Marketing analysts, strategists, specialists, consultants, and directors have been hard at work offering customers what they need when they need it. Since the dawn of digital marketing, the world of opportunity has opened up and offered many businesses access to target their audience in a more focused way. If digital marketing was aimed at focusing on one thing, it would be understanding the customer. This is because human-centered design, as well as design thinking, have become the driving force for many businesses when offering a product or service. But, how are you able to collect the data, draw conclusions and know what trends to keep up with when servicing clients? In this article, we will look at ways you can stay up to date with trends to tap into your customer’s minds, hearts, and wallets.
The Engine(s) That Keep You Running
As a digital marketing professional, it is important to understand that your customers often use search engines when looking for products. Since January 2020, Google has been hovering between 64% and 78% of global searches, ahead of Bing and Baidu, which are second and third. When attempting to reach your customers, you need to meet them in their comfort zone. This means you will need to keep up with the latest updates on Google and other search engines. You can easily achieve this by following Google and other search engines on social media or signing up for their newsletters. Keeping up to date with the changes your customers and target audience are getting will help you create content they will consume and offer you the leads you are seeking.
The Blogs And Reviews That Drive You
Any digital marketing professional will tell you that customers these days enjoy reading up on the products and services they are looking for. From reviews to blogs, customers rely on information from those who have tried the products or trends they are into. We offer a range of topics and write-ups on some of the latest in the digital industry, so you are already on the right path. If you subscribe to the blogs that are most relevant to your business, it is very easy to identify new marketing trends that can be applied to your digital marketing strategy.
Email News That Travel Fast
Earlier on in this article, we mentioned subscribing to a newsletter from search engines you are eyeing. This applies to trend analytics, product review websites, and other customer behavior-related sites and publications. Some publications offer you information on trends that have not launched yet to keep you ahead of the curve, while others offer tips on how to enter and survive in certain trends while remaining authentic. There is information widely available, and email newsletters offer a more focused approach to each of the industries in which your digital marketing expertise is being used.
Surveys Have Been Saving
Nothing beats hearing from your target audience to properly service them. Surveys have been part of the marketing industry since their inception, and it is no surprise why. As a digital marketing professional, you now have lots of options for conducting surveys. These can be done with a simple voters’ poll or an in-detail sheet that has questions and options for your target audience to choose from. The trick with surveys is to create one you know for sure that a lot of your target audience will fill. If you service young professionals, you know they read their emails often, so sending them a survey form linked to their email may get you your results, or if you are creating a product for social media fans, you can run a voting poll on each of the platforms they mostly access.
There’s No Such Thing As Overeducated
Online and digital marketing in South Africa has grown over the years and offered many of the career goals they are currently pursuing. To understand your market, you have to speak their language, and you can learn how to navigate the digital marketing world with online marketing courses in South Africa that are offered by reputable facilities such as UCT, at affordable rates as well as a manageable pace. We understand that a lot of the time, you have more than one thing going on and have to juggle work and life, but adding a short course in the field you are pursuing will feel like a worthy investment more than anything. Consider looking at a few offerings and let your digital marketing career flourish.
Take A Look At Your Competitors Every Now And Then
Every digital marketing professional knows that looking at your insights (though great for introspection and analysis) is often not enough. You also have to know what your competitors are up to. Not only for competition’s sake but to also have an understanding of what the audience is gravitating towards in the market. It is better to prevent certain things, such as sounding tone-deaf or being unable to read the room, when you see your target audience call out competitors for such. It is not always nice being on the receiving end of customer backlash, so a way to avoid it is by keeping an eye on what your competitors are doing right…and sometimes wrong.
SEO Your Customers’ Way
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) has been one of the key ways to target an audience. By using the keywords they would normally type in their search engines, digital marketing professionals can reach their target audience. So, invest in using the right keywords and researching which ones your audience is using so that you know when and where to add them for your message to reach them.
Final Thoughts
The digital marketing industry is an ocean full of possibilities and opportunities. You can create business marketing ideas and strategies that serve the right target audience without sounding like all you care about is revenue. Remember, every lead is a great lead, and always ensure you keep your business’s name in people’s search results.
