How has marketing transformed over the last decade?
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Marketing is a constantly evolving field. As new technologies and new social attitudes emerge, new tactics are established (and old tactics become defunct). Below are some of the ways in which marketing has evolved over the last decade alone.
The rise of social media
Ten years ago, social media was still in its infancy and it was used solely as a recreational tool. However, businesses slowly began to see its potential as a marketing tool for reaching out to new customers and retaining existing customers.
Nowadays, you cannot start a successful business without having a social media presence. Using the help of companies such as Web Presence, businesses devote huge amounts of time to content marketing strategies. From running adverts to organically attracting leads through hashtags, there are so many ways to attract new customers through social media.
A shift from desktops to smartphones
This last decade has seen widespread adoption of smartphones. Since 2016, the majority of internet usage has been on smartphones and not on desktops. This has led to a greater focus on mobile-oriented digital marketing tactics over the last decade including app development, mobile-friendly websites and geomarketing using the likes of Google Maps.
Smartphone usage is only going to increase – if you’re a business that hasn’t already got a mobile-friendly website or app, now could be the time to get in on the action.
Video advertising for the masses
TV used to be the only major platform for video advertising, however the internet has created a new platform that is much more accessible for your average small or medium-sized business to advertise on. 4G technology has allowed videos to be more easily played on mobile devices, increasing the potential for video advertising even more so. Consequently, businesses of all sizes have now started embracing video advertising.
There are video production companies and animation studios now set up for creating videos for small and medium businesses. If you haven’t already embraced video marketing, it could definitely be something to consider.
A focus on ethical marketing
Before 2010, marketing used to be very much focused on what a product could do for the individual consumer. Increased awareness of climate change and other social issues has led to a greater focus on ‘ethical marketing’ – the idea of advertising the benefits that a product can have not just on the consumer, but on the world.
A few examples of ethical marketing include advertising a product’s recyclability, advertising the fact that it uses fair trade ingredients or advertising the fact that proceeds go to a charitable cause. This post at WordStream offers a few examples of how modern businesses have used ethical marketing strategies.
The death of phonebook advertising
Phonebook advertising was already going out of fashion in 2010 due to a greater number of businesses advertising through the internet. In 2012, some US cities started banning the distribution of telephone directories and many telephone directories have since been discontinued or have gone online.
SEO is now the focus of many businesses – a high ranking on Google is the modern equivalent of achieving a top spot in a phonebook directory. Make sure that your business is investing time and money into SEO if you want people to find you through search engines.
