If you’ve been keeping up with the marketing industry, you probably know that like any other profession, people have been honing and polishing marketing tactics over the years. From bards at old taverns to flyer boys on horse carriages, everyone was trying to catch the eyes of everyone else. 

With the transition into the Information Age, an entirely new set of marketing skills had to be developed. A new king was about to be crowned, and would remain in power for decades to come.

In this article, we look at the recent trends the digital marketing industry has seen. We’ll then dive into what everyone can expect in years to come. But first…

A quick history of digital marketing

Computer screen showing the homepage of Yahoo!, one of the early online search giants any content marketing agency in Singapore would be familiar with
If you think about it, digital marketing has a fairly short history

The history of digital marketing is relatively easy to track.

It all began with the first-ever search engine—Archie—in 1990. Back then, consumer internet was still relatively new, and there wasn’t a lot to search for online. It would be 3 years before the first clickable web banner was launched, and another year before Yahoo! went online.

As the millennium year approached, many online giants we know today began to emerge. Google, MSN, and Yahoo were all founded in 1998, overtaking all the smaller search engine players. 

Universal Music was the first example of mobile marketing. By sending messages from a computer to a phone, the idea that you could use your phone to access the internet was created. From there, smartphones began to pick up steam. And now you have advertisements all over your Spotify playlist, Youtube videos, and almost every website you access.

As a content marketing agency in Singapore, we see that there are simply tons of brands out there taking advantage of digital marketing to get the word out on their business.

With technology improving at an unprecedented rate, it’s likely that digital marketing will become an even larger part of our lives—whether you’re a consumer or working in a content marketing agency in Singapore. 

Before we look at what to expect with the future of digital marketing, let’s go over some of the key trends identified over the years.

Digital marketing trends content marketing agencies have seen as of 2020

Saying that things have come a long way since the dawn of the internet would be a real understatement. 

Now that we’ve crossed over into a new decade, here are some digital marketing developments that have shaped the industry in one way or another over the past few years. 

A/B testing

Without the ability to test your advertisements, how are you going to know which of them will perform better? 

Through A/B testing, or split testing, you can isolate variables that affect performance indicators like click-through rate (CTR) and your site’s traffic. You can then adjust these variables in your content to improve your content’s reach and impact.

Usually, pages with a low click-through rate but high impression count are a sign of untapped potential. By improving your content on these pages based on the A/B testing insights, you’ll be able to increase your clicks and traffic. 

AI (Artificial Intelligence)

Like it or not, AI will be playing an even bigger part in digital marketing in the future.

Based on data such as customer demographics, search patterns, and consumer spending habits, you can get a clearer picture of how users find their content, how they interact with it, and how receptive they are to it. 

This data is imperative when it comes to optimising content for greater performance. For example, it allows agencies to gain insights such as what platforms to focus on when releasing a major product.

Chatbots

A hand and smartphone against a graphic of a chatbot, a rising trend in digital marketing any content marketing agency in Singapore would be aware of
Chatbots are available 24/7, helping address common questions people may have

You don’t need to be working in a content marketing agency to notice how chatbots have emerged on the digital realm. 

There are lots of upsides to using chatbots. They answer instantly, have immediate access to your purchase history, and never lose patience even after you’ve asked the same question a hundred times. 

While they lack the fluidity and adaptability of human staff, chatbots still hold a place in many company websites. Approximately 1.4 billion people interact with chatbots every year. Chatbots are also forecasted to save companies $8b per annum by 2022.

Personalisation

Everyone has different preferences and needs, which made it tough for content marketing agencies to advertise in the past. It was one of the reasons millennials were blamed for ruining businesses—mass marketing techniques didn’t work on them.

If you want your business to stand out, you have to craft your content to address—very specifically—the market you’re targeting. This includes everything from your products and e-mails to consumers, to any kind of marketing content.  

Video marketing

Video marketing, previously a rather foreign technique due to its high costs, has been cast back into the spotlight. 

Content creators leverage on this heavily mostly for one major reason: videos have a high chance of going viral.  

Videos aren’t limited to only those on YouTube. Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter have all come  with video support.

A strong promotional video can be a powerful advertising tool. And if you can get your audience to share it, it’s free marketing.

Influencer marketing

Influencer marketing has been a very effective way of getting brand messages to a large market. 

Instead of marketing directly to your consumers, you pay an influencer with a similar audience demographic to do the job for you. 

Influencer marketing is said to be effective since consumers tend to trust individuals more than corporations. Micro-celebrities and well-known bloggers can all help to spread the word about your business, launching you into the Middle of Funnel phase of your marketing funnel immediately. 

Visual search

There are times when you want to look for information, but all you have is a picture you know nothing about. Wouldn’t it be great if you could upload it online and have the relevant data relayed to you instantly?

The brains behind visual search engines have brought that experience to you. While still relatively new compared to word-based search engines, visual search engines possess a wealth of functions that can streamline your search process. 

For instance, you can now take a picture of an item such as a hammer and find out where you can buy it, similar products available, and reviews from other users. 

What’s coming the way of every content marketing agency in Singapore 

Here are some digital marketing trends you can expect to see in the next few years. 

Foreseeable trendHow this might impact digital marketing
Voice searchHigher search volumes overallPossibly new nuances in search language—arising from greater immediacy and use of written vs verbal communication  
VR & ARA possible need for content marketing agencies in Singapore to introduce or scale up technical talent 
Greater emphasis on content re-optimisationHaving to create and optimise content more frequently to outdo the competition

The rise of voice search

Analysts have predicted that about 50% of all searches will be voice searches by 2020. 

With Amazon’s Alexa and Google Home, daily living will be streamlined. For example, cooks no longer have to dry their hands to find the next step of their recipes on their phone. Drivers can look for the nearest rest stops with both eyes on the road.

With a Google search only just a voice away, it’s expected that search volumes might naturally skyrocket. More importantly, there’s the possibility that the nature of terms that users search might well differ. Case in point: words come out differently when you say it, compared to when you write it. 

This will naturally impact how digital marketers in Singapore and around the world will write and optimise their content for SEO.

Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) 

Although Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) haven’t quite taken off yet, they nevertheless possess immense potential for digital marketers. VR and AR have already been incorporated into games. 

Real estate agents and property moguls have already begun considering implementing both VR and AR as a means of showcasing a development before it’s even built.

As a marketer, this could mean having to expand or hire a team of technical experts with the right know-how in this domain.   

Greater emphasis on content re-optimisation

With the rise of eCommerce and a greater business focus on the digital sphere, it’s no surprise that the digital marketing space will only become more and more competitive.

To keep your content ranking high on search engines, re-optimisation should be a key part of your strategy. Today, any SEO content agency would tell you that things don’t end after clicking “Publish”. 

By utilising programmes like Google Analytics, you’ll be able to find out what’s not working and what can be improved.

Alternatively, you can simply let a content marketing agency in Singapore do all the legwork for you—whether it’s optimising or creating fresh content. 

If that’s something your brand needs, we’re a content marketing agency in Singapore that will be more than happy to help! Learn about our entire suite of content marketing services.