In case you haven’t heard, FaceApp is the trending free photo editor app that can entirely change your look with the press of a button. It’s also the reason behind the flood of older-looking photos of your friends filling up your social media feeds.
The FaceApp challenge has reminded us that ageing is inevitable — and it affects us all differently (just see our team efforts below). The same is true for digital marketing trends.
Not all trends are created equal, and this recent obsession with our older-looking faces got us thinking about the ageing process – and how it affects marketing, too. Digital marketing fads come and go, but there are a few techniques that have matured beyond ‘trend’ status and are firmly here to stay. Here are three marketing methods with proven longevity that you should be adopting — or optimising — today.
1. PPC
Google AdWords (now Google Ads) launched back in 2000 – and has remained at the core of digital marketing ever since. Though it’s become a go-to tool for connecting businesses with target customers they might not reach organically, it’s evolved dramatically since it first arrived on the digital scene. Today, paid search ads have been shown to increase brand awareness by a massive 80%.
But successful Google Ads campaigns now go beyond basic keywords to consider target audience intent, automation, artificial intelligence (AI), mobile, and voice searches. The latest stats have revealed that mobile devices now account for over 50% of paid clicks, while video ads are clicked 73% more often than display banners.
Video, Shopping Ads, unique content creation and cross-channel marketing are also PPC trends that are here to stay — and will add significant value to a campaign.
Ultimately, within the hyper-competitive digital marketplace, carefully managed PPC campaigns are more crucial than ever — and when it comes to campaign exposure, outreach, lead generation, conversions and ROI, PPC still has the ability to generate results quickly.
2. SEO
Far from being on death’s door, SEO isn’t going anywhere any time soon. We as humans naturally want to search, and so long as there are engines — run by smart algorithms, AI or otherwise — there will always be a need for SEO. In fact, 93% of all online experiences still begin with a search engine, with 67k searches performed on Google every second.
It’s a far cry from its younger-looking self, with mobile-first indexing, site speed, content, links and images all making a significant impact on SEO in 2019.
You can get the basics — and find out more about Google’s latest SEO do’s and don’ts
Good SEO takes time, but the potential rewards mean it’s a worthwhile investment to make sure your pages stay optimised, visible and compliant with Google’s current policies and guidelines.
3. Content Marketing
Despite the emergence of new digital tools and technologies, good old content marketing is here to stay. It’s an approach that businesses have adopted for over a century and it’s still a go-to marketing method for connecting businesses with their audiences.
A study by the Content Marketing Institute revealed that content marketing gets three times more leads than paid search advertising, while a Social Media Examiner survey found that almost 70% of marketers used blogs in their social media content.
To make sure your content has longevity, it’s all about message (what you’ll say), strategy (when and how you’ll say it), visibility (where you’ll put it) and connectivity (who you’ll aim it at). High performing content can get your business and brand message closer to the people that matter — and it can also have a significant impact on your SEO, too. Talk about a win-win.