There’s no such thing as a marketing strategy that doesn’t include digital marketing anymore. People hate billboards; statistically, most people who will see a billboard aren’t its target audience. 

These physical ads have a carbon footprint, they’re not pretty, they take up space, and they’re outdated. Today, everyone has their face glued to their screen, and most companies are solely investing in digital marketing. 

Traditional marketing doesn’t allow you to interact with your potential leads and doesn’t let you choose who sees your ads. Digital marketing helps you market to those who are likely to use your product and enables you to interact with them.

We’ve done the research, and put together a list of the newest digital marketing trends, so you don’t have to spend time doing that. With these trends, you’re sure to take the Internet by storm, gain website traffic, and start getting leads. 

Use Artificial Intelligence

Anyone who’s seen a robot takeover movie is probably terrified of AI (Artificial Intelligence). It’s not like that, though. Robots and computers can learn, but they cannot feel. Big companies like Microsoft and Uber have robots in their parking lots, making sure there are no suspicious activities. 

AI doesn’t ask for breaks, paid time off, or even health insurance packages. A Harvard Business Review predicted that by 2020, any company that doesn’t use AI to market itself isn’t likely to succeed. 

Companies are catering and sending their ads only to their target audience; they have intelligent bots responding to people’s concerns via instant messaging applications such as Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp. They use something called natural language processing (NLP) that allows them to sound natural. 

Digital Signage

Some people have never even heard that word. Digital signage is every interactive screen you see in your day-to-day life. Menus displayed in restaurants that you can click and choose from, the screens showing arrival and departure times at airports, touchscreen kiosks, interactive videos, or any screen that interacts with its audience. 

Digital signage is incredibly useful because it helps you interact with your customers, with your audience, and potential leads. Not everyone is looking for the same thing, and digital signage helps make sure people know of you, no matter what they’re looking for. 

You’re customizing your message, you’re catering it to the person looking at it, and you’re interacting with people. Moreover, you’re having a machine do it for you. It’s cheaper, faster, more personalized, and just the most contemporary thing to opt for. 

Digital signage has become a crucial part of many company’s branding. Customers no longer fall for canned advertisement with smart or funny one-liners, but rather for ads that speak to them. Having a digital signage system that understands your clients as it interacts with them has become essential. 

Chatbots

Chatbots can be repetitive and annoying, right? Wrong. They used to be, but with the advancements of artificial intelligence, they’re not anymore. It is predicted that by the end of next year, about 15% of customer-company interactions will be handled by chatbots.

Let’s be honest; chatbots work 24/7 and don’t unionize. They respond instantly and don’t require paid time off. 63% of the people surveyed on whether they prefer phoning a company or chatting with a bot voted for the bot.  

In a couple of years, companies that haven’t switched to chatbots will begin losing customers and wasting a lot of money because hiring reps is just a big money drain. Chatbots use algorithms and AI to recall a customer’s behavioral habits, purchasing history, and they don’t lose patience when dealing with difficult people. 

They sound more human than they used to, and they don’t stop learning. They gather data, use it for your benefit, and meet everyone’s expectations by automating everything. It’s the future, and there’s no denying it. 

Personalize Everything

How many of us roll our eyes when asked to subscribe to yet another mailing list in order to continue browsing a website? We dare say all of us. Blast emails were proven to work ten years ago, but don’t anymore. 

Companies like EasyJet customize their email marketing based on their customer’s habits. If they see that a customer tends to buy flights to beach destinations, they only send them emails about those. 

Cadbury Dairy Milk started advertising different flavors to different people based on their age, location, and social media groups. Nobody likes a canned response, and everyone wants to feel they’re special. One-size-fits-all strategies are now outdated and obsolete. 

You’ve Gone Digital, but Have You Really?

Applying these things to your marketing strategy, focusing on the individuality of each of your customers and providing them with precisely what they want, will take your business very far. You can design the most stunning billboards, but the truth is, no one will pay attention to it if it doesn’t specifically address them. 

Don’t wait, roll up your sleeves, and start looking into digital signage, AI, and efficient chatbots.