Digital Marketing Trends

Freelance artists have to stay engaged in the digital marketplace to remain relevant as a business asset. Clients want to stay ahead of the curve, and rely on creative talent to keep them there with innovation and vision. Looking at the current state of marketing, here are some trends every freelancer should be studying.

It’s a Snap – Snapchat is getting in on digital advertising in a big way. Heretofore untapped, the medium is being embraced in marketing campaigns for the new age. As we know, Snapchat is an app for photo/video messaging that disappears after a short length of time. Advertisers are now integrating their marketing campaigns into the app, creating an ‘exclusive’ element that teases a product or service. This has shown to be appealing to younger users, especially as Snapchat grows its base. This utilization of ‘real time’ marketing becomes vital as companies try to find ways to allow users to embed themselves in the interactivity, instead of being passive observers.

Wear It to Share It – As wearable tech such as watches and health trackers become more prevalent, the data these devices track will become more marketable. Targeting consumers that wear their tech on their wrist has already begun in earnest, with companies like Apple taking on partners to track fitness goals and results in humans and even pets. Consumers that show initiative and independence on health issues need to be catered to in the digital marketing world as innovation brings new platforms to utilize.

It’s Live – Brands can not only make a marketing experience more personal, they can now also make it instantaneous. Apps like Periscope are changing integration and connectivity strategy to better allow the consumer to be part of an experience as it happens. Periscope allows a user to live stream video from their mobile device and share it with a community. Companies are starting to use this as well by live streaming product launches, having conversational interactions with consumers, documenting company life in real-time, and other applications that are attractive to consumers.

Siri Query – SEO (search engine optimization) and PPC (pay-per-click) are the reliable way for businesses to chart their online strategy source. However, look for companies to get in good with search assistants like Siri and Cortana when plotting new strategies. Consumers are starting to get used to these devices when looking for products and services, rather than searching the web themselves. The smart companies (and artists doing work for them) will be looking to keep up.