Marketing Trends and Tools in 2018

Emerging technologies and platforms are making it possible to be more creative about marketing, and some will be taking center stage in 2018. You’ll soon see some of these trends at the forefront of digital marketing being used to create buzz for big brands. From augmented reality to tweaking SEO for voice search, here are some of the biggest trends set to dominate the creative industry this year.

1. Augmented Reality (AR) driven content
   Big brands like Apple have pushed augmented reality into the spotlight, and other brands and marketers will need to compete. According to Entrepreneur, “With the latest iPhones designed for augmented reality, brands must think about ways to develop augmented experiences. Those that do this with success will move to the front of their space. Those who ignore this will get left behind. This means one thing: the time for development is now.”
2. Utilizing customer data
   With all the data available nowadays on what customers want, what they interact with, and so much more, “it’s going to be hard to stay competitive if you aren’t tapping into the thousands of customer data points that are now available,” predicts Forbes. Check out the current studies on big data here.
3. Instagram will be the go-to channel for social media marketing
   As platforms like Twitter and Snapchat have failed to grow in recent years the same way that Instagram has, users can expect to see brands flock to Instagram for marketing needs. Instagram now lets businesses run native ad campaigns on the platform, but it’s also an option to “boost” posts without creating a campaign, which makes it the perfect medium for sponsored content.
4. More investment in live events
   Business site Bizzabo recently surveyed over 400 mid to senior-level marketers about the future of the industry. The data from marketers confirmed that the “majority of event marketers plan on investing more in live events in the future both in budget (63%) and number of events (63%)”.
5. Optimized content for voice searching
   The voice search trend is on the rise thanks to popular technology like Google Home and Amazon Echo. The smart speakers rely on voice commands, but until recently, search results weren’t optimized for voice searches. In the coming year, this will change, and SEO will be optimized for voice searches. According to Business World, “The rise in voice searches will enable digital marketers in creating SEO optimized high quality content for promoting their businesses.”

Do you know of other trends and tools that you think will be popular and most utilized in 2018? Leave us a comment and tell us how your company or team uses digital tools for creative marketing!

The Elysian team is excited to see how creative digital marketers can get with their branding and will be on the lookout for more rising trends.

All the best

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