The Ever Changing Face of Marketing

Technology has been a huge influence on how people have marketed their goods and services ever since people have had goods and services to sell. Whether it was the printing press, the radio, television or the proliferation of trains and cars that made traveling easier, something new has always come along to change how marketing is done. But nothing has ever been as noteworthy as the internet.

Consumers Are Smarter Than Ever

Because of the internet, consumers have a lot of information at the tip of their fingers that they never had before in the history of the world. Now they can look up information about you, and whether it’s right or wrong they’ll learn something about you and your products before buying. It’s up to you to make sure the right information is out there for them to find.

Social Media Is Ubiquitous

Before the internet, stores had to host huge events that were quite costly in order to stir up conversation and social interaction. Today, they simply need to start an active Instagram account or Facebook group or page. Everyone uses some form of social media today to gather information and learn about your business and offerings. In fact, more than 80 percent of the US population uses social media.

Your Audience Is Starving for Content

It’s important to put content everyplace your audience likes to be. If they like Facebook, you need to be on Facebook. If they like blog posts, you need to supply them with plenty of blog posts. If they like getting information through email, then you need to accommodate them. It can be difficult to keep up at times, but with help you can work smartly and efficiently by repurposing content as needed.

SEO Is Here to Stay but It’s Changing Too

Due to the advent of the net, pulling your audience to your information requires knowledge of search engine optimization. This can include on- and off-page optimization of a website and blog, but also of article titles, social media posts and more. It’s all about attracting the right audience to your information.

The Customer of One Is Now an Imperative

Due to the ability to automate and personalize using technology that has been created since the advent of the internet, business owners can make their customers feel special and unique. Even though customers are smart and know a lot of it is automation, they do appreciate it and it shows in purchasing habits.

Inbound Marketing Has Taken Over

Bringing your customers to you is now how inbound marketing works best, as opposed to outbound marketing which was how marketing started. It was posters, magazine ads, commercials – these things all interrupted the consumer to give them the message. Now it’s less intrusive and all about bringing them to you with the right information.

Ecommerce Generates over 1.2 Million Dollars Every 30 Seconds

It seems like e-commerce has been around forever. In reality it has been around in a smaller way since the 60s, but it really came into being as it is today in the 90s when the first book was sold on Amazon in 1995. Nothing has ever been the same since, and it just grows and grows. Online shopping is bringing back grocery delivery even.

Augmented Reality Is Next

What you can look forward to is augmented reality. This will enable people to feel as if they’re in a store when they’re really online. Movies have depicted ideas of augmented reality, such as the Tom Cruise movie about virtual data called Minority Report in 2002. Now marketers are trying to figure out how they can work augmented reality into the everyday lives of consumers.

It’s imperative that you keep up with how marketing is changing in terms of the tools that are used. In many ways, the principles don’t change much. You have to find a way to educate your audience, inform them, engage them, and build relationships with them, so that they trust you enough to spend their money on your products or services.