Once upon a time, there were advertising professionals who would learn specific techniques and become experts by polishing themselves over the years. Now, the tables have turned, methods are no longer enough, its data that makes you stand out.
Knowing about trends is simple; the real art is to know how to follow those trends in the right frame of time. It requires those who are affiliated with brand-building to be pretty attentive as trends change in the blink of an eye. Each brand has a specific requirement which obviously means that not every trend is going to sit right with every brand. Rather, brand custodians need to have enough knowledge and understanding that they are able to decipher the trends that will prove to be the most beneficial for their brand, without jumping the bandwagon of trends, and being smart about making the right strategic choices.
The digital era is here as we can all see, so it is safe to say that the young audience is hooked onto whatever they see online. Youngsters engage actively in digital trends whether they are hashtags or challenges, with an unending inflow of videos and posts. The biggest mistake that most digital marketing professionals-in–the-making make is that they are not up-to-date with trends happening literally on an hourly basis. We are actually living in a time where the custodians amongst us need to forget about taking days off and invest their time researching on what is happening every minute of every day to make sure they themselves nor their brands miss out on any opportunity. The more we are vigilant, the more our chances of predicting accurately and becoming trendsetters.
ALGORITHMS & TRENDS
Algorithms change at the same speed a kid changes their toys. Take Instagram for example. The most common complaint by influencers these days is that the algorithms keep changing and they struggle to figure out insights required for maximum reach. Having a strong grip on how algorithms function and what new features have been introduced is what gives any influencer or brand custodian an edge over competitors, which can only be achieved through thorough research.
SOCIAL MEDIA: COMMERCE VIA ENGAGEMENT
The one major change in the previous years is the increasing importance of social media. Not just influencers, rather a number of businesses have flourished by selling through social media channels. Social media has given brands a platform and an audience willing to interact with them in real time, which would not have been possible otherwise. The demand for social media commerce has gone through the roof where even brands from lower tiers have set budgets for digital marketing and on-boarded digital hotshops to manage their digital presence and social media. This has allowed numerous brands to increase sales by a large percentage through getting connected with their target audiences. To stay ahead over social media, it is important that each brand posts at least 3 times a week, consisting of both static and animated posts. And these posts need to have engagement inducing content so that the audience continues to tune in to the brand’s social media handles.
INFLUENCERS ARE TODAY’S CELEBRITIES
Influencers are essentially those sharks which have the ability to take down a whale when in large numbers. The digital medium has shown us how powerful influencers can be. Most of them earn beyond what we can imagine, which is mainly because they are a jack of all trades online. They create, shoot, edit, execute, and deliver what is required of them. Influencers have educated themselves on how to adapt to the requirement of each brand and have gained the trust of their vast number of followers.
What I mean to say here is, we have to give it to them; this is not at all easy.
Using influencers is the first thing that comes to any advertiser’s mind when it comes to promoting a brand online, regardless of the category. From food bloggers to tech heads, there are influencers catering to every other category. Each successful campaign nowadays has influencers onboard who will promote it on their social media accounts which usually have an insane number of followers. It can get intimidating for a number of us to see how many people look up to them. The point is, influencers are a strong force in terms of advertising now, and a digital marketer would know well how, when, and where to utilize them to get maximum benefit for the brand.
“The biggest mistake that most digital marketing professionals-in-the-making make is that they are not up-to-date with trends happening literally on an hourly basis.”
CONTENT IS ALWAYS KING
The content we create has a purpose. Just selling the product to the audience isn’t enough anymore, the product needs to fulfil a bigger motive, for example, there needs to be content around societal and social tolerance or breaking negative social norms. This helps the audience connect with the brand at a more emotional level, and not just for the functional benefit, rather they feel more affectionately towards the brand thus creating brand loyalty and a sense of ownership as the ideologies and ethics of both parties are the same. Also apart from the above, creating brainless ads or content has never been a good idea. Even a big idea without a purpose is like a biryani filled with cardamoms, and we know how that makes us feel – not nice.
The content which works best is snack-able meaning its small, bite-sized pieces of content instead of a longer version of ads. Almost all video-based apps and websites are shifting their business models towards this strategy. Gone are the days when people liked heavy content and designs. Today it’s all about clean minimal design and clear messaging. Let’s face it; no one has the time to get invested in trying to understand the riddles a brand is playing. The audience literally wants to-the-point communication and simple designs which would be soothing to look at, and requires less effort to understand.
FORMATS MATTER
With new features coming in everyday, live streaming has also become the talk of the town. Each campaign will have a live session whether it is with a celebrity, influencer, or an expert. It’s an essential part of a successful campaign, yet it’s important that even this should not be too long. Again, no one has the time to see an hour-long live stream. Keep it short and sweet folks.
Also, instead of posts, a story is more effective. A story has more engaging elements, including polls, questions, and filters. Also, stories remain for 24 hours, visible to the followers at the top of their profiles, whereas posts may disappear in a feed stream. This means that brands have the choice of displaying the most relevant pieces of content in the shortest format possible, which will be more visible to its followers without remaining on the brand’s social assets permanently.
AR AS THE FUTURE
One of the most interesting developments in the digital world is Augmented Reality or AR. Especially with Meta verse already in the picture, consumers can interact with their favorite brands online from the comfort of their homes. And without a doubt it is very cool!
Imagine standing in Pakistan the moment you wear your AR goggles, you can roam the streets of Paris. Imagine the possibilities – endless!
To wrap it up, consumers look for creative, memorable, impactful, and engaging content. If we want our respective brands to flourish digitally then we need these ingredients to create great content.