Digital marketing is a function that continues to innovate, with emerging trends coming to light year upon year, advertisers are simply spoilt for choice. Though reaching the right audience at the right time with relevant content is still a huge challenge for brands, as the sheer number of digital tools and tactics out there on the market can make digital campaigns extremely complicated.
This doesn’t mean that new solutions and a wider variety of platforms available don’t enable marketing professionals to create more effective ads than ever before, it’s just with new opportunities come new challenges, and it’s fair to say we’ve all experienced more than our fair share over the last 18 months!
According to Deloitte, 72% of marketers report that the role of marketing has increased in importance during the pandemic year(s). Digital marketing has become a powerful tool for communicating with new and existing customers, as the last 18 months has brought on a number of changes to consumer behaviour. Throughout various restrictions on our daily lives, people have been forced to live differently and as a result, they are shopping and spending their time in different ways.
Changing consumer behaviour is forcing digital marketers to pivot their strategies, as it becomes increasingly difficult to keep up with customer expectations and maintain a competitive edge, whilst keeping up to date with the latest tech. It’s no secret that digital marketing is currently going through a transitional period, with other challenges including:
Adopting a customer-centric approach is not an easy task, especially considering that customer needs and expectations are constantly evolving. Though utilising a customer-centric marketing strategy is key to success, according to a study by Salesforce:
66% of customers say their experience with one industry influences their expectations of others
52% of customers expect offers to always be personalised
66% expect companies to understand their unique needs and expectations, yet 66% say they’re generally treated like numbers
Only 48% of customers say they generally trust companies
The definition of engaging content has shifted exponentially in recent years as video and audio have soared in popularity. Though this is not necessarily a new trend, the need to create compelling and engaging content continues to rise. Agencies are challenged to come up with new, innovative ideas to present content and communicate in new and exciting ways that are relevant to the demographics they are trying to reach.
According to Salesforce, only 27% of consumers completely understand how companies use their personal information, and 86% want more transparency.
Digital marketers are constantly having to face evolving privacy regulations and phasing out third-party cookies. As we continue to attract more and more visitors from around the world to a website, agencies must ensure they remain compliant with any laws covering a population in any country they’re targeting.
Customers are browsing and shopping on smartphones and tablets more than ever. Now, with more than half of all internet traffic shopping from a mobile device, it is important for agencies to ensure their website is optimised for mobile viewing. According to a report by App Annie, Covid has changed consumer behaviour on mobile ‘forever’ with consumers spending 25% more time on their mobile apps than ever before.
Businesses need to invest in omnichannel efforts, from email to social media, from their own website to search engine advertisements, and from store apps to third-party messaging platforms. Not only do marketers have to relay a consistent message across all of these various channels, it must be personalised too! According to research by Salesforce, 74% of customers have used multiple channels to start and complete a transaction.
To successfully navigate existing and emerging marketing trends, you need the right digital marketing team in place to capitalise on these opportunities and effectively drive results. According to Gartner, 35% of marketing leaders believe that one of their biggest challenges currently is building more synergistic relationships across their organisation to better communicate digital marketing vision. Digital marketing leaders will need to harness the abilities of effective, cross-functional teams and this will start with hiring the right talented individuals.
Our global talent consultancy at DMCG Global helps to quickly connect marketing agencies and brands with the right individuals anywhere on the planet. If you are looking for marketing professionals and would like a bespoke, high-quality recruitment service, our expert consultants will be happy to help. Get in touch below to find out more.
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