The Next Big Thing in Digital Marketing

The universe of digital marketing is as vast as it is ever-evolving.

With a myriad of new and exciting tools, techniques, and technologies, brands often run two risks:

1. They fail to stay ahead of the latest trends and therefore lose ground to savvier competitors
2. They lose sight of what is truly important in digital marketing: their customers

If you, too, are feeling confused about what you should REALLY be doing with your digital marketing in 2022 and beyond, then stay with us. 

This article will shed some light on the next big thing in digital marketing (a clue: it’s all about having a good, ol’ chat).

Stop. The. Spam.

One of the biggest flaws of current digital marketing is its ubiquity. 

Let us clarify: we know, as marketers, that we need to gather data and information about our customers if we want to provide great and personalized services.

This, however, has been taken to some pretty extreme levels in recent years.

Digital marketing has almost morphed into some sort of online surveillance machine, with annoying ads that pop up at every corner, spam emails that never seem to stop, and thwarted user intent-based searches.

What is wrong with these types of digital marketing techniques, then? 

• They are pervasive: they seem to follow us pretty much anywhere on the world wide web
• Secondly, they are annoying and frustrating: more often than not, unwanted ads and prompts to buy a product are irrelevant to us and only end up causing frustration
• Third, they do not take into account the end customer: these marketing strategies are mostly univocal, as they don’t actively seek or promote customer engagement or any type of active communication

How Do We Fix This?

Seriously, though – going back to focusing on what matters most to our customers is the real next big thing in digital marketing.

Think about it: customers want brands that feel human, approachable, and relatable, and that value them and demonstrate that they genuinely care for their happiness.

This urge has boomed with the 2020 coronavirus outbreak. Suddenly forced indoors for weeks or months at a time, people had to reinvent their daily lives around new, virtual forms of communication.

The result? An increased need for empathetic, honest, social interactions that could somehow alleviate that imposed loneliness.

And while people sought this in their friends and families, primarily, they have also come to expect similar from the companies they buy from. 

It doesn’t matter what you sell. You could be a skincare brand or an auto insurance firm, the chances are that your customers will still want to see you as something (someone?) that makes their lives easier.

And how do you do this, unless you speak to your customers directly? Unless you give them a chance to express their needs and expectations, instead of being bombarded by senseless ads and emails?

You go back to basics: you choose authentic communication. You choose conversational marketing.

Conversational Marketing for the Digital Age

We don’t mean that you need to pick up the phone and call every single one of your customers. And you don’t need to ask them what your company can do for them.

We live in a digital age, so we need to behave accordingly.

And, lucky us, we already have the right tools that we can use to achieve these goals.

Artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies, for example, are great if we want to create a hyper-personalized, relevant, and meaningful connection with our customers.

A few examples? Chatbots, live chats, messaging apps, and even social media.

Anything that allows your brand to build a two-way line of communication with your customers will work great. 

With conversational marketing, you will be able to get straight to the heart of your customers. And it feels genuine and significant to them.

It is important for customers to feel special and well looked after. If so, you can bet that they will come back for more.

Ready to Join the Digital Conversation?

Would you like to learn even more about digital marketing for 2022 and beyond, and conversational marketing in particular?

The team at Bell Interactive is always there to help. Contact us today for a (virtual or real) chat!