Businesses use digital channels like Google Search, Facebook, Instagram, emails, and websites to connect with their customers or prospects. Consumers spend twice as much time online today as they did 10 years ago.

Consumption patterns have really changed, and offline marketing has lost its effectiveness in favour of online marketing. Digital marketing covers all the marketing activities carried out online to get in touch with customers or prospects.

The function of marketing has always been to connect companies with their audiences in the right place at the right time. Today, companies have to meet consumers where they spend most of their time.

That is on the internet. According to Statista, about 59% (4.66 billion people) of the world are actively using the internet as of October 2020. The same source confirms that 49% of the world’s population is active on social media as of January 2020. This means that to actively engage your target market, there must be some sort of digital marketing strategy at play.

As the world is evolving and more and more people are trooping to the internet, businesses must also consider including digital marketing into every aspect of their business.

From the company\’s website to the different aspects of online branding (digital advertising, email marketing, web brochures, etc.), digital marketing covers a wide spectrum of tactics and content. These include websites, ebooks, blog posts, infographics, social media, web brochures and online branding elements among others.

TYPES OF DIGITAL MARKETING

Generally, the choices we make in digital marketing are conditioned by two important questions: Why are you turning to digital marketing? And Who are you trying to reach? Answering these two questions will help you select the right formats and channels to achieve your goals.

The main types of digital marketing are listed below:

1. Content Marketing
2. Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
3. Display advertising
4. Mobile marketing
5. Social media marketing
6. Email Marketing
7. Influencer marketing
8. Affiliate Marketing
9. Video Marketing
10. Audio marketing

Let’s take a closer look at the 10 best types of marketing, their pros and cons, and the basics to get started.

1. Content Marketing

Content marketing is about creating and delivering content, whether it\’s text, images, or multimedia, as long as what you offer has some value to your audience, and not pressuring them to buy from you, it is considered a valuable content. If you are in B2C (business to consumer), a simple social media post can sometimes be more effective than a report, white paper, conference or whatever.

Benefits of Content Marketing

It’s free in the sense that you are trying to attract your audience to you, instead of paying to have your message distributed to the masses. Content marketing is very versatile and can help you build your brand while educating, entertaining, or inspiring your audience. Content is the element that feeds other types of marketing, SEO optimization, social networks or emailing campaigns for example.

The Drawbacks

The popularization of content marketing means that the space is saturated with blog posts, videos, and all kinds of content. So it is difficult to stand out. To be effective, you need to find consistent, good-quality content that can also represent your business and help you achieve your goals. Content is at the heart of your entire digital marketing strategy.

The Instructions

To create a simple yet effective content marketing strategy, consider the following:

• The 4 or 5 themes you want to focus on, lying between the needs and preferences of your audience, and the message you want to convey
• The formats you want to use (video, audio, blog, …)
• The channels you will use for each content you create (website, social media, etc.)
• Keep it simple first: If you’re good at writing, start by blogging. If you’ve ever made videos, start a series, etc.

1. Search Engine Marketing (SEM)

The principle of search engine optimization and or marketing is to ensure that your business, your website, and your products appear at the top of search results, each time people type a certain keyword (or phrase). We think of Google (the most used), but also of Bing which is often used by companies (therefore a very good choice for those who do B2B). This type of marketing includes both natural referencing (known as SEO or Search Engine Optimization ) and paid referencing (PPC or pay per click ). The whole point of search engine marketing is for your customers to find you.

SEO

As suggested by the O of optimization, SEO corresponds to being well “referenced” on search engines. This means creating content that your audience will actively seek out, and ensuring that the platforms your content is on are also optimized for good SEO. This way, when someone searches for information that you have on your website, it will appear in the search results. It’s something everyone should do, regardless of your type of business or industry.

Benefits of SEO

It’s free. Once you are at the top of the results, your business will appear all the more authentic and objective to your customers.

The Drawbacks

You don\’t need to pay to be at the top of the search results lists, but creating quality content and optimizing your website takes a certain amount of effort and time. You are at the mercy of Google and its algorithms. Also, with the amount of content present online these days, it is now very difficult to get to be at the top of the results.

The Instructions

Before starting to talk about SEO, you must first have content (see the first point). Do some research to find out what keywords people are using in your industry, and stay up to date with all of Google\’s news in this area. If you\’re just getting started, you can use a plugin to help you optimize your site (like Yoast for WordPress ), or, if your budget is larger, call in a professional.

PPC

\”Pay per click\” is a form of paid search, for example, Google Adwords or Bing Ads. This is pretty much how SEO is, except that these results appear above the natural search results, and the words “ad” (advertising) are added to the result. You can buy one of the best positions through auctions, based on words, geographic locations, or demographic segments. This is particularly useful for e-commerce sites and for small businesses.

Benefits

PPCs can quickly propel you to the top of search results if you have the budget for it. You only pay when someone clicks on your link (hence the name)

The Drawbacks

It can be expensive, especially if you\’re targeting popular keywords. Many users are skeptical of paid results, and trust natural results more

The instructions

If your budget allows it, use PPCs as a complement to your SEO strategy. You will need to do keyword research to test different combinations of the most relevant words. Remember to measure and optimize as you go. PPCs can be quite complex, so if you can afford it, hire a specialist.

1. Display advertising

You can think of the banners as billboards on the Internet highway. Display advertising, also known as banner ads, much like the printed advertisements in magazines, with the difference that they are online, and it is possible to target an accurate reader. This type of marketing has become more sophisticated with the birth of programmatic advertising (where ads are purchased, analyzed and optimized automatically using algorithms) and retargeting (the fact that the ads you have watched or clicked on a website reappear wherever you go online thereafter, for months).

Benefits

You can target and retarget consumers very effectively. Display ads are very easy to follow and allow you to measure your conversion rates in real time

The Drawbacks

Customers can either not see the ads or ignore them entirely, to focus on the content they\’re trying to read. Because of this, you need to find a way to maximize your impact, so that people notice you, but not too much so that you don\’t annoy them.

The instructions

For display advertising, you first need to think about design (creating a clear, impactful, and memorable advertisement) and placement (finding where your content and message naturally fits and where they will be able to reach your audience). If you are the head of a small business and you probably know your market fairly well, you can reach out to industry professionals directly. Otherwise, use a service like Google Display Network or Facebook Audience Network.

1. Mobile Marketing

With all the time consumers spend on their cell phones, it is important not to overlook mobile marketing. Mobile marketing is almost as extensive as digital marketing as a whole, and cuts across many other types of marketing. Mobile marketing consists of doing everything you do on a desktop computer, adapting it to mobiles, in addition to deploying specific strategies for this type of device (in-app advertising, SMS and instant messaging). It is all the more important to do mobile marketing if you are targeting a young audience.

Benefits

Consumers  use their phones a lot more than their computers these days. So doing mobile marketing comes down to picking them up where they are. Mobile marketing can hyper-target, that is, use specific audience segments or geographic data to target a very specific audience

The Drawbacks

Phone screens offer very little space, mobile ads receive few clicks (and some of these clicks are in part due to handling errors), and most apps are forgotten after being downloaded. People don\’t want to be interrupted by advertisements and marketing messages from brands when chatting with family and friends.

The Instructions

The top priority is making sure that all of your website and all your content is mobile friendly, that is, suitable for mobile use. This often translates into simple and concise designs and content;

the texts are clear, the buttons are big, and the videos are captioned so the message remains accessible even without sound. This is already a great start. Then, you can focus on ads, messages and campaigns specially designed for mobile.

1. Social Media Marketing

Social media creates a unique opportunity to have a direct exchange with your customers. Unlike other channels like television, print ads or display advertising, social networks bring a whole new dimension of interaction. Instead of just spreading your message to the masses, social media offers the possibility of interacting with your customers and listening to what they have to say. There are many different platforms: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, YouTube, Tik Tok and Snapchat. You can carry out free and natural marketing (Facebook groups, stories, Messenger, etc.), or paid (paid Facebook ads, for example). All businesses should be available on at least some of these networks. At least the one that is most used by its target market.

Benefits

The efforts you put in can easily be multiplied as users will like, comment and share your content with their contacts. Also, Facebook ads in particular are very sophisticated these days and allow targeting a specific demographic.

The Drawbacks

The owners of these social media platforms keep adjusting their algorithms and finding new ways to make money. So it is hard to stay on top of all the latest changes. Also, posting a few things on social networks may seem easy, but it still requires a real strategy and much more time than you imagine.

The Instructions

Social media should be part of your content marketing strategy anyway, and the previously mentioned steps apply here as well: decide what kind of content you want to create, then what format and what channels to use. You should also create a posting calendar, so you know when to post what. Don’t forget that the interest of social networks is above all to be able to dialogue with your audience.

1. Email marketing

Email is almost out of fashion these days, with Snapchat and the many instant messengers out there. However, email marketing campaigns remain one of the most effective ways to reach your target audience. Clothing brands and e-commerce sites notably obtain excellent results with seasonal promotional campaigns (Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day, etc.), while taking care of their “prospects” through newsletters.

Benefits

Having an email list allows you to stay in touch with your customers, regardless of the algorithm changes made by social media (imagine Facebook suddenly decides to shut down your Facebook group). Staying in regular contact by email allows you to build a real relationship of trust with your customers and ensure that they remember you

The Drawbacks

Many emails go into the trash without even being opened. So you have to find a punchy subject and first line to grab the attention of your customers from the start and creatively sustain their interest all the way through. You have to continually find ways to bring something new so that your customers don’t unsubscribe from your list.

The Instructions

Choose the emailing service that’s right for you (Mailchimp, ConvertKit, GetResponse, SendFox etc.) and start saving your customers’ email addresses. Give them a good reason to get on your list, like giving them a step-by-step PDF guide or a free design template, and of course, be careful to meet your obligations (if you have customers in Europe, make sure you are familiar with the guidelines that work in those parts of the world).

Once you’ve started collecting addresses from your contacts, plan to send them a newsletter regularly and make sure they’re filled with useful information, not just promotions and commercial messages.

1. Influencer Marketing

For this type of marketing, you need to partner with an influencer (celebrity, expert, etc.) who already has their own audience. When that person promotes your products on Instagram, Snapchat, or YouTube, their loyal followers will follow their recommendations and buy your products.

You might dream of getting the support of an influencer with a million followers to promote your brand, but a lesser-known influencer can prove to be even more effective (and probably cheaper) If they allow you to reach the right target.

The Kardashians or someone else super famous might be the first idea that comes to mind, but this type of marketing also works great for B2B. Simply, the exchanges will probably be more formal and targeted towards an expert in your industry.

Benefits

You benefit from all the influencer contacts, instead of having to build your own audience,teaming up with a famous personality can help you instantly gain mileage, especially with younger audiences.

The Drawbacks

Finding an influencer isn\’t easy. Paying them doesn’t also come cheap. It\’s better to find the right influencer for your audience and associate with that person in a natural way. There is a growing distrust among influencers and their followers these days. So you need to be extremely transparent that you are paying them to promote your brand.

The instructions

Think about what you want to accomplish by using an influencer. Make a short list of potential influencers who have the right audience for your brand (quantity isn\’t everything, their level of engagement is important too). Then get in touch with them and see what you manage to negotiate.

1. Affiliate Marketing

To become affiliated means to outsource the promotion of your products to an individual or a third party company, in exchange for a commission on the sales. This is a very common practice among bloggers and e-commerce site owners (eg. Amazon Associates).

The affiliate will promote your products on their website using a dedicated link. If users click on this link and purchase your products, the affiliate will automatically receive a commission. If you want to make money while sleeping, Affiliate Marketing is for you.

Benefits

• Your affiliates do all the work for you
• You only pay them when a sale is made

The Drawbacks

• You don’t have 100% control over your brand. You will need to educate your affiliates about your brand identity and message
• You can’t just make a deal with your affiliates and then that’s it. You will also need to track their progress among other things

The Instructions

Start with a competitive analysis to determine how many affiliate programs there are and see if you prefer to create your own program, or use a specialist agency. Either way, be very clear about payment and terms. Also, prepare a small presentation of your company containing your style guide, so that the affiliates become familiar with your brand.

1. Video marketing

Video is the star of digital marketing these days. Everyone is moving to video because most platforms have been optimized to promote video content.

It can be a short video clip or a longer format, intended for education or entertainment, pre-recorded or filmed live, for example. It is no longer enough to produce a television advertisement and put it online. We now need to create tailor-made video content for digital channels.

Benefits

Video can be a very effective way to get your message across, as it helps to appeal to viewers\’ emotions. All the most famous social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin) favour video content.

Which means that video content is even more visible than other types of content. It therefore receives more reach (number of people who see it) and engagement (likes and comment), and will thus also be better referenced in search.

The Drawbacks

We have a very short focus time, so your videos need to grab attention in just seconds. Otherwise, people will not watch them. Anyone can make a video inexpensively, but creating a good quality video with effective and engaging content takes skill, time and money.

The Instructions

Video should really be part of your content strategy. Be specific about what you are trying to do (inspire, educate, entertain, etc.), and make sure you stay focused on that goal throughout the process.

There\’s no need to overdo it though – many people make great videos with just a smartphone. But still take care of the lighting and sound recordings. It will transform your video completely. It is often said that audio is 50% of video. If your audio is bad, your video will be bad.

1. Audio Marketing

Radio has changed a lot since the heyday of radio broadcasts of the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s. Although the traditional media has advanced since the introduction of television, there are many people who still listen to the radio regularly.

And this is all the more true today with the arrival of internet radios. Channels like Spotify still offer the option of serving traditional ads, but what is called audio marketing extends to much more than that.

We will think in particular of podcasts and personal assistants like Amazon’s Alexa as well as Google Home. Podcasts can be a great way to promote your brand to your target audience.

Benefits

Audio formats, whether traditional radio or podcast, are a great way to reach a rushed and very busy audience, at the times they are willing to pay attention to what you are saying. Audio content may be easier and cheaper to produce than video content (and you may even be able to reuse other types of content, taking the soundtrack from a video, for example)

The Drawbacks

• Your audience will often be multitasking when accessing your audio content. It can therefore be difficult to get them to do this or that action (there is no easily accessible button that appears before their eyes).

• Doing marketing campaigns on personal assistants is still experimental, and it is difficult to get down to the job without any immediate return on investment.

The Instructions

There are so many things possible in audio marketing. The first thing to do is to decide exactly what to do: create a radio ad, start a new podcast, experiment with personal assistants, etc. Think about your audience and places they spend their time.

What is the best channel to use to reach them? What existing content do you have that you could repurpose? List the relevant podcasts available and contact them to possibly get invited.

These are the ten (10) best types of digital marketing you should be thinking about for your business. Do not try to be on all fronts.

You will stress yourself beyond measure and end up doing things halfway. Think about your goals, the identity and habits of your audience, and base your choices on this data.

 

 

THE PURPOSE OF DIGITAL MARKETING

Almost all companies now have a website , an essential tool for being visible and for complying with consumers\’ expectations. Very quickly, the development of search engine algorithms revealed that a website alone was not going to be sufficient on its own . To make themselves known on the Web and target the consumer, strategies have been developed over time, included in what is called digital marketing.

Why do companies use digital marketing? Quite simply because a digital strategy offers multiple advantages, applicable to all types of companies, of different size and means:

• Digital marketing allows direct interaction with the customer
• The information obtained on consumers helps you adapt your offer and it also offers a personalized product that meets their needs

• Digital marketing promotes customer loyalty and satisfaction through a lasting and quality relationship
• It also saves cost and budget — affording a website costs less than installing a physical store
• Digital marketing creates a 24/7 availability of your business
• International openness is made easier
• The gain in visibility improves your brand image and makes it possible to reach a wider audience
• Digital marketing offers many more facilities and possibilities (for the company, but also for the employees thanks to remote working);
• The results on the performance of your company are much more precise than before thanks to the analysis of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
• Digital marketing also makes it possible to target new customers, to detect leads and thus to stand out from the competition thanks to a tailor-made strategy.

WHICH DIGITAL MARKETING STRATEGIES ARE THE BEST

It is commonly said that doing business in this 21st century without a digital strategy is like doing business without telling anyone. This is because a large number of people most of their time online. Digital marketing has become a must for companies who want to be or remain competitive in their chosen field.

For those who are new to the digital world, it can be difficult to navigate as there are so many digital marketing techniques. Not to mention the channels you can use to market your business.

Not to mention that most small businesses work on limited budgets and simply cannot afford to invest heavily in this area.

This is why it is important to think “strategy” and “optimization” in order to attract, engage and convert customers. It is hard to identify the best digital strategies because every company has a decision to make as to what their goal is per time and what strategies to adopt to achieve such goals.

However, we have put together seven (7) top strategies that should be considered when trying to put together a digital marketing strategy for your business. They are:

1. Content marketing
2. Website design
3. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
4. Social media management
5. Email Marketing
6. Social Media Marketing (SMM)
7. Search Engine Marketing (SEM)

 

 

• CONTENT MARKETING

Content marketing is one of the most important types of digital marketing because it is the starting point for almost every other type of digital campaign that your business will implement. From emailing to managing social media, you\’ll need quality content to run effective campaigns.

Content marketing is the process of creating and sharing content that isn\’t just meant to be promotional. The content you create in your campaigns is used to drive interest in your offering while adding value to your site visitors.

The content you create can have many different purposes. It can be used to inspire, educate, persuade, or even just entertain.

Content marketing doesn\’t just apply to written content like blog posts, web pages, and eBooks. Content can also include videos, social media posts, and even webinars. The types of content you create depend on your campaign goals and your target audience.

There are many benefits to content marketing for your small business. Perhaps one of the most important is the return on investment it achieves. Content marketing is not only affordable, it can have a significant impact on your lead generation, enrichment, and conversion campaigns as well.

Although content marketing efforts cost 62% less than more traditional marketing strategies, they tend to generate more than 3 times as many leads. One of the reasons is that excellent content helps your business improve its SEO.

The more indexable content pages you have on your website, the more possibilities you have to reach and engage leads on search engines. Ultimately, this drives more traffic to your site.

Besides helping you generate more leads, content marketing can also boost conversions. Content marketing helps businesses achieve 6 times higher conversion rates than other marketing tactics.

Content helps you make authentic connections with your customers and prospects. By providing informative and valuable content to your potential customers, you help them make a smarter buying decision.

 

 

• WEBSITE DESIGN

Nowadays, a company\’s website can be considered one of the most important channels when it comes to their digital marketing.

When visitors come to your site, they need to understand your brand. Your site will also tell them what they need to know about the products or services you offer and your value added (Unique Selling Point).

Designing a website involves a number of factors. The layout of the site helps determine which pages will be included and how visitors will get there.

While your content frames how visitors see and understand your business. Also important are the visuals included on your site, such as logos, colors, images and other branding elements.

Did you know that 94% of consumers will trust your website and browse it based on its design? If a visitor lands on your page and it is slow to load, difficult to navigate, unappealing, or confusing, they will tend to leave your site within seconds of arriving. When this happens, you lose opportunities to connect with new potential customers.

Some websites load slowly due to a large volume of unoptimized images. Images on websites are supposed to be optimized by giving them a description that can be identified by the search engine. High-resolution images can also cause websites to load slow because they consume lots of bandwidth while loading. Uploading larger sized images and then scaling them down can unnecessarily increase the size of your web page – causing your website to load slowly.

Your business should strive to establish its credibility and earn the trust of its potential customers. And your web design plays an important role in this process. The design of your site and the content you provide helps visitors better understand what your business is all about and how you can add value to their lives.

 

 

• Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, is also very important for your business. SEO is the optimization of your online content to bring more organic traffic to search engines such as Google. This process usually involves focusing on certain keywords or phrases in your content that closely match what a consumer can type in the search bar of that engine.

Optimization consists in improving the quality of this traffic. By publishing content on topics that your target audience finds most relevant, your company is able to connect with prospects who are most likely to be interested in your brand.

1. Social Media

This year, the number of social media users worldwide reached 3.4 billion, an increase of 9% over last year. This means that companies that do not have a social media presence risk missing an important opportunity to reach and engage new customers.

Managing social media involves a number of activities. In addition to creating a strategy according to your target audience, you will create and display specific content according to the social channel.

There are a number of reasons why social media marketing is a necessity for businesses. One of them being that social media offers you a space to show a more human side of your brand. By publishing less corporate content, you are able to communicate in a different way with your potential customers and authentically with those already acquired.

Social media can also help you generate more traffic to your site. Whether you share branded content or display links to your promotions, there are many ways to get users to visit your site.

Another reason why social media is important for companies is that it is profitable. There are opportunities to advertise on social channels such as Facebook and Instagram. And yes, it works. However, you need to know how to set up your ads correctly.

1. Email Marketing

Did you know that more than 100 billion emails are sent and received every day? Although email is not new to communication, it remains one of the most important means of digital marketing for businesses. This in order to reach their target audience.

Email marketing is the process of sending targeted messages to your contacts. Like other types of digital marketing strategies, the messages you send by email don\’t always have to be promotional. While email is a good way to provide information about coupons, sales and other promotions, it can also be a powerful channel for keeping in touch with your audience through unique and valuable content.

Email marketing also integrates well with other types of tools. For example, you can use email marketing as a promotional channel for the content you create. You can also use email to increase traffic to your website and social media channels. This makes email marketing very versatile and effective to help stimulate other strategies. Provided it is done well.

1. Social Media Marketing (Ads)

Advertising is not only in newspapers, magazines and on billboards. In fact, there are a number of social media channels that offer advertising opportunities for companies that want to increase their visibility and reach online.

Social media advertising is available in many formats, depending on the channel you want to position yourself on. The best social media platforms to advertise on will depend on your target audience and the platforms on which they are most active.

Since social media tries to create the best possible experience for users, they often hide corporate content from user flows. As a result, the organic reach on social media channels continues to diminish for companies.

If you want to be able to reach your prospects and customers on social media, you will need to complement your organic messages and content with paid ads. This is the only way to ensure that your brand is visible to those who are interested in the types of products and services it offers.

The cost of advertising on social media is relatively affordable if you look at the return on investment you can achieve. While bidding for popular keywords on Google or placing ads in publications can become very expensive, social media advertising is often more affordable.

1. Search Engine Marketing

Social media are not the only places where you can advertise online. Search Engines like Google and Bing also allow people to advertise. This is another type of digital marketing that can be a real asset for businesses. These types of ads are structured on a PPC (Pay Per Click) model, which means that you pay for every click you get on an ad.

Google PPC ads are one of the best ways to improve your reach on the search engine. Google ads appear at the top of the Google Search Engine Results Page (SERP) when a user types the keywords or phrases that you are positioned on. When set up correctly, these ads can complement your organic search engine optimization efforts.

It is clear that we cannot separate any form of digital marketing as a standalone and the best among the rest. Each strategy exists for a reason and depending on the goal of the company, one or more of them can be used to achieve such goals.

Is digital marketing worth it in 2021?

Digital marketing is a constantly evolving industry. Every month, new changes appear, whether in the world of social networks, search (Google) or content marketing. New technologies are coming into our lives, such as artificial intelligence. The algorithms are more efficient and intelligent. All these advances make digital marketing ever more precise, efficient and difficult to understand. But is it worth it? I say a resounding yes! The future of marketing is digital. The key to taming marketing in the digital age is to stay abreast of new trends so that you understand how you will orient your strategy today and in the years to come. Things are changing every day. So, what worked for you before may not work anymore because once again digital marketing is an ever-changing industry.

Is Digital Marketing in demand in 2021?

There is still huge interest in digital marketing trends and marketing innovation in 2021. And rightly so, since examining innovation in digital marketing, technology, and platforms for the year can help marketers identify new opportunities in which businesses and marketers alike can leverage and position themselves for success.

Every year for the past ten years, experts assess the digital marketing landscape and make recommendations on digital marketing trends that marketers should focus on going forward. The year 2020 has seen a lot of online growth in terms of the numbers, content and money spent online. That is why going in 2021, many experts have predicted that there is going to be a higher demand for digital marketing services. Many businesses who were not prepared for the mass online migration of 2020, have now prepared themselves for the year 2021.

 

Is Digital Marketing a good career?

Working in digital marketing is one of the most successful career choices you can pursue in our time. Plus, the good news is that you can learn the basics online without taking a digital marketing class at college or university.

Digital Marketing is one of the most exciting, challenging, and fast-paced industries you can work in. It values ​​diverse skill sets, ranging from creatives to analysts, mathematicians and technicians. If you are a beginner, there are some simple steps you can take to move forward.

Every day our world is becoming more digital. It is extremely rare to see a business, whether small or large, without an online presence. To be successful, these businesses will need the support of someone skilled in digital marketing. We can therefore consider that it is a sector where demand far exceeds supply. You will therefore have no difficulty in finding employment opportunities.

Another benefit of choosing a career in digital marketing is that it generates impressive salaries overall, especially when you consider that most companies recruiting for these roles don\’t even care if you have a university degree.

Plus, you don\’t have to spend your time working in a well-established digital agency. Digital marketing is also an area that allows you to work as a freelancer once you have gained experience and training in a large company.

 

 

Is there a future in digital marketing?

Digital marketing has taken all markets by storm in different fields. It is an integral part of our way of life. Indeed, innovations are constantly evolving. No sooner have we finished mastering one technology than another is created. How will digital marketing fare in a few years? What does its future look like?

Two areas can paint a picture of the future of digital marketing.

1. Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence will always offer more prospects for digital marketing. It represents an opportunity for digital marketing. With AI, digital marketing will be more accessible. Actors in this field can no longer ignore AI. She will always be smarter. There is a proliferation of tools and technologies. Online marketing players who develop artificial intelligence technologies will have better results. Whether it\’s customer data, business strategies, AI could take care of it all. It can also take into account all possible analysis in the field. Marketers will therefore only have to focus on the different marketing proposals.

1. Data marketing

Marketers are used to sticking with a routine. They do not focus on the data collected. Thus, they limit their capacity for innovation and understanding of the various data collected. However, the data recorded during visits to their sites and numerous digital interference is very large. This might not appeal to business owners now but for digital marketers, data will become a big part of their job in coming years. As more and more people flock onto the digital space, there will be a need for efficient and effective ways of reaching them with the brand’s message in order to keep them coming back to buy.

Can I do Digital marketing from home?

If you are passionate about digital marketing and you have made it your job (or you aspire to make it your job), two professional choices are available to you: work for a company (advertiser or agency) or be a freelancer. Most firms do not even want to know whether you have a university degree, so far as you have the skill they are looking for plus some experience to match, you are good to go.

As the name clearly communicates, digital marketing can be done remotely. Since the coronavirus pandemic started, most people have been doing their digital marketing jobs remotely. But the decision to be a freelancer or to work for a company depends on the individual. I would advise that the best way to start is to get the basic training online and then start working for a company.

When you start with fundamental knowledge, you have to use your time with an employer to figure out your area of specialization. Is it Social Media Management or Social Media Advertising. Some people even niche down further to be platform specialists eg. Facebook ads specialist.  This will prepare you for your exit to either operate as a freelancer or start your own agency. Whether you choose to work for someone or be a freelancer, you can run everything from home.

Can digital marketing make you rich?

Apart from winning a lottery, which involves a lot of work and luck, I don’t think there is any other “real” occupation that can instantly make one rich. Every human endeavour requires hard work, continuous learning and development in order to remain relevant and accumulate wealth. Digital marketing is no different. Does it pay well? As a high income skill just like other tech skills which are in high demand, it pays very well. But as earlier mentioned, it takes experience to earn more. Just as specialist doctors earn more than general doctors, specialist digital marketers also earn more than general digital marketers. This is because, with the specialist there is experience which has resulted in trust between them and their clients. This makes clients pay their high fees just to get them to do their work because they are sure of the results.

How do I become a Digital marketer?

Mobile applications, social media platforms, data collection and analyses constitute some of the things digital marketers work with on the web. The web remains a vast playground for companies, which take advantage of new trends to get in touch with their prospects. Whether you are an entrepreneur or a marketing professional, it is becoming essential of you to understand how digital marketing works as the world is gradually migrating to the online space. These strategies will help you:

• Learn to optimize your presence on the web

A certification training in digital marketing can allow you to acquire new skills to effectively develop your presence on the web and canvass new customers. In particular, you will learn how to design a \”user-centric\” site, which can meet the requirements of your customers. You can also discover the opportunities offered by \”responsive\” sites . These give you the possibility of automatically adapting the form of your content according to the media used by your potential customers (PC, smartphone, tablet, etc.). Whatever screen resolution your prospect is using, your site thus remains perfectly visible.

Creating a beautiful site is not enough. It should also be optimized for search engines. This is where SEO ( Search Engine Optimization) comes in. You will therefore have to learn how to improve the positioning of your website on engines such as Google or Bing. This is done through the use of keywords, optimization of metadata etc. Different techniques are available to help you gain visibility and get more traffic to your website. There are also effective ways to promote the company\’s products and services through digital advertising and social media campaigns. These can take different forms, depending on your budget, your targets and your objectives: distribution of content on social media platforms, use of the Google Ads etc.

• Adapt your strategy and retain customers

Many tools now allow digital marketers to instantly measure the performance of their actions; measure their bounce rate, conversions, traffic, etc. Web analytics indicators are valuable for advancing your marketing strategy on time. Not to mention the essential analysis of \”user journeys\”, which will help you better understand the habits and behaviors of your targets when they use your services. The data collected will allow you to adapt your content accordingly, in order to improve the user experience and gain credibility in the eyes of Internet users or your target audience. You must also learn to take advantage of social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, to develop and defend your online reputation on the pages dedicated to your brand. These platforms will give you the opportunity to interact with your visitors and your customers, while remaining as close as possible to the concerns of the latter.

Digital marketing techniques cannot be learned overnight. Hence the need to go through the training box before embarking headlong into the meanders of the web.

 

What is an online marketing job?

Digital marketing or online marketing practically refers to the same thing. With the digital explosion of the last twenty years, the notion of digital marketing has widely extended and now includes all practices related to marketing that use web media and channels. Most corporate and even personal brands have some sort of online representation, either a website, social media channels or both. This has proven to be an essential tool for being visible and for complying with consumers\’ expectations.

Very quickly, the development of search engine algorithms revealed that a website alone was not going to be sufficient on its own . To make themselves known on the web and target the consumer, strategies have been developed over time, included in what is called digital marketing. An online marketing job which is the same as a digital marketing job entails all activities aimed at giving a brand some form of online representation with the aim of communicating value to its market, influencing their buying decision and achieving the brand’s goals.

 

What is digital marketing and its benefits in future?

With the digital wave, there have been a lot of advances and innovations in all disciplines and marketing has not escaped it. It\’s no wonder that traditional methods of marketing have fallen behind. Digital marketing has taken over and now rules the world of marketing. Every business is supposed to have a digital marketing strategy in place. Otherwise, they will most certainly fall behind their competitors.

But what is digital marketing and why is it so important?

Digital marketing can be defined as “the promotion of products or brands through one or more forms of digital media”. By “digital media” we mean primarily the Internet, but also mobile phones, tablets, email marketing and various other digital channels.

Digital marketing is a very broad term and people may give it different meanings when referring to it. There are a ton of branches in digital marketing, such as:

• SEO (Search Engine Optimization), which is to implement technical optimization of your website in order to place it in the search engine’s list for specific keywords.
• Search Engine Marketing which is a paid advertising. You pay for traffic to be redirected to your site.
• Mobile marketing which is a vague term for digital marketing oriented mobile devices. These may be advertising placements in mobile applications or games, for example.
• The social media marketing which is different from the management of social media platforms. This involves using advertising platforms such as Facebook Ads (also containing Instagram), Twitter Ads, Snapchat Ads, Pinterest Ads. These advertising campaigns can have several conversion objectives: retrieve emails, sell a product or even make you grow your professional page on the platforms.
• Email marketing which is to develop an email list then send email campaigns to boost sales.
• Content marketing; thanks to a website containing content relevant to your business which is published regularly. It doesn\’t seem like a form of digital marketing per se, but content marketing can help you improve your site\’s SEO and therefore your internet presence.

… and many others.

 

What is digital marketing and its benefits in future?

Digital marketing is basically an umbrella term for all of these methods. Digital marketing has become essential for all businesses due to the growing number of consumers using social media and search engines these days. The average person now spends more time browsing online than with all other types of media such as television, newspapers and magazines.

Affordability is also another factor in the rapid growth of digital marketing and one of the essential reasons why it is so important to businesses. In the past, it was expensive to run an ad in a newspaper or on the radio. Small businesses then struggled to reach their target audience. Today, with the rise of social media and email marketing, it\’s easier than ever to reach a larger audience and communicate your messages to them.

Also, one of the biggest advantages of digital marketing over traditional marketing is the use of analytics tools. In the past, it was extremely difficult to track the success of a marketing campaign. You knew if your sales and performance were increasing, but was it because of your marketing or other factors? It wasn’t possible to tell.

Today, every time a business launches a new digital marketing campaign, it has a huge array of diverse metrics. It can track exactly the success or failure of each campaign and areas for improvement. Whether it is opening emails and clicks, tracking conversions on a Facebook Ads campaign, engaging on social networks or time spent on a page, the statistics of this new marketing are more precise than ever. These advantages will be improved in the future.That’s why the shift to digital marketing is inevitable. With consumers massively abandoning traditional forms of media, the future lies in the digital world. Companies that do not yet have a comprehensive digital strategy are currently lagging behind.

What is the future scope of digital marketing?

The future scope of digital marketing started some years ago and it is only getting clearer. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and  Search Engine Marketing (SEM) are two of the powerful options for companies who want to get traffic through search. The reason is that most people are looking for information online. Also, social media algorithms are making it difficult for users to reach their audience organically so Social Media Marketing through paid ads is going to be the major way to reach social media users with your content. When it comes to content marketing, content formats are already changing. A lot of people would rather watch a 10 minutes Youtube video than read its transcribed blog post of 2,000 words. Content marketing has changed to assumed the following forms:

• Videos, micro-videos or stories: Videos are said to be nearly 260% more effective than other types of content. Stories of less than 10 seconds or quick videos are becoming easier and easier to create and are quickly consumable and influence consumption. Originally initiated by Snapchat, this format is adopted by many other networks, including Instagram, Tik Tok, Youtube etc. Instagram Stories are used by more than 500 million people per day and 83% of Instagramers say they discover new products and services on the app. Using this format to promote a product or service would then increase the final purchase by 144%. Tik Tok gained a lot of popularity in a short time because it capitalized on this trend. Youtube has also bought into this audience retention strategy and introduced Youtube Shorts. This has proven to make a lot of people’s content go viral within a short time. In this, digital marketing is much more than a plus, but an essential way to sell today. And so, it is very vital to know what is working and apply it as platforms and systems are adjusted from time to time.

• The \”Podcast\” format: This is an audio-only format that allows unlimited creativity. Indeed, the podcast audio format adapts and takes on different dimensions depending on the subject; whether funny, light or on current, social or economic themes. It is a format which allows free expression while giving indications on a product, a field, a skill or which allows for inspiration and influence. This is an opportunity for a company, a brand or even a start-up to defend its brand identity through a podcast reflecting its values ​​and assets. Podcasts are currently not so saturated as the video space. That is why most creators are now doing video podcasts; a clever way to “kill two birds with one stone”. They are able to extract the audio part for their audio channels while using the video for their video channels. This way, they are able to reach more people who are eagerly looking for content in such formats.

Does marketing have a future?

Ten years ago, there was nothing like a Social Media Manager? Or Digital Marketing  Officer? The digital transformation initiated by companies, new consumer practices, the great and strategic role left to data and AI have shaken up the business and employment landscape. As long as businesses continue to operate, there will be a need for marketing executives to do their job. But the same way the marketing roles of the past decade are now extinct, the ones we have today may not see the next decade. Things are constantly evolving, so is the marketing landscape. Marketing is a service that is going through big changes. Due to the digital transformation experienced by companies, two main categories of professions are emerging:

1. a) Data professions

According to Laëtitia Parise, Marketing and Sales Director of the international recruitment agency Aquent, “the functions associated with data are not new. These are the statistical trades of yesterday.\” Today, however, data professionals have become key strategists in businesses through the emergence of Big Data.

1. b) The AI ​​/ IoT professions

Bringing together different functions: marketer, developer, designator, these new functions, due to the emergence of AI, are being created, or at least are being reinvented in order to better control and administer this technology. \”Within these reworked functions, the role of psychologist is key, thus allowing a better perception and integration of AI\” , indicates Laëtitia Parise.

In summary, Artificial Intelligence will redistribute the cards: by eliminating certain functions, of course, but above all by giving birth to new professions.

The role of the marketing teams is key for the company. A real locomotive when it comes to defining a company\’s strategy, it seems difficult to think of the link between a business’ success and marketing disappear. For these functions, it is better to speak of transformation than of suppression.

Take the example of the Chief Digital Officer (CDO). If we take a step back, it seems clear that the life of such a function is limited in time. What relevance will  this function be once the turn of digital transformation taken by the company is over? However, it is wise to see this profession as a stepping stone to transformation. As soon as the latter is triggered, the job of Chief Digital Officer must be rethought to take on a more strategic marketing nature. It should be noted, however, that the speed of evolution of this function depends on the maturity of the company and its ability to easily integrate digital into its practices and its strategy.

Is the marketing industry growing?

Every industry goes through the following stages of maturity.

• Start-up: the competitive structure is atomized and access to the required technology is decisive.
• Growth: significant investments are needed, while the growth rate is strong and the potential large.
• Maturity: a few companies share the market and try to control it.
• Decline: the companies still present are operating a profitable activity, because they do not require any investment.

The marketing industry is currently at its growth rate owing to the fact that there is a lot of potential and innovations that are coming into the industry. This is making the industry very attractive; the demand for its services are high and is unable to meet up with the supply.

 

What is the future of advertising?

Traditional advertising won\’t help anymore. Especially, in a world where success is conditioned by agility, artificial intelligence, and networks. Brands must therefore juggle new rules in favour of personalized marketing and communication campaigns, and a multi-platform presence.

Traditional advertising is losing ground in the media because the issue of attribution has not yet been resolved. In a world where marketing is dominated by algorithms and automation, multi-platform programmatic advertising must be favoured to increase brand value and conversion. Thus, digital platforms have become essential to activate in order to maintain brand image and increase financial performance.

In this new world order, Facebook and Google are thriving and sharing the majority of market share; they show rapid growth in a stable market, reigning as a duopoly in the digital age. Advertising is undergoing a metamorphosis. Mass marketing is on the verge of extinction, users are back in power, and advertisers are demanding more than ever. Online advertising, particularly agile, evolves all the more quickly as it is driven by technological innovations and the democratization of machine learning. With an increase in the number of players in the ecosystem, the entire advertising landscape as we know it is in upheaval. There are new regulations concerning the use of data for commercial purposes and advertising agencies are pushing the adoption of their automated solutions. So what can we really expect in the years to come?

Let\’s draw together the portrait of the digital advertising of tomorrow.

• Machine Learning

Because of the large numbers of data available in today’s digital space, there is going to be a lot of opportunities in the “data” market. Many advanced technologies allowing the correct exploitation are emerging and Machine Learning Is more than ever at the center of the debates. If choosing your keywords, targeting a geographical area, filling in a few lines of text and defining your maximum bid were previously enough to hope to make sales, today it takes much more to beat the competition. 70 million signals are taken into account by Google Ads algorithms at the time of each auction. So even if you are very good at mathematics and endowed with an extraordinary intelligence, it seems relatively difficult to challenge the machine and its computing power. Machine Learning will take more place in advertising in the years to come. It is already ubiquitous since it hides behind smart bidding strategies, the creation of automatic ads and personalized optimization suggestions, among others.

• Diversity of professions related to digital advertising

Digital marketing used to be all about SEO, SEM and SMM. Today, due in particular to the disappearance of barriers between online and offline or between notoriety and profitability, digital-related expertise is exploding. We are now talking about attribution, programmatic, drive-to-store, CRM integration, audiences, inbound marketing, affiliation, content marketing and web analytics among others. The list is endless and new web professions are regularly emerging (eg. Retention Specialists, Paid Ads Specialists).

Another effect of this tenfold increase in expertise is the increase in the number of technological partners . Today, it is no longer enough to collaborate with designers to ensure that our advertising visuals are attractive, it is now common practice to integrate third-party players into its strategy offering technological solutions that meet a very specific marketing need: measurement, analysis, attribution, tagging, bidding, marketing automation, flow creation, data centralization, for example. And if we add to this the growing number of advertising agencies monetizing their inventories, thus promoting their competitive advantages to advertisers and agencies, that makes a lot of variables to take into account.

 

What are the benefits of digital marketing course?

Today, having a broad knowledge of digital marketing is essential to adequately access potential customers. Knowing how to speak the consumer\’s language, the necessary strategies to adopt in your digital marketing are all important and this knowledge can be acquired in a digital marketing course online. Below are some of the benefits of taking a digital marketing course:

1. It is a high income skill: digital marketing is paying very well and it is also in demand. Very few people have this skill meanwhile the opportunity keeps increasing. For anyone who is able to acquire the basics of this skill, there is either a job or a self-employment opportunity waiting for them.

1.  An easy way to get acquainted with the fundamentals

If you are already a business owner, taking a digital marketing course provides an easy way for you to know the latest online tools. This way, you will see the practicality of what you are learning.

1.  Ability to learn how to use digital platforms from experts

Since the classes are online, you will have the advantage of being familiar with all digital platforms. From a study website to other resources that can help you do your research. Remember that all these online pages were created or advised by Digital Marketing Agency or expert digital marketers, so you will have the advantage of familiarizing yourself with them.

1.  You will know how to optimize sales channels

Being in contact with sales channels such as e-commerce will allow you to see a broader field of digital marketing. On the other hand, just as you study, you can instantly practice optimizing these pages organically.

1.  You work close to the job market

Having professionals today is very important for companies. Many of them need advice or work hand in hand with a marketer to publicize and sell their products or services. In the case of studying digital marketing courses online, it will be necessary for you to familiarize yourself and have the option of linking your studies with the many job opportunities.

1.  You can modify ongoing digital campaigns

The advantage of studying digital marketing courses online is that your notebook will be your work in progress. If for some reason you have a change to make, there is no need to just write it down, but you can have quick access.

 

Is Digital Marketing Good or bad?

In recent years, digital media has become part of consumers\’ daily lives. Users not only use the internet for work or entertainment, but also use it to resolve any type of business-related question. All the information around a brand will make the user more or less willing to become a final consumer, so a digital marketing strategy will be essential to improve the image of the brand and increase its visibility.

Furthermore, the consumer is no longer a passive user who receives information from brands without \”questioning\”. Now, consumers are informed and make comparisons before making any purchase decision.

To give you a visual idea, imagine that the Internet is like a large shopping center, and that each of the websites or social platforms on the Internet are the shop windows of this center. Surely you want your shop windows to be visible, right? To get them to be seen by users,  you have to improve your visibility through the relevant tactics and strategies that Digital Marketing provides us .

Having a good online presence, developing a coherent strategy, correctly managing your Social Networks and being participatory in your community, can facilitate the increase in conversion of potential customers. These are some figures to look at:

• 52% of companies have gotten customers through Social Networks.
• Over 40% of brands receive connections on LinkedIn.
• More than 50% of brands have increased their budget for Online Marketing.

All these reports point to the fact that digital marketing has really helped businesses. It is not just good but in my opinion, the best thing that has happened in the business world.

 

What kind of jobs are in digital marketing?

When talking about professions that belong to the universe of digital marketing, a whole panorama of very interesting possibilities and roles opens up. Let’s look at a few of them:

1. Community Manager

He or she is the professional in charge of creating, managing and maintaining the digital community of users on social media platforms that exists around a brand, devising and following strategies to stimulate, relate, care for and retain the followers of the brand or their potential interest in its products and / or services.

1. Social Media Manager

This professional works hand in hand with the rest of the team, to be in charge of clearly drawing up the action plan and the strategy that a brand will follow in its different digital social media channels, covering the general and specific objectives of the company. In addition, the individual also assumes the task of establishing key performance indicators that allow measuring the success of the actions.

1. SEO / SEM Specialist

The SEO / SEM specialist is a professional in charge of developing web search engine positioning techniques through both organic (SEO) and paid (SEM) strategies, and optimizing the conditions of the content and structure of a website to facilitate its visibility in front of the user, thus increasing the traffic generated.

1. Email Marketing Specialist

This professional is in charge of managing and administering the email campaigns of companies or brands. A key strategy to get closer to your customers or potential customers in order to achieve your objectives by offering valuable products, services or content through this medium.

1. Digital Designer

He is a graphic design professional specializing in the creation of creative, strategic, expressive design solutions suitable for the development of products and digital content with commercial objectives within the market.

1. Digital Analyst

This professional has the special mission of measuring and analyzing the impact of any type of action related to digital marketing that is carried out, all through to the collection of data and the interpretation of the same to later use them within a strategy.

1. Digital Project Manager

He or she is in charge of leading the actions carried out by the rest of the marketing team , making sure to determine if the work is carried out in a specific time frame and following the appropriate guidelines for the client\’s requests to guarantee their satisfaction.

 

How do I choose a career in digital marketing?

The industry is so large with huge job opportunities. Deciding where you want to focus can give you a good start. Depending on your passion, you can become a SEO, developer, editor, community manager working in a specific sector for a company or for a digital agency  and manage many clients. Whatever field you want to specialize in, they are all of particular interest. Although it is advisable to have an area of specialization in mind, it is good to start with the fundamentals which expose you to a little bit of how every part of digital marketing functions. This becomes very useful when you want to ascend to a management position as you will be responsible for the digital strategy for the entire organization.

Before you decide to build a career in digital marketing, there is one thing you should know: it is an area that requires lifelong learning in order for you to have a bright future. This means that if you do decide to pursue a career in digital marketing and be successful at it, you need to know in advance that learning should be part of your daily activities.

So you need to be prepared to put in the effort to be successful. As already mentioned above, unlike many industries, you don\’t need formal qualifications to get started in digital marketing. However, knowledge, talents and motivation to learn are very important.

Fortunately, the internet has made higher education more accessible to people all over the world. Familiarize yourself with the basics by checking out some online courses and training programs as well as countless free learning platforms. Plus, most online courses allow you to learn at your own pace. Some can even be downloaded, so you can review them later.

Things move fast in the digital world and you need to be on top of the changes to be successful in this industry. You need to keep up to date so that you are on top of ever-changing technologies. With this continuous or lifelong learning and your experience, you gain the necessary knowledge you need to start your career, take it to the next level and even to grow your own business if you plan to do so.

Digital Marketing Trends of 2020

1. Social commerce

60% of Instagram users use this method of buying things online. They discover new products on the platform. Pinterest does even better with 70% of users finding new articles through their platform. Consumers use social media to get information, be inspired and find the product of their dreams. As a digital marketer, use all the functions that these platforms offer you. If you synchronize your product catalog with your Facebook, Instagram or Pinterest pages, it will be easier for users to shop from your store. WhatsApp Business has made it easier to create a product catalogue that can be synchronized with your Facebook and  Instagram pages.

1. Chatbots even more in demand

A lot of brands have started using chatbots to manage their customer services in 2020. These chatbots answer visitors\’ questions in real time, while business is closed or employees are busy. This time saving tool allows customers to make up their minds more quickly. Result? Increasing conversion rates.

Also, unlike humans, these robots are always of even temper. Little risk of receiving complaints from customers dissatisfied with their services. Your prospects will be won over by their clear and objective answers.

1. Voice search

In 2020, 50% of digital searches were vocal. This is one of the biggest trends in digital marketing. It is essential to take this trend into account in marketing strategies.

What needs to be changed? Optimizing your site for voice search begins with the use of long tail keywords. For example, instead of the keyword \”chocolate cake\”, choose a more developed phrase such as \”how to bake a chocolate cake?”. That will make your content easier to find using search.

In general, create content whose title asks a question. “How”, “What is”, “Why”, “Where to find” etc. are the key expressions that will help your voice marketing.

1. Hyper-targeted advertising

49% of consumers ignore ads that do not meet their needs. These irrelevant ads have unfortunate consequences on your brand image not to mention that they are unprofitable. Conversely, regularly sending personalized and relevant messages to a prospect increases your chances of converting them by 36%.

A perfect knowledge of your target is the first step in developing tailor-made ads. Profession, geographic location, needs, interest and your prospects should be no secrets to you. It\’s time to define your goals and choose the right social platforms to launch your campaign and convert targeted internet users.

1. An increasingly personalized service

Personalization is without context the present demand of digital marketing. 2020 was the time this experience really started taking off.

You can start by calling your prospects by name, it\’s the first step. Use the data you have to offer each visitor the right content for their needs. What site are they from? What content did the person interact with? What city is he in? With all this information, you have enough to ensure your prospects a tailor-made experience.

Another thing is to personalize your emails. According to a study, messages containing the recipient\’s first name have 29% higher open rates. Their click-through rate also exceeds those of conventional e-mail messages by 41%. The good news is that most email services and social platforms have inbuilt functionalities that can help you personalize your messages with ease.

1. More transparency

You have a much higher chance of retaining your customers by delivering transparent, easy-to-understand content to them. But how do you create a climate of trust between your prospects and your business? Be an open book for your audience, communicate clearly with them, and add your personality to your marketing campaigns.

Be attentive to the concerns of your community by responding promptly to its questions and proposals. If you receive constructive criticism, accept it and respond very friendly to its author. If you made a mistake,  acknowledge it and find a solution. After all, your business is made up of humans.

1. Messaging applications for social media platforms

Facebook reported that each month consumers and brands exchange no less than 10 billion messages on Facebook Messenger. Facebook itself boasts of more 2.1 billion active users.

For prospects, it\’s a convenient way to establish direct contact with businesses. In addition, social messaging promotes highly personalized marketing. Of course, customers love it. This is going to be a major way through which customers communicate with brands going forward. It is easier for customers to make enquiries via WhatsApp or Facebook than sending an email or visiting your website.

If you want to be easily reached by prospects, for example, make a WhatsApp number available to your customers to receive personalized advice. Such an initiative brings you closer to your audience than any advertising campaign.

1. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is more present than ever

Thanks to a combination of different functions such as chatbots and voice assistance, AI quickly finds answers to customer needs. Just like a human, these bots can take orders from users and work behind the scenes for them. They go further by collecting data to improve future user experiences.

How to use this technology in your marketing strategy?

Thanks to deep learning, AI allows you to obtain an increasingly qualified audience. Robots collect and analyze online and offline data on your prospects. You will know your personal buyers inside out.

Next step: Data Management Platforms automatically launch online advertising auctions. Your prospects receive exactly the ads that match them. Improve the customer experience on your platforms with bots that offer visitors instant and personalized support.

Artificial intelligence also comes to help your salespeople. This technology supports prospects at every stage of the conversion funnel. Marketing automation is responsible for tracking mature leads. No matter how many customers you have, you can now give everyone the attention they need.

1. Podcasts are on the rise

Prospects don\’t always have time to discover content when it is sent. With podcasts, your content follows the prospect in his daily life. By car, to the gym, to the supermarket. Your content is in people’s bags and pockets as they go around, thanks to podcasting. According to SmallBizGenuis.net, “144 million Americans listen to podcasts, according to the latest podcast statistics. Put another way, 51% of the US population older than 12 have listened to a podcast at least once.” This mobile format is an opportunity to educate your audience and confirm your expertise.

Digital Marketing Trends in 2021

So far, the digital marketing trends of 2021 seem to revolve around two distinct and almost opposing concepts: on the one hand, there is a certain general humanization (which started from 2020), addressing real issues and tailoring content to individuals. (as opposed to mass communication), so as to engender more personal engagement. And on the other hand, we see the birth of a much more mechanical and technical optimization, allowing us to further refine SEO and marketing campaigns. Let’s again examine nine (9) digital marketing trends for the year 2021.

1. Inclusive marketing

One need only take a look at the newspaper headlines to realize the importance of the concept of inclusion in our society today. Every day more and more of us (especially young people and marginalized groups) want to create a more realistic representation of society in the content offered by brands. Or more precisely, we no longer want to see the “homogeneous” content that we are used to.

In 2021, digital marketing aims to be inclusive, dealing with subjects that affect all individuals in society, regardless of their origins, sexuality, religion, etc. This also includes people with physical disabilities, as well as those affected by learning disabilities, and concerns all types of content: images, videos, blogs, product lines, etc.

1. Optimized snippets and zero click searches

For many years, the goal of SEO has been to get your website or advertisement at the top of the search results. From 2021, the primary focus will be the same, but to be ahead of zero click searches.

The “zero position” refers to the optimized snippets of Google pages, and this is where the digital marketing and SEO trends of 2021 are giving top priority. Position zero works differently from other results: first, it is separate from the other results and sits in a small area of ​​its own, at the very top of the page, but more importantly, it directly displays relevant information hoping to respond to user questions without having to click anything. Hence the name “zero click search”.

While it seems counterintuitive to make sure that users don\’t have to click on your links, the brand recognition you get as a thought leader is far more important than a click or visit. Additionally, zero-click results are sometimes read aloud by Google\’s voice assistant

.3. Sustainable marketing

As with the trend in inclusive digital marketing, in 2021 we are also more concerned than ever with the environment. Consumers want to make sure the brands they give their money to are just as concerned about the state of the planet as they are.

Most consumers believe that businesses should help improve the environment. This explains the increase in sustainable and environmentally friendly brands, especially among young consumers. But it goes far beyond the “green product” market, and all brands stand to gain from adopting environmentally friendly and sustainable practices.

The key is to communicate your commitment to the planet through your branding and content, and thus place environmentalism at the center of your brand identity. There are many ways to do this depending on your brand\’s style, such as placing a prominent banner on your site, talking about it repeatedly on social media, etc. You can even opt for more subtle methods, such as offering reusable bags in your brand colors or conveying environmental messages through your brand visual identity.

1. The fight against ad blockers

Not all digital marketing trends this year are positive and progressive. In 2021, it is also a question of overcoming important obstacles, such as ad blockers. While it is estimated that 27% of internet users will be equipped with ad blockers in 2021, many marketers are seeing their primary traffic flow automatically cut off at source, including for their PPC campaigns.

1. Image and video referencing for visual research

Everyone already knows that it is possible to find images and videos from keywords. But did you know that you can also search by image? Or even look for the context of an image from one of your photos? As more users discover these visual search techniques, the SEO (also known as natural SEO) landscape is changing too.

1. Interactive content

This trend is technically not new, but it has only just been recognized as good practice. Having interactive content not only promotes audience engagement, it also improves user experience.

Interactive content (quizzes, open questions, polls, contests, giveaways, widgets, etc.) can do wonders for your brand. At the very least, it will increase the length of time that users interact with you, which in turn will improve your position in search results as well as in terms of algorithms. But more importantly, interactive content almost always improves the experience for your users, who are begging to engage.

1. Customer segmentation

Segmenting customers is another trend in digital marketing that is not new, but has only just been appreciated at its true value. The idea is simple: instead of creating a few large marketing campaigns targeting a large audience, it is better to have a large number of small marketing campaigns targeting specific audiences.

This involves grouping your target audience according to certain characteristics or behaviors (age, gender, purchasing habits, etc.), in order to tailor your content more precisely to their preferences. For example, you could have two separate mailing lists for large and small consumers, and send different newsletters to each of the groups.

1. Local SEO

Google frequently updates its local SEO algorithm. Therefore, you should also constantly update the appearance of your business in local search results. In a way, local SEO is even more powerful than SEO alone, because people who search for a particular type of business based on their geographic location are more likely to buy than others. It is therefore easier to convert them.

To get started, you need to be “verified” by Google. To do this, register on Google My Business and take control of your listing (or create a brand new one). This will allow you to rank higher in Google Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs) and also give you the option to add additional information about your business.

1. Old trends still in fashion

Some of the best digital marketing trends of 2021 did not start in 2021. Many of them were born last year, or even the year before, and are still booming. If you still haven\’t put them into practice, now is the time to get started.

Main digital marketing trends in 2019

The digital marketing landscape in 2019 was so disrupted that some techniques that were effective a few years ago are now outdated. New technologies are notably at the origin of these new trends, in particular the development of Artificial Intelligence or the advent of mobile. The requirements and habits of Internet users are also changing. Companies must now keep up with these developments to be successful. Here is the list of digital marketing trends in 2019.

1. Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is improving year by year and became one of the main trends in digital marketing in 2019. It allowed many actions to be carried out such as retargeting, an advertising practice which most often consists of targeting an individual who has visited a website. Also, push notification, (is a feature designed for mobile applications, which allows to significantly increase user engagement.). Likewise, AI allows the analysis of clicks and the creation of content. Artificial intelligence is particularly effective for creating small articles on business and sports. Granted, they don\’t have the same style as posts written by people, but they save a lot of time and money. Besides converting and driving sales, AI can work for customer service.

Companies that adopted AI in 2019 were able to cut costs, deliver advanced personalization, and accelerate growth, taking the edge off their competitors. The way to use it will depend on the objectives but it is clear that it has  become very essential in today’s internet business.

1. Chatbots

Chatbots are specialized software that act like a virtual assistant. With the continuous improvement of AI, chatbots are getting better and better able to hold a basic conversation with visitors. They communicate day and night with Internet users to respond to their requests. Chatbots interact in a natural way, mainly through chat windows. They help brands improve customer service while keeping their budgets under control. Then they\’re also faster than humans at answering and taking requests, and performing repetitive tasks, allowing employees to focus on more important activities.

They save on customer service, increase the number of conversations and conversions. Chatbots can be integrated into a website, an app, and even a social media platform. They also collect information about users which can then be used to better tailor marketing strategies.

Studies estimate that in the next 5 years, approximately 80% of commercial communications with customers will be through bot messengers. As the chatbot market is constantly growing, it is important that companies think about how to integrate it into their web strategy. Whether it\’s a simple customer service assistant or a way to promote deals, its usage is increasing every year.

1.   Data protection

Data is essential to the digital strategy. A company that will perfectly master its collection, processing, analysis and operation will be ahead of its competitors. However, with the arrival of the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) in 2018, companies must now guarantee the security of their customers\’ data and be transparent about their use. Internet users are also more vigilant on this point. It is about winning their trust and reassuring them by explaining how this collection and use of their data could improve their experience.

1. Personalization

Personalization in 2019 will be a key element. Personalization of content, offer, emails etc. will make them more efficient and more attractive to the consumer. According to Forbes, 44% of people are likely to buy from a company that has conveyed a personalized shopping experience. It has many advantages, including a better customer experience, increased brand loyalty, more conversions and more revenue.

With the amount of data available, personalization is easier and more efficient. But it takes on a whole new meaning with marketing automation and many other technologies. For example, the personalization of an email will go beyond the recipient\’s simple first name in the text. Contacts can automatically group together based on search history and site activity. Emails can be sent based on the customer\’s data profile.

The technical emailing tradition is no longer as effective as before. Personalization is the key to converting customers and getting them to spend more, whether it\’s on email or other marketing techniques. According to Akamai, 48% of customers spend more money when the experience is personalized, and 74% are frustrated when the content has nothing to do with them. In total, personalization will be the number one tool in optimizing the conversion rate across all marketing channels in the coming years.

1. Voice search

Voice searches are more and more popular 2019 was the year this trend started. For example, voice e-commerce weighed 1.8 billion dollars in the United States in 2017, it will weigh more than 40 billion in 2022 according to OC&C. In addition, according to Google, 20% of all mobile queries on their search engine are spoken. This is expected to increase in the coming years.

There are some reasons for the significant growth of voice search. Indeed, it is easier to perform and faster than a hand-typed search. Artificial Intelligence is getting smarter and has helped reduce the number of mistakes made by voice assistants like Alexa, Siri and Google.

Optimizing a website for voice search could be very interesting since its use is constantly increasing and smart speakers like Google Home are becoming popular. The click-through rate of the site could then greatly increase because during a voice search via a smart speaker, the latter will probably only give one result. So if your site is one of them, that\’s a big advantage.

Voice searches and typed searches are not the same. Indeed, a voice search is generally longer. A low number of words will often constitute a manual search, while a voice query will be more like a phrase. Long-tail keywords will therefore gain importance in the future. So instead of “digital marketing trends 2019”, a voice search will look more like “what are the digital marketing trends in 2019”. The Internet user will use it as if they were talking to someone, this should be taken into account when optimizing the SEO of your website . Companies capable of integrating conversational language into their marketing approach will certainly appeal to Google and Internet users.

1. Visual research

Visual search allows users to upload an image in order to perform a search and obtain specific results. For example, the social network Pinterest launched “Lens”, which gave its users the opportunity to take a photo of an item to find out where to buy it online or to search for similar items.

Google also introduced its visual search engine, \”Google Lens\”, which allows you to find out more about the photos and objects around you. In addition, from your photos, you will be able to get details and perform actions. You will be able, from a photo of a garment, to find similar products and know which stores sell it. You can also display the summary of a book and read its reviews by photographing it. Or take a photo of a plant or animal and get information about the species. But there are plenty of other examples of what Google Lens can do.

Visual search is set to become one of the most popular search methods for Internet users. Businesses can take the advantage by embracing this trend to attract customers and serve them the ideal product or information instantly, without having to type a query.

1. Programmatic advertising

Programmatic advertising is a process that uses Artificial Intelligence to automate the purchase of advertising space to target more specific audiences. Real-time bidding is the most common type of programmatic ad purchase. This automation is much more efficient and faster, which means higher conversions and lower customer acquisition costs.

This system has already been used for several years but is expanding rapidly. Programmatic advertising is a great tool to improve the visibility and profitability of your business. Thanks to a qualified audience, you will be able to optimize your return on investment.

1. The video

Video is today an essential content for a digital marketing strategy. Cisco predicted that video will constitute 82% of global internet traffic in 2021. It has many advantages for a company. Indeed, video is more easily consumable than a long text, more accessible, saves time and efforts to an internet user and transmits emotions. It also allows SEO optimization, better memorization as well as a good ROI analysis.

The advent of mobile paved the way for this trend. It is a very effective tool that allows an increase in conversions and click-through rate. According to Hubspot, the importance of video cannot be understated. Just adding a video to an email increases the click-through rate by 200-300%, and placing it on a landing page increases the conversion rate by 80%. The different types of videos that the company can create will be for example tutorials, product demonstrations, customer testimonials, webinars.

Youtube is of course the platform par excellence (2nd search engine in the world and 3rd most visited site), but the video is also very present and shared on other social media platforms such as Facebook or Instagram. It is the preferred media of Internet users and the most consumed format on social media.

1. Live video

One of the main drivers of the mobile internet video market is creating live video. According to Cisco, live video currently represents more than 13% of total video traffic, it was 3% in 2016. If it is becoming so popular, it\’s because “live” enhances authenticity and attraction, has a lower cost because all you need is a connection and a camera, and is a good way to launch a product.

Live video is growing in popularity and a large number of companies are using it for interviews, product demonstrations and manufacturing, behind-the-scenes previews of events and even for meetings since the coronavirus pandemic started. If you want to grab the attention of consumers, you will probably find them on social media. Platforms like Facebook Live have given marketers the opportunity to be in front of their target market.

1. Micro-influencers

Micro-influencers are influencers but have a lower number of subscribers than the “stars” of social media. Their community generally has between 2,000 and 50,000 people but can be more or less important depending on the field.

Micro-influencers started trending in 2019 because they have some interesting advantages over larger influencers. Firstly, their community is more engaged and the interaction rate for each post is higher. A micro-influencer is more affordable, closer to his subscribers and the latter trusts him. So when he promotes a product, subscribers believe in it more and show more interest.

Unlike the “big influencers” who are criticized for a lack of honesty and too often sponsored posts. In addition, given their lower number of subscribers, they also cost less. According to a study conducted by HelloSociety, campaigns that use micro-influencers have a 60% higher engagement rate. In addition, they push followers 6.7 times more towards purchasing behaviour than major influencers. Micro-influencers were one of the digital marketing trends for the year 2019 and influencer marketing is increasingly focused there till date.

1. Advertising on social media

Spending on social media advertising started a long time ago. In 2018, spending on social media advertising grew by 32%. One of the reasons for this growth was first of all the decrease in the organic reach of brand publications, especially on Facebook. Thus, brand publications reach far fewer fans than before. Therefore, to continue to reach a maximum of subscribers with their content and maintain a certain engagement rate, paying became almost “compulsory”.

The second reason was that the ability to target on social media, and particularly on Facebook, was very easy and interesting. Facebook made it easy to target consumers according to several criteria such as place of residence, age, gender, or interests. Ads are therefore shown to users who match the company\’s targets, making it more relevant.

Finally, a last reason, also advantageous, corresponds to the fact that advertisements on social media are native. Indeed, they integrate naturally into the platform, and do not look like an advertisement. They do not disturb the browsing of the Internet user who finds them much less intrusive. Video is the growing advertising format on these tools.