Consumers continuously shift the way they behave. This means that digital marketing needs change daily, so the strategies we create and implement today might not work tomorrow. People ignore repetitive and banal ads, so marketers must quickly and continuously adapt to keep their ads performing well. Add to this an overabundance of content and companies spending money on new blog posts without much focus; this undermines the quality of the content and reflects poor content marketing strategies. With all this in mind, the following questions must be asked: Are companies effectively leveraging digital marketing? Are they adapting their marketing strategies accordingly?
When it comes to digital marketing, one name that stands out is Neil Patel. If you’re a marketer, chances are you’ve watched one of his many videos or read one of his articles or books on digital marketing. The thirty-five-year-old growth marketing entrepreneur is the co-founder of Crazy Egg and Hello Bar and has helped industry giants—such as Amazon, eBay, and Google—with their marketing efforts. To say he’s an expert in marketing is an understatement.
In one of his live-streamed videos, “The Future of Marketing – in 2020 and Beyond,” Neil Patel explores five facts about today’s digital marketing to better understand and adapt our marketing strategies for the future. This post spotlights those five key digital marketing trends to watch for in 2020.
Fact #1: Marketing is going omnichannel
“Everybody now is leveraging Medium, Tumblr, Facebook, Youtube, LinkedIn, Twitter; Google doesn’t penalize for duplicate content. You release content once—publish it everywhere”
Yes, that’s right, Google won’t punish you for duplicate content. So share away! This is great because it means you can publish all your content on various channels—the more the better. But make sure you’re posting quality content; as mentioned earlier, quantity should not displace quality. For your content marketing efforts to be fruitful, lay a strong foundation using all aspects of your marketing, from landing pages to SEO content and Google Ads.
Blogging continues to trend up as one of the best ways to attract traffic. People always turn to the internet for answers, so having an informational blog post that adds value and will ultimately lead them to your business is a no-brainer. This is where reaching out for extra help comes in handy. Constant Content can connect your business with strong writers who understand your industry and provide quality, SEO-rich content. These blogs will rank better and will generate extra conversions.
Creating new blogs is good, but keeping existing ones relevant and up to date is even better. Translating existing blogs, blogging more often, and updating and reusing content all lead to significant traffic gains. Companies optimize for conversions in that way; they A/B test and personalize their marketing efforts to suit their customers. This means that the one channel that’s done surprisingly well in providing the biggest ROI for companies while investing the smallest amount is Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO). Going omnichannel means keeping an eye on your competition, analyzing what they do, and leveraging this information on all channels.
Related reading: 15 Creative Ways to Repurpose Your Content
Fact #2 User metrics are the key to beating Google
“You don’t have to increase rankings to get more search traffic.”
Without user metrics, the marketing strategy you use for your website quickly becomes a guessing game. By analyzing user metrics, you can determine what’s working well and what isn’t. Leveraging this information can be a valuable way to adapt your strategy and increase traffic, engagement, and ultimately conversion. Improving your search traffic will probably be at the top of your list in terms of increasing your conversions, and it doesn’t have to be rocket science:
- Look for keywords that have less than 5% click-through rate.
- Look for pages that have less than 4% click-through rate.
- Make sure the keywords that you rank for are in the title tag and the content.
- Once you make changes in your meta tags and content, have Google re-crawl your site.
It might not be rocket science, but it can be meticulous. You’ll need to audit your website and tweak small things one at a time to see what works and what doesn’t until you see engagement rates go up. This process might be as subtle as changing a single button or a link. If done correctly, you will see change; eventually, user metrics will be the key to beating all platforms.
Fact #3 Build a strong brand
“If you build a brand within your niche and you’re a leading player, your content within that space will go more viral than others.”
When people love a brand, it’s not just about what that company is selling. It’s about the values they stand for. It’s about the brand’s “personality.” Building a strong and successful brand is crucial when creating a loyal and trusted customer base. Building authority around your brand means people will see you as their number-one choice. Remember: people need their problems solved, or questions answered, and they want to find a brand on which they can rely.
Keeping your audience engaged and aware of your brand must be your constant goal. To achieve this, remember the “rule of seven.” This rule means your audience will hear about or see your brand and your content at least seven times before they take action and buy from you. What better way to do that than by creating a blog with terrific, memorable content? A content creation service like Constant Content will provide you with a consistent flow of relevant content tailored to your business—which means a better chance of appearing in search results. Search engines are like bees to honey when it comes to fresh and unique content, so creating new blogs as well as updating old ones will help your business rank better on search engines. Providing informative and compelling content in your blogs will also boost your social engagement. Remember, Fact #2 is all about going omnichannel and sharing your blogs on all your social media platforms to increase traffic and conversion.
Related reading: Marketing in 2020 – Why Volume of Content Matters
Fact #4 Personalize the experience
“Conventional Conversion Rate Optimization techniques won’t work well.”
You can have the best landing pages or pop-ups, with unique and creative hooks to get your audience to click, but if you’re not offering a unique and tailored experience to your audience, you’ll be left behind. What worked in the past doesn’t mean it works today, and what works today when it comes to increasing your CRO is personalization. By personalizing, you can adapt what you do for each person in your audience—and that’s where conversions live.
Chat is responsible for 28% of sales, so this is the perfect place to start as it offers your customers a unique experience. If a customer has a five-star experience, they are more likely to convert. Part of this experience keeps them informed with tips and insights on your product by providing product tours. Yes, it will take some testing, and yes, these are just small things. But Rome wasn’t built in a day, and all these tiny improvements to your customer experience will eventually bear tremendous results.
Fact #5 To win, you’ll have to think like a winner
“Invest in mentorship and learn from the best.”
Neil Patel brings it home when he asks: “If you wanted to climb Mount Everest, would you just fly over to Nepal with no training and start climbing without a sherpa?” Of course, the unanimous answer to this question would be a resounding no. Look for mentorship, follow successful people in your industry, and see what they’re doing right. There’s a wealth of information out there—blogs, podcasts, webinars, videos—which you can use and leverage to improve your business. And the majority of these resources are free! Don’t forget to keep an eye on what your competition is doing. Sun Tzu was right when he advised that we keep our friends close and our enemies closer. In that spirit, always remember that your competitors are giving away a ton of information online—an invaluable resource that should be mined.
“The future of online marketing will be a combination of the most successful techniques of the past, mixed with the growing need to personalize everything.” —Neil Patel
If there’s one takeaway from Neil Patel’s seminar, it’s this: your attention should be on improving your conversion rate, not necessarily your traffic. Blogging reigns supreme when it comes to content, so keep publishing valuable and compelling content, and keep updating and repurposing old content. Otherwise, you won’t maintain your rankings or generate extra conversions. As a content creation service, Constant Content can provide quality pieces for you to publish regularly and help you repurpose and refresh existing content to make it more SEO-friendly, so you can keep up with search engine rankings and rake in conversions.
Marketing is an ever-changing beast. To tame it and make it work hard for you, continuously test it and learn its ways. There will be lots of information to digest, but taking small steps and reaching for the low-hanging fruit can take you farther than you can imagine.
Related reading: The Complete Guide to Outsourcing Content Creation