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Technology is growing at a fast pace and with new technology digital marketing trends change. At 4Elements Digital we love to research the latest trends and developments. As a digital marketer, this part of the business is very fulfilling. Trends are not set in stone but the trends below have seen solid growth and importance in digital marketing. 

How many people do you know that own a smart speaker like a Google Home or Amazon Echo at home?  According to Nielsen, “1 of every 4 American homes equipped with Wi-Fi owned a smart speaker in 2018”. This trend will increase and voice search in one of the hottest digital marketing trends currently. To optimize your brand for voice search, check out our blog “Making Your Brand Voice Search Ready”. 

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is having a big impact on digital advertising. With Google Ads for example, we can apply smart bidding for optimized campaign performances. Also, AI has the power to analyze consumer behavior and search patterns. Have you ever heard of programmatic advertising? It’s automated ad buying to be able to target an audience more specifically and maximize ROAS (return on advertising spend). Programmatic advertising has seen strong year-over-year growth. However, it does face challenges as well such as lack of transparency and ad fraud. We do expect programmatic advertising spend to increase.   

Shortening the sales funnel has become more important in digital marketing. Shoppable posts on platforms like Instagram and Pinterest reduce the journey consumers take to final purchase and this trend, i.e. social commerce, has grown. Since more consumers are discovering products on social media platforms brands need to capitalize on this development. Besides, it’s another channel for online merchants to drive relevant traffic to their landing pages.  

We have seen a rise in “consumer-created content” and this trend will continue to grow rapidly. Brands like Nike, Chipotle, Skittles, and Pepsi have capitalized on the consumer-created content craze on a platform such as TikTok. This is a platform to keep a close eye on. Its growth is impressive and it is now testing shoppable ads (see above). A branded hashtag challenge is one way brands can leverage the power of TikTok. Pepsi’s #SwagStepChallenge has currently 66.1B views! Eager investors are waiting for ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese parent company, to go public perhaps in 2020.  

Technology and consumer behavior are continuously changing and evolving. As digital marketers, we need to stay abreast of the latest developments. It’s a fascinating universe and who knows what the next TikTok or Snapchat will be. Contact us for more information on how 4Elements Digital can help your business grow.