Digital marketing trends are constantly changing. What may have worked in 2017 is rendered futile 12 months later, and marketers need to adapt their practices to stay ahead.
2018 has seen some interesting marketing changes. From the controversial to the downright weird and wacky, we’ve no doubt that we’ve got a lot more shocks heading our way this year.
Here’s the top 3 trends that are reshaping the digital marketing landscape:
Interactive Content
Interactive content has been a digital marketing staple for years, but getting consumers to engage with content is becoming harder than ever. So much great content never even gets read, let alone shared, simply getting lost in a sea of ever-increasing blog posts, tweets and email campaigns.
Interactive content is one of the best ways to get your consumers engaging with your brand, and we all know that engagement is key. To stand out from the crowd, brands need to be interesting, interactive and driven by data. The simplest examples of interactive content include polls, surveys and quizzes. The more 2018 version include virtual tours and augmented reality, something we’re bound to see more of in 2018.
More Focus on Relevance
It used to be that content is king, but 2018 and beyond will see that only relevant content is king. Arguably the most successful brands are the ones that are most relevant. These brands keep up to date with trends and current affairs, with the most effective campaigns reaching out to consumers on a personal, and relatable level.
However, it’s important not to take the familiarity too far, as it can easily backfire. International Women’s Day saw various brands on the receiving end of social media fire, as their attempts to resonate with the day seemed inauthentic and staged. Staying relevant without looking as though you are capitalising on serious, real-world events is a fine line that many brands are still struggling to stay on the right side of.
AI Will Prosper
We’re already starting to see artificial intelligence used in a huge number of industries. My company makes accounting software, and in our industry’s debate, Xero has generated a lot of interest due to using machine learning instead of hard coded rules to categorize business transactions. A world of self-driving cars is getting closer and closer, and soon AI will be used to send highly targeted marketing campaigns. And even customer support is now being turned over to chatbots to handle more and more complex queries.
Image recognition, machine-mediated customer conversations and highly personalised customer journeys are just a few of the ways that AI will affect the marketing industry. Machines will be able to gather mammoth amounts of data and send targeted campaigns within seconds to exactly the right people, helping brands to sell more products and figure out even more about their customers.
Guest article written by: 
Jaren Nichols is Chief Operating Officer at ZipBooks Online Accounting Software. Jaren was previously a Product Manager at Google and holds an MBA from Harvard Business School.