Digital Marketing Trends for 2018

Assuming you have the right product in front of the right audience, these are 5 areas that we think are going to be big in 2018

1)  Facebook Messenger Marketing

Facebook is contantly evolving and thinking of new ways to help companies grow their business with FB.  When FB launches a new ad channel they are usually very liberal with the way that you can use it - they have fewer restrictions on it, it often costs less to use, you get extra exposure with it etc.  Then as more people start using it, these benefits reduce.  So now is a good time to look at Facebook Messenger Marketing.  FB Messanger Marketing is just the act of marketing to your customers using a messanger app.  In concept its similar to how Email Marketing works, but in practice it is more conversational - the conversation feels 1-1.  Companies who are using this are noticing really high engagement - even compared to their email marketing campaigns. FB Messanger Marketing allows you to push FB Marketing Messages out to everyone who engages with your facebook page, FB groups etc.  Early adoptors will benefit - not that many FB Messages are being sent now, so early adoptors can use it to grow lists, makes sales etc in a cost effective way.

2)  Pay to Play: Paid Traffic vs Organic Traffic

With hundreds of thousands of websites going live every day, getting top rankings on Google organically is a far more involved process than it used to be.  Free traffic is great, but businesses who want to grow in 2018 will need to focus on high quality sources of paid traffic that can be converted profitably.  Platforms that used to be free are now moving to a paid model.  FB now has a big paid advertising option, and the organic reach is diminishing - now you have to pay to push out your message.  Historically if 20,000 people liked your page, and you posted to your page, 2-3000 people would see your post organically. Now posts from pages you like are no longer posted into your news feed - FB say to keep your news feed clean.  So now you need to pay to Boost your Post so that you can still reach your audience.

3)  Video Marketing on YouTube

So if you are still looking for organic search opportunities, you should look at the world’s second biggest search engine - YouTube.  YouTube has more than a billion active so not only is it a great way to reach people looking for products and reviews, many subscribers say they relate to the YouTube creators more than traditional celebrities.  YouTube videos can also help improve your overall SEO.  Ranking a video on YouTube and getting good traffic can be much faster than getting a website optimised.  This link to Hub spot has a great overview to setting up your YouTube channel and optimising it.

4)  Live Video

Video has taken over the internet as bandwidth has increased.  The next wave of video will not pre-recorded, it will be live video.  Streaming live video is a fantastic way to connect with your audience.  FB and Instagram allow you to broadcast live instantly - enabling you to create a personal connection.  People want to do business with people, not nameless brands and by connecting your audience will see you are a human being.  Its going to be big for marketing.  All you need is an Iphone or Android phone - although a gimbol is a great idea to give you better image stabalisation.  You can put your phone into the a gimbal like the Osmo Mobile 2 and walk around - its like a selfie stick but it smooths out the video so you get professional quality with a device that costs only about £100.  Most people feel uncomfortable with live video, and it can take a couple of gos to get into your comfort zone, but remember you dont have to be completely polished, you just need to be authentic.

5)  Influencer Marketing

To those of you who are new to Influencer Marketing, its about finding people who already have a following and reach into your market and then working with them to endorse your product.  10 years ago it used to be about famous celebrities - actors and actresses, sports people etc, but now with growth of social marketing, there is a massive opportunity to work with niche celebs - not famous people who are likely to be too expensive, but people who have cultivated followings on social media that people listen to.  Finding niche or micro influencers to leverage to use and endorce your product - ideally with a video of them mentioning your product is very cost effective and adds credibility.

So these are just a few things to look out for in 2018 - lots of opportunities, lots of things changing!