If there is one industry that has trends shifting every sunny morning that is the digital marketing industry. Besides, it is December and we have to talk about what the new year has in store for us. Our goal as the knowledge leader in the industry is to help you have your marketing strategy on point. The changes mentioned below are predicted to have widespread visibility in the Bangladesh local market during 2018.
- Data Driven Marketing:
Gone are the days of marketing when it was all about coming up with the most creative idea for a television commercial. As evidence and insights are becoming ever more vital in carrying out campaigns it is giving rise to a different tribe of marketers: The geeks.
The geeks are not carried away with a dramatic and entertaining campaign idea. They are always striving for result-oriented marketing. In order to carry out campaigns that meet the target you need data and key insights that reinforce your hypothesis. The digital tools and petabytes of information we have today at our fingertips are here to aid us dig out these data and convert them into constructive information.
The more is the watch time the more is the ad recall lift.
Data driven marketing combined with ample experimentation will ensure optimum customer experience. For example with the help of Facebook insights now we know that the more time an average user will spend watching a branded content, the more will be the recall lift for that particular brand. Hence, social media channels are introducing more and more dynamic form of contents i.e., Slideshow, Canvas, Video loop, In stream video Ads etc.
- Multichannel Shopping in E-commerce Sector:
Online retail through Facebook Commerce and E-Commerce is expected to keep booming. To remain relevant in the race brands are expected to carry out multi-channel marketing and operations. Because the millennial customer today scrolls through Facebook/Instagram to see your designs, watches YouTube for PR reviews. She simultaneously checks the price in the website or app. Finally she goes to the closest outlet to trial and purchases the dress. This might turn out to be difficult for the legacy businessmen.
Hence we see many brick and mortar retails brands are coming digital (mostly in Facebook), however, the multichannel presence with a proper integration is still missing when we look at our local brands.
- Rise of the UGCs (User Generated Contents):
As increasing number of people are losing faith over brands, user generated content is on the rise. Influencer marketing tops them all. Since spending power of the social media users are higher than ever they need places to spend. Products and brands endorsed by influencers are the key here since users trust influencers. They find influencers authentic. Micro-influencers are expected to play a more important role in the digital marketing game.
- Personalization:
This is a trend equally applicable for the product and marketing strategy. Customers are willing to pay up to 25% more for a personalized product. With the introduction of innovative plugins like Facebook Pixel it easier than ever to carry out mass customized marketing campaigns. Organizations are tracking the customer journey of their website visitors. Then they are mass customizing dynamic ads to market to the website visitors.
The cost of getting a spot on a prospects newsfeed will keep on rising. This will result in more competitive bidding wars. With bidding prices increasing targeting and personalized marketing will play a more crucial role than ever. Machine learning will assist marketers to deploy personalized marketing content in scale
Since customers are abundant with choices for one single product; tailoring a product to the needs of every individual customer will give brands an added edge.
- Mastering Micro Moments:
Worldwide, an astounding 96% of users take to their mobile phones when they are looking for something or searching for an answer.
Micro-moments is the art of delivering the right information at the right time to the customer in need. Mobile has become the number one influencer when it comes to making a buying decision. This tied has taken to Bangladesh too. But the mobile dependency of Bangladeshi customers are not near the levels of western buyers. Even today Bangladeshi customers rely on friend’s suggestions when it comes to makes a purchasing decision.
A behavioral shift in the customer journey is expected and more prospects are expected to rely on mobile gadgets and Google when it comes to making purchasing decisions. The brands that are able to master these micro moments will win the race.
- The Importance of Visualization:
YouTube registers more 18 and above users during peak hours than any other cable TV network. On April 2016, Facebook revealed that their 1.65 billion users watch over 8 billion videos each day. Video keeps the attention span of the audience for a longer period of time, which is a plus point of brands. Consumers feel deeper sense of engagement and connection to videos. A visually enriched content with an entertaining story propels higher likes and sharing compared to other forms of content.
- Facebook Messenger is The New Conversion Platform:
With the increased usage of messaging platforms (i.e., Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Viber etc.) we the general mass are now heavily dependent on this chatting options. There’s no exception when it comes to interacting with a business be it for information seeking or for placing an order.
A recent survey by Nielsen showed that 53% of people say they’re more likely to shop with a business they can message directly.
In Bangladesh, where more than 85% people primarily access to internet through their mobile handsets are much more comfortable in Facebook messaging options while interacting with any business page or e-commerce store. This is the reason still Facebook pages generate more conversions than that of e-commerce websites.
Hence, Facebook pages and websites are expected to turn to chatbots for their query management and prompt customer support.
Since we are an emerging market we tend to adopt the breakthrough innovations a little slower compared to emerged markets. At the same time, we must remember that emerging markets do not blindly follow emerged markets. The subcontinental customer has his/her fair share of difference with a western customer. Final piece of advise for the marketers, focus on creating content that is relevant to the local customer. The data and trends will deliver superior results if they are teamed up with content with which customers can relate and connect.