, you will have more visibility in the search results.

Add Visual Searches

Visual search uses artificial intelligence to help people search through imagery instead of text.

Suppose you introduce an image search option in your online inventory and add high-quality images with relative descriptive keywords.

In that case, your chances become higher to be in top searches as most people prefer uploading an image to get information rather than typing for the description. 

If your image has a sitemap, tagged with descriptive keywords, and has alternative text to images “Alt tags,” your chances of visibility becomes higher. 

Conclusion

To reach a broader range of customers, enhance and modify your promotional digital marketing strategies.

It is a fact that digital marketing is not easy, but if you adopt the tips above, you will soon see positive results for your efforts.

[Originally published 2/12/21; updated to include infographic]