Staying on Top of Marketing Best Practices

As we officially start summer (in the northern hemisphere, at least), it’s a good time to take stock of marketing progress so far in 2016 and look for opportunities to adjust for the rest of the year. Marketing is a constantly changing industry and it’s essential to regularly monitor best practices and trends while looking at how you can further optimize your own strategies. To help you stay on top of some of the most impactful trends, I’ve put together a list. 1. More and more mobile Ever since Google’s #Mobilegeddon update in April 2015, mobile optimization has been a top priority.Websites that don’t pass the minimal requirement as set out by Google will see their SEO rankings (and traffic) take a huge hit. Why this emphasis on mobile search and marketing?Mobile is increasingly where your customers are.Users now spend more of their digital time on their mobile devices than on desktops, laptops or other connected devices. So, if you can’t reach your target audience through mobile search or mobile browsing, you’re bound to lose many of them to the competition. 2. Storytelling on social Storytelling has been always been a cornerstone of good content marketing. But 2016 has seen more social media campaigns being built around stories – whether foundational stories, customer success stories or inspirational staff stories. These can not only help humanize your brand and draw readers in, but, if they make an emotional impact, your audience is much more likely to remember your brand and come back again. 3. Getting personal Understandably, personalization makes content and marketing much more effective. Luckily, you likely have a lot of data at your disposal to better target and personalize your content and offers to align with your shoppers’ interests and wants. 4. Overcoming content saturation With 4.6 billion pieces of content being produced every day online, competition for audiences is becoming even more fierce. To stand out, you need original, high-quality content in the best format for your unique audience. Biggest takeaway: keep adapting With so much change to stay on top of, it can be difficult to decide how to best allocate your resources and adjust your marketing efforts.Start by reviewing your goals for the year and your progress towards them. Not all trends will work for you but if you can continually test and optimize, you’re much more likely to find success. If there’s room for improvement, look at what is working for other brands online and test it with your company.