Where is your marketing going in 2018?

As marketers we’ve been moving fast to keep up with the changing digital landscape, but in 2018, we’re going to have to move even faster.

There are so many new technologies on the horizon and consumers and customers are becoming increasingly more sophisticated.

If you’re planning 2018 marketing campaigns, here are some trends to keep in mind:

Increase integration of social, digital, and email campaigns that are tailored specifically to target consumers

Since consumers are getting their information from many different channels, you can’t really count on one channel to convey everything. Employ a multi-channel strategy so that wherever consumers are, they’re going to find your information in a format that they expect.

Choose micro influencers instead of celebrities

We all know the value of influential bloggers, but here’s a new idea. Micro influencers – those with very active followings about specific topics – can be more effective than traditional mass market influencers who have millions of followers. Why?  Because they reach highly engaged and relevant audiences, which does not always happen with traditional influencers. Whether you are using social media mega-stars or micro influencers, they all get paid and have to disclose when they are working on behalf of a company or brand. And wouldn’t you rather spend money on a smaller influencer with 20,000 engaged followers who heed calls to action than someone with 100,000 followers without much meaningful engagement? Keep this in mind: users don’t always believe celebrities are real fans of the products they promote; a micro-influencer is more likely to be viewed as a trusted peer and friend rather than an endorser.

Understand consumer expectations and tailor brand communications accordingly

Consumers and customers are inclined to trust companies that send customized and individualized content. Both groups expect to see the information presented in different ways on different channels. What you post on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, should all be in different formats. One size does not fit all – your content needs to change with the medium. And don’t forget to execute a mix of both traditional and digital, which makes program content and delivery even more complicated.

Capitalize on mobile journeys and micro-moments

Just about everybody reaches for their smartphones when they need information. Hundreds of decisions are made each day when email, social media, or push notifications are received. SEO targeting and retargeting are critical because people don’t always make purchasing decisions the first time they see a communique. Brands need to anticipate and pinpoint these micro-moments to provide the right information at the right time to build strong consumer and customer relationships.

Activate Artificial Intelligence

AI will soon become an established tool that will chart a whole new world in every space from robotics to data analytics. Chat bots – enabling us to have actual conversations with machines – will increasingly be used. The benefits of using AI to reach both consumers and businesses include smarter searching, more impactful ads, and better sentiment analyzation.

Bottom line, consumers and customers want things instantly and exactly tailored to them. They want to feel like you know who they are, and that just makes marketing on a one-to-one basis of mass scale even more challenging.