The past 30 years has seen digital marketing evolve from a niche platform into the dominant promotional format. Tools like SEO and analytics that were in their infancy ten years ago have now become indispensable resources that no business can afford to discount. The trends, breakthroughs, and new marketing techniques seen over the past decade have grown to become the driving force behind today’s online promotional campaigns.
Data Analytics
Analyzing data to spot new trends or to set benchmarks and metrics by which to gauge the impact of a marketing campaign was still done a decade ago. However, both the data sets and analysis methods would be considered quite crude by today’s standards. More sophisticated algorithms and tools like AI have proven to be real game-changers. Data analytics has proven to be nothing short of a revolution, one that continues to shape the world of digital marketing to this day.
Privacy and Security
As more and more consumers choose to do business online, digital security and online privacy have become increasingly more important. The past ten years saw numerous examples where a high-profile breach was able to cause lasting harm to a business’s brand and reputation. Online marketing and promotional efforts continue to utilize customer profiles, many of which were created using sensitive data or information that consumers would prefer to keep to themselves. The intersection of advertising and privacy continues to be a turbulent one, and many marketing trends that began in the past decade continue to have far-reaching consequences.
Sophisticated Content
A decade ago, keyword stuffing held the key to online marketing. A great deal has changed since then, and the more sophisticated search algorithms that have made keyword stuffing a thing of the past are far from the only trend that has helped to reshape the industry. Smarter and more digitally-savvy consumers mean that marketing campaigns need to evolve to keep pace. Current industry trends serve to highlight the shift away from high-volume, boilerplate media towards engaging content that contains useful information. Other industry trends, such as the rapid advancement of AI and its expanding role as a marketing tool, have also played a role in creating an increased need for more sophisticated marketing content.