Month: February 2021

A look at the priorities that will potentially drive global marketing strategies post Covid

2020 will go down as a year that altered the course of history. One of the major implications of the Covid-19 pandemic has been the fact that it has accelerated a switch to all things digital. The world has had to adapt the way that it communicates and does business – social media usage has skyrocketed, businesses have adopted a ‘virtual’ way of working and work from home (WFH) has become an accepted business practice.

As we head towards the end of the year, there is no reverting back to the ‘way things were’.

Here are the leading digital marketing trends expected for 2021.

Rise of the chatbot
If you’ve had an e-commerce transaction go wrong or had a food app order mishap, chances are you’ve had to deal with a chatbot. The growth of online and e-commerce purchases, coupled with a chatbot’s ability to interact with customers and mimic real-life interactions, makes it a very attractive go-to solution for businesses.

For marketers, however, this presents a unique opportunity whereby they can use chatbots to not only provide instant customer service, but also be a source of direct interaction for information and data collection.

More recently, the use of chatbots has expanded, and they are being used in creative ways to help drive customer engagement and website traffic. Chatbots are not going anywhere and we will only see them becoming more prevalent as time goes on.

Voice activated search becoming the norm
This trend pays tribute to our most famous virtual assistants: Siri, Google Home and Alexa. Over the last few years, people have been using digital voices to assist them with nearly everything: playing music, checking the weather, setting alarms and getting directions.

Voice search has also been integrated into many of our everyday tech devices like smartphones, laptops, tablets and more. Thanks to the ease and convenience it provides, voice activated search is predicted to further hit a high in 2021. In line with this trend, there lies a great opportunity for digital marketers, who must look at stepping up their business’s SEO game.

If we consider the fact that the future of search is voice, then marketers must be cognisant of this trend and choose keywords for SEO optimisation that are compatible with what people are accustomed to asking a virtual assistant. Text-based search is going to be a thing of the past soon, so in order to ensure that your content is visible, one must ensure it is optimised for both voice and text search.

The integration of AR and VR
The two major technological advancements that are ready to overtake the present and future of business are undoubtedly augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR). From product development to storytelling and creating engaging content, AR and VR have emerged as the heroes of this pandemic and allowed marketers to bring experiences to life – albeit virtually.

While video content will prevail as a dominating force in the years to come, the next ‘big thing’ that will have a major impact in 2021 is the use of AR and VR to create 3D environments that strengthen the emotional bonds between a brand, its products and the customers.

Many brands have already started implementing AR into their customers’ regular shopping experiences – for example Ikea customers can now access an AR app and see a 3D illustration of furniture in their home spaces before making a purchase, or Asos customers can take the ‘The virtual walk’ where they see a real-world vision of their favourite garments on a virtual model.

A new era of ‘shoppable posts’
Online shopping has seen a major uptick during the pandemic and ‘shoppable posts’ are fast becoming the norm, rather than the exception.

With the breadth of shoppable posts spanning all major social media platforms including Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and Pinterest, businesses have tremendous power to maximising their e-commerce presence across a multitude of platforms. Customers can easily click on the shopping icon of any product showcased on a company’s Instagram feed and either be directed to the e-commerce website page or go straight to check out. Either way, it’s easy, convenient and hassle free.

Domination of short-form video content
Video content is all set to solidify its position as the GOAT (greatest of all time) of content marketing in 2021. The pandemic has only highlighted its importance and the demand for video is not going to be slowing down anytime soon. It is fast becoming a cornerstone of any business’ marketing strategy  and brands have already made tremendous progress with their video content strategies.

But most noteworthy is the fact that short-form video content is emerging as a front runner. While long-form content still has a place, short form videos are dominating – they’re succinct videos and snippets that are a quick fix for brands that want to connect with their customers and stay top of mind. They’re memorable, easily digestible and can push engagement. One only has to look at the astronomical success of TikTok during Covid-19 to see the appetite of consumers for short and snackable-sized content.

Zaib Shadani is a PR consultant and media trainer at Shadani Consulting

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This article is written by Zaib Shadani and originally published here

With AI, marketers can spot micro trends and even predict them to a large extent

The digital era took off with the internet coming of age, its fiery adoption, and the ubiquitous access to personal computers. The first fully assembled personal computer was sold by Apple in the later part of the ’70s, while the ’80s saw the internet’s introduction. Finally, the ’90s saw the mass usage of the internet by the whole world. This led to a fundamental change in the global communications landscape and prompted wholesale digital marketing changes. Enterprises realised the potential of this new channel. They raced to build their web presence and optimise themselves to pull in higher search engine rankings for brand visibility and generate demand for their products and services. All these developments in the ecosystem led to the birth of several dot com companies. The dot com burst also saw a lot of those companies vanish into thin air.

Post-2000 or the post dot com era saw companies strive to compete and outperform. Digital marketing practices became more complex as they evolved. While digital marketing algorithms underwent massive evolution through decades, the elusive and nebulous Artificial Intelligence (AI) gradually made its way to aid that evolution.

So, what is AI, and how did it become a part of our lives?

The term Artificial Intelligence was first coined by John McCarthy in 1956 when he held the first academic conference on the subject, but the concept was even older. By definition, it refers to the simulation of human intelligence in machines programmed to think, react and decide like humans, and mimic their actions. From watching sci-fi movies to conversations with humorous and smart Siri or Alexa and self-driving cars, AI has become a part of our lives every day through the data we feed continuously to the internet.

With AI, marketers can spot micro trends and even predict them to a large extent. They can then make strategic decisions about where they allocate their budgets and who they target. As a result, brands can reduce digital advertising waste and get the best bang for the bucks spent.

For example, Amazon, Facebook, Netflix, YouTube, etc., use AI to predict their consumers’ behavior and present them with relevant products and videos based on their search histories, views, and other demographic data accumulation and analysis. From one-size-fits-all marketing to a one-size-fits-only-one, AI has made it possible to create customized experiences for every consumer in almost every sector now.

AI tools are being integrated with digital marketing to create, curate, and market content, gradually substituting customer service centers through chatbots. Consumer behavior and preferences are also being predicted through email marketing and social listening, which, in turn, help consumers search online through voice search algorithms. AI can also design and develop websites through its algorithms instead of hiring web developers and can provide consumers with compelling UI/UX through buyer persona analyses.

Some of the popular AI-led digital tools include HubSpot’s social media software that automatically creates social posts based on the metadata of the link you copy and paste, saving a lot of time. Anyone subscribed to HubSpot’s Marketing Hub or its higher versions can use the tool, which can be found in the platform’s Social section. Phrasee is another enterprise-level AI copywriting tool for generating increased ROI from multi-channel marketing, including emails, Facebook, and Instagram. Sprout Social enables brands to find, form, and deepen connections with their social audience. Sprout Social’s automated technology can also help generate tweets that can reply to fans, customers, or followers. Acrolinx is another AI marketing that can help businesses develop optimal content marketing strategies and provide scalable AI solutions for content creation.

We are now living in an age of all things data. Digital marketing is evolving every second, from static banners to clickable ones, from a blanket discount to dynamic pricing influencing buying decisions on-the-go. Marketers are now using search patterns to predict their sales and serve customers better.

What’s next?

AI is the new face of productivity, efficiency, and profitability. It is no longer limited to the usage of more prominent firms. MSMEs and start-ups too can adapt and scale their business through the strategic use of AI. The biggest boon in the future digital era will be the gradual extinction of human errors through AI-enabled processes and systems and detecting frauds and other criminal activities online.

However, the apparent fear that looms is the replacement of specific human jobs of marketers or advertisers. But to embark on a new era driven by AI does not mean so. AI is here to unleash their creative potential and rewire them to plan and execute marketing programs better.

As a business owner or marketer, it’s time to identify problems that might deter the business or its marketing. An insightful approach aided by AI will surely and accurately solve these issues for a future-proof business.

The author is a serial entrepreneur and the co-founder of The Higher Pitch, an Experience Consulting company

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This article is written by Nishant Mishra and originally published here