Top Digital Marketing Trends Making a Splash This Year

6 Min. Read

There are two broad digital marketing trends emerging in the world today, one of which is consumer-led and the other the more technical side of marketing. Both are just as influential.

Here are five of the biggest ways these two trends are manifesting themselves, from more personalised marketing strategies to changes in the way consumers search for what they need.

Contents of Digital Marketing Trends

Personalisation / Individualisation

These days, marketers have plenty of sophisticated tools to play with. As a result, one of the biggest digital marketing trends is that marketers are far more capable of offering personalised experiences to each consumer. Taking into account purchase history, browsing data, and each customer’s own personal profile, it is now possible to offer content that speaks to people as individuals, rather than to the masses.

Tech blogger, Antoine Bechara says, “with more and more marketers looking to offer personalised messaging, there has been a rise in interactive content, tailored service recommendations, and individualised emails, to name just a few examples.”

In offering these features, marketers are better able to make their customer’s journeys more relevant and engaging. Considering the fact that 89% of companies believe customer experience to be the most important factor in keeping competitive, it’s easy to see why personalisation is such a big deal.

Demographic Segmentation

One of the most popular and widely used types of data segmentation, demographic segmentation is commonly utilized and refers to statistical data relating to a particular group of people. Some examples include:

  • Gender
  • Age
  • Location
  • Income
  • Education
  • Family circumstances
  • Ethnicity

Given that demographic information is factual and statistical, it is typically very easy to collate useful data using a variety of sites for market research, such as the U.S. Census Bureau.  As one of our top digital marketing trends, its use is in combination with the other types listed here for the purpose of customer profiling.

Psychographic segmentation

This category organizes customers and audiences by factors relating to their characteristics and personalities, considering areas such as:
  • Values
  • Personality traits
  • Interests
  • Attitudes
  • Psychological influences
  • Lifestyle choices
  • Conscious and subconscious beliefs
  • Priorities
  • Motivations
These factors are somewhat harder to identify because they are subjective, so they require more research to uncover as they are not statistical. For example, a luxury car brand may strategize their focus towards consumers who value status and quality, while a business-to-business marketing platform may choose to target managers who are highly motivated to improve productivity.

Behavioral segmentation

Although behavioral segmentation is the most valuable category of segmentation it requires an understanding regarding a customer’s actions and behaviors, which may relate to how they interact with your brand or other activities that occur away from your brand. The behavioral factors include:
  • Spending/purchasing habits
  • User status
  • Brand interactions
For example, the luxury car brand may target consumers who have previously made a high-end vehicle purchase, or the B2B platform may follow up on leads who have already signed up to one of their free online courses.

Geographic segmentation (Geodata)

Lastly, geographic segmentation refers to either a geographically-defined boundary (such as a ZIP code or city), or an area type (such as a type of climate or the size of a city). Examples include:
  • Country
  • ZIP code
  • City
  • Climate
  • Location radius
  • Rural or urban
Again, using the example of a luxury vehicle brand, a company may choose to target prospective customers who reside in warm locations where there is no need for vehicles to be equipped for ice or snow.  Utilizing market segmentation assists your brand in clearly identifying current digital marketing trends, as well as your particular audience’s motivations and goals. Getting to know your audience, understanding how to better reach and serve them, as well as finding new markets to tap into can all be achieved through implementing market segmentation into your marketing strategies.

Ethical marketing

Ethics in marketing have become more important now than they have perhaps ever been. With civil rights movements making headlines the world over and the climate crisis becoming ever more pressing, brands that don’t show themselves to be on the right side of history are likely to lose out.

So, make it clear that your business stands for equality and sustainability. You can do this with better minority representation in your advertising, social media posts, and products, which is what 38% of consumers currently look for in a brand. It’s also important to push environmentally friendly products and manufacturing practices, to highlight a commitment to sustainability.

The Switch in Search

Good SEO practices are a vital part of any successful digital marketing strategy and have been for a while now. But, the aim of the game has shifted. Instead of trying to get the top spot on search engine results pages, brands aim to get their content into the new “featured snippet” section on Google.

This section is separated from all other results in a box at the top of the page and answers a user’s specific search query. If a business makes it into the featured snippet section, they are far more likely to be seen as a reliable source and, potentially, an industry leader.

The Rise of Digital Coupons

Marketing campaigns have been utilizing coupons ever since Coca Cola launched the first ever paper coupon in 1887. These early coupon deals were placed inside mailboxes, distributed in the street and hidden within magazines.

With the rapid technological advancements of the past century, and most notably the rise of the internet, coupons are now primarily distributed via online channels. Shopping habits have certainly changed, and many consumers are becoming more and more price-conscious, enjoying being able to easily search digital coupons on their favorite brands online.

According to Statista, 92% of online shoppers searched for a coupon or other offer before making their purchases, so it is certainly one of our top digital marketing trends to be aware of.

The Lost Fight against Ad Blockers

People really don’t want to be bombarded by ads, particularly ones that aren’t relevant to them. Resultantly, a total of 42.7% of internet users worldwide currently use ad-blocking software on their desktops, mobile devices, and tablets. And, after several years of pushback, marketers have started to realise that they cannot win the war against ad blockers.

Consumers these days are likely to jump ship if a website forces them to disable their adblocker. So, instead of relying quite so heavily on advertising revenue, marketing teams are having to redirect their focus towards things like influencer marketing, sponsored content, and, of course, personalised content.

2020’s Continuing Trends

Some digital marketing trends that are making a mark this year hit their influential heights back in 2020. But, just because they aren’t as new, doesn’t mean they are any less relevant. So, make sure you don’t forget about things like social media shopping, influencer marketing, and virtual events. They are still having a notable impact on today’s digital marketing trends.

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Mateo Fabregas

Mateo Fabregas is a restaurateur and aspiring writer, with a keen interest in small business matters including digital marketing, law and employment law, and real estate. When he’s not on the keyboard he’s in the kitchen of one of his three restaurants.

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