October 18, 2017

Top 10 Marketing Trends for 2018

It seems appropriate to start talking about marketing trends for 2018. Whether you are a law firm, a management firm or other professional service provider, you will be looking for a marketing edge in the coming year. Now is the time to audit your web presence, start thinking about new, outside the box marketing techniques, and strengthen your overall brand. An overcrowded digital space makes it hard to stand out, yet Millennials and newer generations look to mobile for information. Here are ten marketing trends for 2018 that will help you stay ahead of the curve.

Integrated Marketing Is Here To Stay

In 2018, a law firm, accounting firm, management firm or production company has several distribution channels to repurpose content. How do they all work together? Do your branding and public relations strategies adeptly and cohesively integrate with your social and web strategies? What types of messages are you sending? How are you differentiating from your competition. Properly integrating will make your whole greater than the sum of your parts.

Contrary to Some Beliefs, The Media is Your Friend

Nothing boosts your credibility like a third-party source. Stay up-to-date with current events involving your business and work with reporters to boost awareness. There is plenty of opportunity out there now that the news cycle is hourly rather than 24 hours.

Engage Your Community

A great way to organically establish strong brand awareness is through community outreach. By conducting charity campaigns or events via social media, you will be helping your local community and reinforcing that part of your brand strategy is to give back.

You Need Great Design

It amazes us that companies enter pitch meetings with poorly designed collateral materials. Or their online brochure, aka their website, is a sight for sore eyes. Smartphones and retina screens are made for high design. Focus on keyword rich, highly optimized content and house it in a beautiful design. That applies to a one sheet, a brochure or a website.

Credibility Through Online Reviews

Your internet reputation has never been more important. Online reviews of your firm can make or break your success. The majority of online users say that positive online reviews impact their decision to use a local service, and the more recent a review, the more likely a user is to trust it. While most of those users source their reviews from Google, Facebook, or Yelp, it is a good idea to embed a ratings system on your official website, where you can monitor and directly reply to incoming reviews. Remember: be gracious!

Keep The Content Flowing

A consistent stream of content offers a huge amount of value to your firm’s online presence. Third party platforms can help you schedule social media posts to let your connections and followers know you are active.

Social media has become a major resource of networking, advertising, and brand growth, and utilizing Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube to frequently interact with your audience can only augment your impressions.

Bump Up Content Quality

With content flooding the internet, posts that stand out are meaningful and thorough. Browsers are drawn to lengthier, well-written and interesting posts. If your content can stand on its own as informative and enjoyable to read, consumers will naturally be drawn to your brand.

Also, be sure to produce content that directly relates to the work of your firm, and try out different formats – like a FAQ article, a podcast or a blog series. While a consistent flow of keyword rich content is preferable, if you are limited in resources, spend more time developing a post that will make a splash rather than shooting out a stream of throwaway posts. Ultimately, people seek quality over quantity.

Content Goes Visual

Boost the appeal of your online content by adding visual elements, such as diagrams, videos, pictures or infographics. It is also a good idea to add creative headers that highlight the main points of your content. These visual cues will break up lengthy articles and will aid casual readers skim through the SEO rich content.

Statistically, visual elements will improve online interaction, including views, time on page and bounce rate. And taking it a step further, translating your written content to featured videos could be an impactful way to grab the attention of readers. Video has become the predominant way in which we consume information, and will dramatically enhance your reach. Remember to use your Google Webmaster Tools to track analytics.

Tracking Data

Data has never been more accessible. With just a few clicks, you can find out who is looking at your content and how they are accessing it. With this information, you can decide what types of posts work for your audience, and what you might want to discontinue. While marketing on the front-end has become commonplace, tracking digital analytics and SEO performance can factor into your online strategy and put you ahead of the game.

Traditional Advertising Modernized

While billboards, magazine spots, and TV ads have their place, advertising on modern channels is equally important. Running ads on Facebook, YouTube and local digital banners will bring you a modern audience who have easy access to your website and social media platforms. Be sure to direct these ads to sites related to your company, and customers will find you when they need to.

Integrating the above Marketing Strategies for 2018 will help you stand out from the pack.