Because of the rise of technology, marketing has completely shifted to the digital landscape. And why wouldn’t companies make this shift? With the internet, millions of people are just a click away from their brand. And there’s no questioning that the future of advertising is online, with Maryville University revealing that digital marketing spending growth was pegged at a whopping $335 billion (£256 billion) this year. This is only expected to increase, as more and more services continue to be digitised. That said, this also means that companies have to continue to innovate when it comes to their marketing efforts, especially in the competitive world of retail. Read on to know more about the digital marketing trends for retailers in 2020!
The Power of Content
Inc highlights how important understanding your audience is when creating content, and this is something that companies have taken into consideration in recent years. They’ve started selling ideas and values along with their products, as today’s consumers will not be swayed by traditional ads and marketing strategies.
One great example of this would be Rolex. Rolex co-sponsored a project by explorer and filmmaker James Cameron that had him and a team of experts take a submarine and dive to the bottom of Mariana’s Trench. And while they could have used traditional ads to market the watch, sponsoring a deep-sea trip would resonate more with their target audience.
Add A Personal Touch
While focusing on content is great, there’s more than one way to effectively reach your target audience. Another way would be to zoom in on their personal preferences. Market to one rather than market to many. And while this may have been a monumental task in the past, technology has made it so that companies can now target consumers on an individual level. They do this via artificial intelligence that analyses consumer data and curates what gets sent out to consumers, giving them a personalised shopping experience.
Companies such as Microsoft and Gap have started to do this in the form of emotionally intelligent ads. They’ve done this with the help of ad-tech startups such as Persado, which help brands and companies create targeted messages based off of the data and emotional profiles of consumers.
Use of Messenger Marketing
There are around 2.41 billion users on Facebook. This gives the platform an unprecedented consumer reach, a potential that companies have begun to tap into. One of the most effective ways they’ve done this is via messenger marketing and chatbots. While you could hire a team in charge of providing customers with round the clock service, it would be more efficient and cost-effective to make use of chatbots. These chatbots can do everything from selling your product or answering basic customer concerns.
One retail giant that has made the most out of this trend is French personal care company Sephora. Sephora uses their messenger bots to do a variety of tasks – from answering queries to booking free makeup sessions in their local branches.
Shoppable Posts
Speaking of social media platforms, Instagram is as popular as its ever been and companies have finally begun to utilise it to its fullest potential. They’ve done this through the use of shoppable posts. This one isn’t that complicated. Think of it as shoppable content that combines two key principles of digital retail: engaging content and a focus on the user experience.
And while this feature is only in its beta stages, big companies have started buying into this. Companies such as Nike and Outdoor Voices have used this feature, capitalising on their ability to make aesthetically pleasing and “Instagramable” content to boost their sales numbers.
If you enjoyed this article, check out how retailers are partnering with games such as Fortnite and the Sims to increase their engagement with their target market!
Piece exclusively written for acquiredigital.com by Jie Billa
