This year was yet another chance for marketing to reinvent itself, as it does every day. Between digital marketing, gamification, storytelling, digital influencers, social media on fire, and so many other widespread strategies, there was a lot to see and test. Large companies made amateur mistakes; small companies stood out with simple but effective practices. We realized how important it is to pay more attention to customers and users, their experiences, expectations, and desires.
According to data from the eMarketer report, since 2017 the budget allocated to digital has overtaken the budget allocated to TV. In 2018, the average company is expected to allocate 40.8% of its marketing budget to online, and this share should grow to 44.9% by 2020. On the digital side, social media is a marketing priority in 2018 for 83% of companies, making it their second-biggest concern. Marketing analytics, another strategy under the digital marketing umbrella, is important to 72% of the companies surveyed. Spending on marketing analytics is forecast to grow 229%, from 5.5% of total marketing spend today to 18.1% over the next 3 years.
Another important figure from the eMarketer report shows the number of users on social networks, which helps when choosing which social media channels to invest in: Facebook is expected to remain in the lead, used by 89.2% of social network users, and Instagram should grow from 39.9% to 46.6% by 2020. It’s always worth remembering, though, that the social channels you choose must match your brand’s goals and target audience. So what does all this mean for 2018? Amid the whirlwind of the digital phenomenon, marketing technologies keep improving and becoming essential for competitive work. Among them, automation and chatbots should remain the most sought after next year. In addition, e-commerce has already established itself as a sales channel and gains more trust every year. To be seen, however, you need to be present and at the top of search engines, with studies of conversion strategies, content marketing, and lots and lots of testing. And there’s no point in starting to do all this without any planning: every action needs to be paired with analytical thinking. Content will probably become increasingly relevant and robust, across different media and formats (e-books, webinars, podcasts, events). And that is just one of the ways to make experiences more user-centered, seeking loyalty through value propositions and audience segmentation for each campaign. Amid all this, the number of tools and software that support these services keeps growing, but I have something to tell you: rather than recommending specific tools for you to use, I’ll say this: simply start thinking analytically about your marketing. To what extent are you measuring your results? Start developing a culture of curiosity; really try to understand why different marketing tactics work or don’t. Test different approaches and don’t hesitate to drop poor approaches, analyses, and tools. There you go: you’re on your way.
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