With a new decade of digital marketing upon us, you can benefit from identifying key 
areas of interest to focus on. With a host of strategies and platforms that consistently evolve, let”™s identify what you should prioritize as the most important trends to leverage to grow your business in the next decade of digital marketing.
Consistently Develop Your Omnipresence
Increase your brand awareness across social, search, shopping, video, voice and messaging platforms. Plan what messages and promotions you will be publishing over the next 12 months by using a marketing content calendar. Fortune 500 companies have marketing calendars and you can benefit from creating one as well. Publish posts and stories to your Facebook and Instagram accounts using a combination of informative, inspirational, promotional and goodwill content. Examples include everything from how-to videos, motivational quotes, limited-time discounts and seasonal messages.
Engage your audience with contests, giveaways, real time conversations and live videos. Examples include contests on Facebook, a product giveaway on Instagram where people enter to win a prize by tagging their friends, back-and-forth conversations on Facebook Messenger or via text, and using live videos to broadcast office walkthroughs, hold Q&A sessions, share your speaking engagements or informative tutorials. You can use these content ideas on multiple platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp, Google My Business, YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter, SnapChat, TikTok and others.
Publish audio content in the form of podcasts on Alexa Flash Briefings and Google Actions. Podcasts, Alexa Flash Briefings and Google Actions are just audio recordings that people can listen to and engage with. For example, with Google Actions, you ask Fidelity for “updates on your portfolio and the market,” “order your favorite food and beverages” from Starbucks and “buy tickets for your favorite movies” through Fandango. Goldman Sachs, Verizon, Shopify and other companies publish audio content through podcasts. Interestingly, Goldman Sachs is running a Google Ad to promote their podcast titled “Exchanges.”
Leverage ad campaigns across Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, Google Search, the Google Display Network, YouTube and other platforms. You can reach targeted audiences with these campaigns. With a compelling offer and effective follow-up strategy, you can work to convert those people into customers. The follow-up strategy often comes in the form of emails, text messages, Messenger notifications and additional ad campaigns designed to remind someone to perform an action. Examples of those include buying a product or claiming a discount before it expires.
Be on the lookout for ways to integrate more cutting-edge marketing strategies and technology into your business. Examples of trends you can work to leverage include artificial intelligence, augmented reality, virtual reality, immersive 360-degree pictures and videos, platforms like TikTok, browser push notifications and a branded mobile app for your company.
Optimize Your Website
Your website is your business”™s home on the web. Here are some ways to optimize your website. Set up a Live Chat section for your visitors to interact with your business via Facebook Messenger or through texting. Install tracking codes on each page of your website. Facebook, Google, Pinterest, LinkedIn and other platforms provide these codes. They let you follow up with the people who visit your website across the Internet by showing them relevant ads. Ensure that your website is mobile-friendly and loads quickly. Link to your social media accounts and podcast so your website visitors can follow you on multiple sites. This strategy is referred to as bouncing your community around. The idea is that you get your website visitors to take small actions that can lead to larger ones in the future.
Manage Your Online Reputation and Reviews
Monitor what people say about your business online. Thank people who leave positive reviews and determine how you want to politely address people who publish feedback that is less than positive. Identify the platforms where someone can review your business. Popular options include Google, Facebook, Yelp & industry-specific sites like TripAdvisor for hotels and Amazon for both authors and businesses that sell physical products on the site.
Bringing It All Together:
Organization and preparation are keys to success. Be prepared to leverage the most important digital marketing trends by developing your omnipresence, optimizing your website and managing your online reputation.
Feeling overwhelmed? Schedule your free strategy call and let”™s help you win on social media in 2020 & beyond at MichaelGuberti.com/Schedule.
