Marketing has changed more over the last 10 years than it has over the last 50. In fact, the rapidly changing progress and evolution of marketing show no signs of slowing down. The digital marketing landscape now encompasses far more than only SEO and PPC. We now have to consider social media, content marketing and influencer marketing, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Digital marketing trends and strategies are now high-tech, which means in an Internet-connected world, brands need to know how to use them the right way. What surpasses your expectations last year may not work at all this upcoming year.

1. Artificial Intelligence

Long gone are the days where you can dismiss visual search or AI as a gimmick. Now, artificial intelligence needs to be an integral part of any marketing strategy. AI analyzes can analyze consumer behavior and search patterns, which can then used to create marketing strategies that reach the right customer at the right time. For example, Mastercard has now implemented a bot that uses language processing software to determine what consumers want and respond as if a live agent is responding.

2. Facebook Marketing

Even with the influx of fake news steering even the most loyal of users away, it’s almost impossible to imagine a world where Facebook doesn’t exist. When it comes to marketing, your ad dollars can still go a long way. With over 14 billion active users every day, from an advertising perspective, not utilizing Facebook for marketing is like throwing your ad spend in the trash.

3. Influencer Marketing

Thanks to Instagram, influencer marketing now supersedes most other forms of advertising. It’s word-of-mouth marketing to the masses in one photo or video snippet. Influencers range from A-list celebrities down to micro-influencers who spread the word about your brand via their channel.

4. Video

Video marketing is one, if not the most, important digital marketing trend of today. In fact, video marketing has changed the way we do business. With over 70 percent of consumers sharing a brand’s video and approximately 72 percent of businesses seeing increased conversion rates from using video, if you’re still not using a marketing is if not the important digital trend of Video has changed way we do With over percent consumers sharing a video and approximately businesses seeing increased conversion rates from using still in your overall you need to step up video marketing in your overall strategy, you need to step up your game.

Consumers of today no longer want to take a brand’s word for it. They want to see a product or service in action and then make a final determination themselves. But when it comes to video marketing, you need to broaden your horizons. YouTube is no longer the only option. To achieve higher levels of engagement, you can broadcast live or post a video on Facebook or Instagram to boost awareness. Particularly on Instagram, where being visual is everything, IGTV can transform a brand overnight.

5. Messaging Apps

If you thought social media messaging was only good for sending emojis to your friends, you might want to take a look at these stats:

• Over 1.3 billion people use Facebook Messenger on a daily basis.
• Every day, 55 billion messages are sent using WhatsApp.
• Facebook Messenger, WeChat and WhatsApp have more combined users than YouTube and Facebook combined

Statistics show that the popularity of social messaging apps are on the rise, and since people are spending more time, it only makes sense to market your company’s products where your target audience hangs out.

6. Make Micro Moments

Micro-moments happen the minute your audience turns on their device. They make decisions in a split instant about where they’re going to eat, what to buy and where they want to go. It’s in these micro-moments that you need to capture their attention and keep it.

To take full advantage of micro-moments, you need to be where your target audience is searching at that moment. You need to be quick, useful, and present. The increasing popularity of micro-moments also means that marketers need to reconsider a linear funnel that follows the traditional trajectory of awareness, consideration, and decision making. Now, the customer journey can go from knowledge to purchase in a blink of an eye.

7. Voice Search

In addition to AI, voice search now plays a critical role in providing consumers with the information they want. Since AI continues to get smarter, the percentage of errors made by voice search has dramatically reduced. Adopting a voice search strategy isn’t only about remaining relevant; it’s about creating a personalized experience for the user that hopefully builds loyalty.

Keep in mind that with voice technology, you want to keep a conversational tone and focus on snippets from Google. Think like the consumer and the keywords you would use when speaking.

8. Final Thoughts

The future of digital marketing will only continue to change with implementation of AI automation, big data and smarter technology. As such, the way we analyze consumer data and interact with our audience needs to change with it.