It’s safe to say that the past year has seen a massive change in how we do business. Online platforms have emerged as the wild new frontier of sales and marketing. Many entrepreneurs are still trying to find ways to make the world of digital marketing fit into their own sales strategies and plans for growth. Here are four key trends in digital marketing along with some tips for getting the most out of them for your business in the new year.

1. Email and Text Outreach

Believe it or not, email marketing remains one of the strongest channels for digital marketing. The claim that sales email is overused as a marketing channel simply isn’t borne out by the numbers. In fact, research has shown that the return on investment (ROI) for email marketing campaigns is around $42 for every dollar spent. This is for two reasons: the ubiquitous use of email in personal communications and the minimal outlay of resources that an email marketing campaign requires.

SMS (text) marketing is going to continue to dominate the digital marketing industry. The secret lies in engagement. Text messages are received quickly and answered quickly; according to a Forbes study, the response time for a text message is three minutes on average. Text remains the most popular form of communication for millennials. and it’s also the most popular way for consumers to get information about promotions or get customer service. Because of this incredible saturation, a large-scale text marketing campaign is all but guaranteed high conversion rates. 

2. Social Media Engagement

Last year saw a massive move to online social interaction as a matter of necessity. The runaway success of TikTok and Instagram Stories as platforms for self expression and communication was incredible. These kinds of channels aren’t going away post-virus, and smart digital marketers will latch onto this trend in short-form content creation. Diversification is the key here. You’ll want to engage with customers on platforms that speak in the language of your business. For example, Instagram and Pinterest are very visual platforms, so if your product or service has visual appeal, these could be good options. LinkedIn is specifically designed for the business community, so if your company specializes in business-to-business (B2B) sales, a presence here would be good. On Snapchat, posts vanish after 24 hours, so videos don’t have to be polished. In fact, research shows that consumers value that kind of authenticity. 

One of the most promising strategies in the coming year will be partnering with influencers who use products and services in your industry and who have large followings. The great strength of influencer marketing lies in its focus. Highly specific niche markets can be targeted directly and in a personal way. A great example of this is in the world of outdoor enthusiasts, where hikers often document their entire adventure via GoPro cameras…brand name gear included. When you compare the costs of a television ad campaign to the fact that a popular YouTuber could get your product seen by millions in a minute, the economic logic of influencer marketing on social media becomes very clear. 

3. Science-Based Marketing

Psychology has been used in advertising for a long time. So why does it feel like such a novel idea right now? Many digital marketers have been slow to realize the potential of some of the more subtle applications of brain science in sales and marketing. Arguably the most basic use of science in marketing is color psychology. In fact, Carl Jung called color “the mother tongue of the subconscious.” Different colors convey different emotions; as such, the process of branding can be built around matching the message that your company wants to send with an iconography that’s guaranteed to deliver it. In digital marketing, this strategy applies to everything from your website itself to the promotions you send in an email. 

Advances in neuroscience are also giving us insight into exactly what consumers want from the companies they choose. Think of the process of buying something as a journey that the customer embarks upon. Harvard research shows that people choose their products based upon personal benefit, not necessarily the fancy features that the designer of the product cared about. Empathizing with the consumer is the path to successful marketing. 

4. Leveraging the Power of Automation

Driven by the increasing sophistication of artificial intelligence (AI) programs, automation is giving digital marketers (and marketers in general) a new range of powerful tools. The one making headlines right now is customer relationship management (CRM) software. At its heart, CRM about how a business organizes and administers its interactions with current and potential customers. Software now exists that can put that process on autopilot to a large degree. What a CRM software system can do is systematize things by collating data on purchase history, lead status and interactions for each individual customer. Think of it as a digital Rolodex with analysis capabilities.  All told, the technology had an estimated global worth of $40 billion in 2018, and this is only expected to grow in the coming years. In fact, Grand View Research anticipates that the CRM software market will grow to over $80 billion by 2025. 

Email marketing campaigns and content management can even be automated, freeing marketing teams to focus on the creative aspects of communication and sales. Remember, even though robots might be pushing the buttons of your digital marketing campaign, setting the tone for that campaign is very much a human endeavor. Remember that keeping things real in terms of your company vision and the quality of your product is paramount, no matter what technology you employ to keep your digital marketing campaign going. 

Will all of these strategies have a place in your business? Probably not. Business growth solutions are never a one-size-fits-all proposition. Even so, by learning the tactics that have a track record of success and keeping your eye on the trends that are sure to shape this year in business, you’ll be off to a great start.