The digital world has become integrated with everyday life. Marketing is only one of the many industries that have been changed forever by advancements in technology. With the recent COVID-19 pandemic forcing people to work from home, agencies were forced to develop their digital options. Today, we’ll be talking about some of the best ideas that we can thank technology for innovating.

Social Media

The World Wide Web was made for the express purpose of enabling communication all around the world. The best representation of this is through social media platforms. With humble beginnings in small chat rooms in the 90s, these small groups have become an entire social media empire. The likes of Twitter and Facebook have shown the great influence and power that social media wields. For marketing, social media has become the name of the game. Any brand or business has a social media page, lest they get drowned in the waves of progress.

Social media isn’t just limited to Twitter and Facebook either. Sites such as YouTube, Pinterest and even niche forums such as IMDB have their own large communities. Marketers are now able to have a back-and-forth with their clients. The ability to see responses to ideas and products in real-time is essential to your marketing power.

Blogging

This might seem like a hobby to some people, but blogging is one of the strongest tools in your marketing arsenal. Your blog contains several articles that are focused on your niche. 

Blogging is an entertaining way to inform your potential clients of what your business has to offer. From simple commentary on recent events to in-depth breakdowns of services/products you have, a blog is a great way to have long-term traffic for your business.

Blogging is also where a marketer can use a rather popular term: SEO Marketing. SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is how your articles get picked up on search engines. Whether your blog is about watching movies or giving lifestyle tips, make sure to seamlessly integrate keywords into your content. 

Remote Work

The pandemic has forced many businesses to adapt to a work-from-home environment. Though it was a difficult transition for many, the benefits of a remote setup were plain to see for all involved. Everything from project planning to newbie training is doable through platforms such as Slack and Skype.

In addition, many employees found themselves becoming more productive when working from home. As it turns out, commuting is a huge cause of stress. Plus, traffic could even cause them to be late. 

Removing the commute altogether has made many employees more effective than ever before. Of course, lots of people miss the office and other people. However, the option to work from home when needed is an important innovation.

Gamification

Everybody loves games, and the online world has provided this in spades. Marketing events such as giveaways, quizzes, and ARGs encourage user engagement.

A switch in people’s heads compelling them to play your games toggles itself. If they get a prize at the end, all the better. People are much happier about items when they feel they have earned them in some way.

Gamification isn’t just limited to material rewards. Social media sites such as Facebook even offer badges to signify Top Fans. That badge is satisfying to people who have followed your business loyally for a long time. Satisfaction means they are more likely to follow your business.

Online Surveys

A huge chunk of marketing expenses goes towards finding out what people want. Before the internet, you had to rely on sales analysis and paper surveys. Both of which, mind you, had to be done manually. 

Nowadays, asking your audience online is much easier. Posting a survey on your social media or through emails is cheaper, faster, and much easier to analyze than the old methods. People are also more likely to be receptive to online surveys, as it’s much more convenient than any pen and paper affair. 

Online surveys also let your customers be more honest, as they finish the survey on their terms. Lastly, using AI in doing surveys speeds up the entire process a thousand times faster than manually. In this way, the data you acquire is much more reliable.

Virality

The end goal of any marketing project is to gain traction. There is no better way to gain traction in today’s digital landscape than going viral. Word-of-mouth is still one of the best ways to get your brand stuck in people’s minds. The existence of the internet amplifies that a thousandfold. 

Virality is a fickle thing, but its effects are incredibly potent. Studying how one of your posts became viral is crucial to strengthening your data-driven intelligence.

Encouraging your customers to share your products through sales announcements or vlogs are good ways to go viral. Of course, viral marketing is much easier if you already have an existing audience for it.