Over the last two years, digital marketing has undergone significant changes.

The fast-paced evolution of technology, changing consumer behaviour and increased competition have all done their part in contributing to the transformation of digital marketing (and the digital world) as we know it.

Here at Sunny Digital, we make it our priority to stay ahead of the game by utilising and maximising new technologies as they become available.

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Six of the most notable changes are;

• Artificial intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML):

It seems as though everywhere you look some form of AI is evolving and becoming part of your everyday life. Whilst there is still a lot of scepticism around both artificial intelligence and machine learning, there’s no denying that there are benefits to monetizing and utilising their functionalities.

In the marketing world, AI and ML have enabled more informed decision-making, the automation of manual tasks, and further personalisation of the customer experience.  AI-powered chatbots and voice assistants, for example, have become more sophisticated, allowing businesses to interact with customers in real time, 24/7.

• Video Marketing:

With the introduction of TikTok, other platforms have jumped on the video bandwagon, with Facebook and Instagram now heavily promoting reels on platform. These short videos have become a part of everyday life, whether they’re watched to wind down, share with friends, or learn something new. In fact, internet users spend an average of almost 7 hours a week watching videos online (one Sunny Digital employee once watched over 9 hours of TikTok in one day!).

As consumer usage increases, so does demand. A recent study showed that 91% of consumers want to see more online video content from brands and 66% of consumers find short-form videos to be the most engaging type of content on social media. It’s not only the consumers that are finding benefits in video content with 92% of marketers saying they’ve achieved a successful ROI from video marketing.

• The Growth of Influencer Marketing:

Influencer marketing has grown in popularity over the past two years, with businesses increasingly recognising the potential of partnering with social media influencers to reach highly relevant (and easily influenced) audiences. The key to success is finding the right people for your brand and creating authentic, engaging content that resonates with their followers.

• Increased Focus on Privacy and Data Security:

Anyone with an iPhone that has gone through the iOS14 update will be familiar with a prompt that appears asking you whether you’d like your data shared with 3rd party platforms. Approximately 75% of users chose to opt out.

This has greatly affected the accuracy of targeting an audience and hinders conversion tracking for all digital platforms. Marketers need to work smarter (and harder) to target and track, and what once may have been a walk in the park for some brands, will now require some serious analysis to run successful digital campaigns.

Meta, a platform that was heavily affected, has taken measures to gain back visibility. This includes domain verification and the conversions API. Other platforms (such as TikTok and Pinterest) have followed suit with server-side tracking becoming the norm across the majority of marketing channels.

• Voice Search:

With more people than ever taking advantage of smart speakers and virtual assistants, voice search has become a significant aspect of digital marketing, especially SEO. Businesses now need to optimize their websites for voice search queries and ensure that their content is easily discovered by voice assistants.

While the rapid evolution of marketing may seem overwhelming, the opportunities that are continually arising for marketing to get more sophisticated and have a greater impact far outweigh the negatives.

Want to know more? Contact us today and we’ll send over a video by our director on the digital landscape for 2023 and beyond.

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