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DIGITAL MARKETING STRATEGIES
Six digital trends of increasing relevance to African marketers
By our News Team | 2022
‘Privacy over everything’ is a key trend, with confidentiality concerns being a big barrier to signing up for online and social platforms.
Given the recent disruptive growth in the digital world, Adelaide Tshabalala, head of digital marketing at PR consultancy Hill+Knowlton Strategies, has identified six digital marketing trends of increasing relevance to African marketers in the coming months.
1. Privacy over everything
Even though there are more people than ever signing up for more social media and online platforms, privacy concerns are still a big barrier. As our digital world expands, privacy and data collection concerns have grown along with it, and users want to know exactly who can access their data, as well as how they use it.
Several technology giants such as Google have taken a tough stance on data collection and made it impossible for their users’ data to be accessed without their permission. This has been great for consumers but not for advertisers, and has brought with it a huge shift in how marketers and businesses reach potential customers online.
Image by Prodeep Ahmeed from Pixabay
Companies are going to have to reimagine their methods of connecting with their audiences to find a solution that is guided by privacy laws.
2. SE-No?
SEO has been a vital part of every good digital marketing strategy for years, but now everyone is doing it and it’s becoming automated with all sorts of software that cuts the optimisation time significantly.
In the future, you might want to consider spending more of your time executing an amazing user experience that enables your target audience to interact and engage with your brand online by using diverse, high-impact and interesting content – rather than spending hours researching keywords and building links.
3. Meta is the next frontier
In 2021, Facebook announced the emergence of its parent company and changed its name to Meta. This announcement created both excitement and scepticism in the digital marketing sphere. It also opened a whole new concept that will give customers a more immersive experience in the future.
Meta is designed for users to experience virtual and augmented realities. It provides new opportunities for businesses to bring their social media efforts into the world of VR and AR. It is important to keep an eye out for these developments and to see whether your brand or products would be a good fit for this thrilling future.
4. Influencers aren’t going nowhere
Like it or not, influencers have become synonymous with the world of digital marketing. Whether they are plugging a company’s offerings or collaborating with a brand on a new product range, they are here to stay.
While your audience is very much influenced by their peers’ experiences before they make a purchasing decision, the endorsement of a relevant influencer might be what finally pushes them to make the purchase.
This trend has even reached the B2B landscape. No matter what your industry is, consider partnering up with an influencer who is relevant to your sector to support your marketing goals.
5. Omnichannel is the way to go
Omnichannel marketing is aimed at making sure that your brand is present across all channels so that your audience can engage with it on any platform or context.
This strategy is great for promotional activity, customer support, as well as sales. By increasing your footprint, giving users more options to get in touch and by being present on more than one social media channel, you are making it easier for them to engage with your business or brand.
6. Word of mouth is still powerful
Has a review or testimonial ever swayed you to buy a product? It’s happened to us all. In fact, word of mouth is still considered one of the most influential channels for customer acquisition.
Make sure that your campaigns include experiences that your customers can engage with and share. Get your clients to post videos of their purchase or even write product reviews.
Successful brands must keep an eye on the latest trends. And, most importantly, don’t be afraid to be innovative in your campaigns – those who dare will win, says Tshabalala.
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