After COVID-19, the world of digital marketing will change dramatically. It will no longer be possible for businesses to stay stagnant by sticking with traditional marketing techniques. With 56% of Brits expecting to do more shopping online this year, it is clear that the time for traditional marketing strategies is over. Digital trends are constantly changing and businesses that do not adapt will be left behind by their competitors. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the heart and soul of the world’s business community. It is already enhancing performance and efficiency.
Currently, Facebook has made in-stream shopping a key focus. This new technology is expected to expand to a much larger audience in 2022. Facebook plans to improve the in-stream purchasing experience, simplify payment processes, and improve alerts for buyable products. Chinese marketers are also increasingly turning to live shopping as a key strategy. By 2022, Chinese live-commerce sales will reach $423 billion. Twitter, meanwhile, is developing eCommerce options to tap into the mobile shopping trend. They are testing direct in-stream buying from tweets.
Besides the web, email is still a major digital marketing tool. 80% of consumers conduct their research on the internet before buying anything. Likewise, 60% of U.S. adults regularly use Facebook. Moreover, 94% of B2B marketers actively use LinkedIn for their marketing efforts. Emails are also a very important part of digital marketing, but have changed significantly in recent years. This is why it is important to constantly monitor your website metrics and adapt accordingly.
Despite the fact that tracking users has become vital to many companies, privacy concerns have recently gained prominence. After all, GDPR has made online users more sensitive about their privacy, and has put pressure on tech giants such as Google. GDPR will require the digital advertising industry to adapt to this new norm. 41% of marketers say the biggest challenge they face is their inability to track the right data. To overcome this hurdle, brands need to be able to demonstrate a diverse representation of their brand.
Social commerce has become a vital tool for brands in the post-COVID-19 era. Businesses are trying to shorten the distance between discovery and conversion, and social commerce gives them a new outlet to do so. Not just big brands are using social commerce to boost their revenue, but even smaller brands are getting in on the action. One example of a brand that successfully implemented a social commerce shop on Instagram is clean skincare brand Plant Mother. It saw a 1280% increase in referral traffic and revenue following the launch of its Instagram shop.
Voice search is another trend worth examining. According to a recent study by Gartner, voice-enabled devices will be used in 55% of U.S. households by 2022. In addition to Siri, Google Assistant and Amazon’s Alexa, millennials are the driving force behind the voice-enabled device revolution. By 2022, it’s predicted that more than half of all Google searches will be voice-enabled.