Marketing trends in e-commerce change and evolve from one year to another. This involves not only the classic marketplaces, but also omni and multichannel structures. In this case, the marketing and ADV trends involve an information sharing system that is directly based both on the product of the information transmitter and on the brand image. We analyze together with MBK Fincom these trends in the industry and how these are applied on different marketplaces, fully or partly.
Current marketing trends fluctuate at specific times; first they have to deal with what is called the new normal, that is, the resumption of habits prior to the Covid pandemic. The exponential technological development, and the increasingly individualistic requests of users, in addition to the global awareness of sensitive contents, are some points that contribute to the continuous change of these trends.
However, in classic ADV, where brand X advertises product X, the intervention of marketing trends is crucial, as more structured and widespread reality making the situation more complex, by changing the dynamics of identification with the product. Brand X becomes the messenger of product Y, working according to the moment of the trends being analysed. Let’s see how settling between one branded and what hyperpopulated marketplace offers, as in the case of ProduceShop, to move according to autonomous schemes but in line with the current market.
What are the current marketing trends: 7 examples
Obviously, as in the previous articles, and remaining in line with our strategy, when speaking of marketing we are referring to Digital Marketing; we therefore only examined trends relating to online sales and ADV behaviours.
The Content is always first; the increasing demand, both by Big G and, above all, by users, for quality content, has made it necessary to create a whole range of professions related to creating content. We are not talking exclusively about written content (which occupies a large slice of the sector), but also about video, audio, games and much more. Not only texts full of keywords, but writing to get closer to the audience is the first guideline for every good copywriter.
Data Analysis is becoming increasingly more important: the demand for data analysts in the last two years has increased dramatically, because data is what keeps the wheels turning online. Knowing how to relate useful information and, above all, knowing how to translate it into usable representations by the business is a precious talent, which is why more than 60% of European companies today have a dedicated department doing it.
Automation is another novelty that is becoming increasingly popular: with Marketing Automation we refer to all the different software, developed in house or in the market, designed to facilitate the work of marketing departments by automating the most repetitive activities. For example, email marketing, campaign management, marketing analytics and all those kinds of operations, that does not require the personal / creative side, and can be managed in bulk automatically. It goes without saying that, by “delegating” part of the work to the machine, not only can we have an overview of the various activities, but we can maximize the effectiveness of each individual process.
The “human” variable
As an effect of a shared awareness between brands and users, brand activism has made its way, an evolution of brand purpose. The company no longer takes on just a mission, an ideal, but must actively and practically carry it out. Users therefore ask for incisive and significant actions (which often compromise the brand itself), demonstrating the company’s commitment to social and / or environmental cause.
Still in the wake of the commitment to the “humanization” of the company, employer branding is assumed to have a strong impact; statistics show that over 70% of candidates search online as much information as possible about the company they have applied for. EB consists of all those qualities, attributes and characteristics that qualify and distinguish a brand from its competitors; the key point is that it is the same employees and leaders who pass on all these values. The trend has grown in tandem with the increase in the demand for smart working. Lacking the sharing of spaces and live experiences in the office, many employees identify with the brand in external dynamics, at home, in everyday life, contributing to the brand authority in a (almost always) positive way.
The return of the “tech” side
Obviously, all the best practices related to the implementation of Social Media, SEO and UX in the digital marketing landscape cannot be missing.
The entry of new players in the social media landscape such as TikTok, Twitch or Clubhouse has led SMM employees to adapt their communication strategies. Content moves to more visual, more interactive types, which require constant updating and keeping up with the most recent viral trends. The positive side is the growth in employment demand, aimed at younger generations and in line with this way of communicating information and messages, which leads companies not only to create a new image, but also to increase employment for the generations that, in recent years, have begun to suffer from a stagnation in the labor market.
The SEO side is obviously always present: optimization for search engines today, is not only the crawlers that gathers the information that is present, but first of all users. From a Google oriented SEO perspective we are moving more and more to a semantic SEO, which aims at the quality of the content. The choice of keywords must also be made by virtue of the context, and the collaboration of the Copywriter with the SEO Specialists is becoming increasingly widespread. Closely connected is the User Experience discourse, which branches out on two interesting specifications: humanization and phygital.
UX today tends towards humanization through separate but connected channels. UX Writing is used to communicate with and guide the user in the most natural and familiar way possible with UX Design, which aims to make the User Journey as smooth and simple as possible. Finally, with the phygital dynamics (physical + digital), i.e. all those activities that represent a convergence between the physical and digital world; not just webinars that have become events and e-commerce that turn into pop-up stores. Let’s talk about taking advantage of augmented reality, for example, as in the ProduceShop interior furnishing project, to physically see the furniture we offer in your own personal space.
The intermediate trends: Focus On The Product
By Focus On The Product we don’t just mean product based marketing strategies; indeed, every ADV trend should point towards its own product, in a balanced way. The FOP attitude relates to the attention of the content part in enhancing the “bottom” of the funnel, ie the value of the product or service offered.
For example, creating a communication strategy that is based not only on “quality” (a word now banned from the copywriter vocabulary), not on the impressive benefits that follow the purchase, but on the value of the product / service itself and on the value proposition that we are trying to convey. You have to push on the context to make the product stand out, highlight how the before and after of that specific service are important in order to understand its importance. To do so requires professionals with extremely acute skills in foreseeing future situations.
Over time , MBK Fincom has implemented the ProduceShop marketing department with some talents from very different backgrounds, who bring that particular touch we are talking about to the different ADV dynamics. It is not just about specific training in economy, digital creation, IT or marketing fields. We are talking about degrees in literature, fashion, graphics, philosophy, journalism, management engineering, languages. All paths that contribute to creating an eclectic corporate profile, through which ProduceShop manages to present a complete, effective and, above all, multichannel marketing framework.
Choice of a “Smart Buy” philosophy
The conclusion (or at least the penultimate step) of the ProduceShop funnel is realized in the definition Smart Buy – Easy Life; it has become one of our mantras for user and customer satisfaction.
If, following various marketing researches, many large distributors offer a very wide range of choices for the same type of product, that eventually will lead to the consumer finding a suitable product (sometimes after long and not very user-friendly searches), MBK Fincom and ProduceShop have chosen a very different practice.
Starting from a process that includes the study of analytics, surveys, active benchmarking and analysing personas and purchasing behaviours. In the end, we have determining for each product category not a boundless range within which there is a senseless amount of possibilities, but only the most suitable / requested product, plus some variations of choices.
In this way the customer does not have to scroll through marketplace pages until he/she finds (or does not find) the best product; the smart part of the purchasing process is carried out by ProduceShop specifically for the customer.
Conclusion: focus on omnichannel marketing
If they were to ask what the perfect marketing strategy is, we would always answer only: none.
Ways of communicating change over time as society evolves. We have seen how in a few months consumption habits have been practically revolutionized (as we explain in another article). We have seen the transformation of the job market by talking about it here.
Now it’s about applying analytical skills and following the marketing trends; the rest is in the communication strategy, distributed on every possible channel in relation to the segment and product.
Sources:
- Corporate PR
- ProduceShop Marketing Division (https://mbkfincom.com)
- Digital 4 Biz
- DigitExport
- Deloitte
- Gartner
- PestleAnalysis
- News.SRL
- Guidance.com
- E-Commerce Nation
- Trading Economics
- Microsoft Dynamics