Don’t Shy Away From AI

Artificial intelligence is a division of computer science where machines can think and respond like a human. Between 2018 and 2020, there was tremendous growth in the number of marketing experts reporting the use of AI in their marketing campaigns. While 29% reported using AI in 2019, 84% did in 2020. How do you successfully use AI in a marketing campaign?

AI makes it easier to pull vital information from consumers looking at your brand, service, or item. You can use the information collected through AI to create customized ads and marketing emails.

Have you ever looked for a product online and gotten an email from a local store hours later offering a discount on that item you looked at? That’s AI at work.

Embrace Immediate Response Times

One of the most significant AI uses right now is live chatbots for customer support. A consumer has a question to ask, but it’s 2 a.m., so your staff is at home in bed. With a chatbot, you could have the chatbot responding to consumer questions. If the chatbot cannot help, a live support agent is alerted. Instead of having a dozen customer support agents every hour of the day, you can rely on immediate responses by the chatbot and only have one or two workers per shift.

Chatbots can answer multiple calls at the same time. There’s never a wait for the consumer. That keeps them from feeling irritated, making the entire help desk experience more enjoyable for them.

Form Personal Relationships With Your Consumers

Make sure you have the staff available to spend time connecting with consumers. If someone posts on your Facebook page, you want someone to respond quickly. You’ve probably seen social media accounts where a prospective client asks for more information and never gets a response. The consumer moves on, and that brand may have lost a customer due to the lack of response.

Make sure you have staff who monitor social media and emails and use those emails to form a personal connection. If you make sure the consumer knows you’re listening, they’re more likely to stick to your brand and stay invested with your company.

Get Ready for 5G

As 5G’s reach spreads throughout the nation, some of the more remote regions in the U.S. will start to get high-speed internet connections. You’ll see more traffic, and you need to be ready for this. People will be connecting to your brand through smartphones, so your website needs to be optimized for mobile displays. No one will like having to scroll from left to right to view all areas of your website. Make sure you’re ready for 5G.

Go Green

According to the American Psychiatric Association, 67% of Americans are worried about climate change’s impact on the environment. A Nielsen survey found that more than half of millennials will stop buying one brand if there’s a more environmentally-friendly alternative. You can catch their attention by embracing eco-marketing campaigns. How do you make this change? It’s easier than you might think.

Green marketing practices help reduce the use of packaging and waste materials. Suppose your brand is sending out free samples to all consumers. Those who worry about climate change will not appreciate having a plastic bottle wrapped in bubble wrap and sealed in a plastic mailer.

Switch to renewable materials or use recycled paper or compostable materials and offer instructions on recycling or reusing that packaging. Don’t send out samples at all. Instead, partner with local retailers and provide a coupon that’s added straight to the store’s app. There’s no need to print it out. It’s scanned from the phone.

Market Your Brand Across Multiple Platforms

Are you marketing your services on several platforms or just one or two? To reach the broadest range of consumers, you need to market your brand across several social media platforms and have a website for more in-depth information. Pew Research ranked the most popular sites or apps in 2021. Some platforms saw growth, some saw less traffic, and others remained stable. Those that saw increases were:

• YouTube – Used by 81% of the surveyed adults
• Instagram – Used by 40% of the surveyed adults
• Pinterest – Used by 31% of the surveyed adults
• Twitter – Used by 23% of the surveyed adults
• TikTok – Used by 21% of the surveyed adults
• Reddit – Used by 18% of the surveyed adults

TikTok is one of the newer platforms, and it saw a lot of growth. Reddit also saw a lot of improvement in 2021. YouTube is used by around 69% of the surveyed adults, but it didn’t see any growth.

Consider your target age group when choosing your social media marketing plan. It makes a big difference. TikTok is popular with the 18 to 29 crowd, while Facebook is less popular with that age group. YouTube is the most popular for those 30 to 49, and Snapchat and TikTok are at the bottom of the list. For those 50 to 64, YouTube is the most popular, and Snapchat is the least used. Facebook and YouTube are tied with those age 65 or older, but Snapchat is the lowest.

Pay for Featured Snippets

Have you completed an online search recently and found a large paragraph snippet as the top search result? These featured snippets are a new ad trend that catches attention. They usually have a paragraph of text, photos, and the site’s rating at the top of the results. They’re visible and draw traffic.

For example, if you search “best pasta,” you get results for three pasta recipes, including the photos, the main ingredients, and the recipe ratings. People rarely scroll far to find what they need, so featured snippets draw them in and get them to click to learn more.

Tap Into Visual Searches

One of the trends in online searches is to not search for keywords at all. Almost ten years ago, there was an app released before its time. People took a photo of something they liked and loaded it into the app. The Pounce app returned stores that sold that item and pricing information.

Today, people can do similar things with Google Lens and reverse image searches. It’s a quick and easy way to find items that suit your needs. Tap into visual searches to capture the large percentage of online consumers who see something they like and search by a photo rather than keywords.

Turn to Livestream Shopping

Livestream shopping is new to marketers in the U.S., but it’s gained ground in Asia for a few years. Over 309 million Chinese shoppers utilized live stream shopping in 2020. It was the perfect solution to the pandemic’s closures. While shoppers couldn’t go to stores, the stores could come to them through live streams.

While it’s new, it’s not going to be unfamiliar. You’ve probably seen shopping channels like HSN in the past. That’s all it is. Stores bring their items to you through live streams on your computer. You see things you want and click the link to buy the demonstrated product.

Walmart is one of the first U.S. retailers to embrace livestream shopping. The retailer held a Holiday Shop-Along Spectacular in 2020 that brought them 700% more views than anticipated. It was a huge success, leading to the Spring Shop-Along: Beauty Edition, where shoppers could purchase items from the TikTok platform.

Utilize Geofencing

Our final tip for embracing digital marketing in 2022 is to use geofencing. Geofencing uses Wi-Fi, GPS, and cellular data to spur action when consumers enter or exit the virtual boundary. It makes it easy for a brand or store to know when a shopper is in the store or mall and near that product.

Make sure your marketing campaign in 2022 keeps up with the latest trends. Consumers want convenience and to feel that they’re valued. With these digital marketing trends, you’re on your way to a stellar year. It’s okay to admit you’re unsure how to use these marketing trends in your campaign. Factory 360 can help you turn your vision into an unforgettable experience that consumers won’t forget.