Some Small Business Marketing Trends and Predictions for 2018
We may be flying right through 2018 at a crazy speed but that doesn’t mean that a lot can’t change. This is even the case for small business marketing. Small businesses have to focus a lot on their marketing because people knowing who they are and what they provide is vital to their survival. In order for them to thrive in their field, they have to be up to date with marketing trends. Leading experts have had their say and this is what they predict to happen in 2018:
· Personalised Small Business Marketing
As we go more into the future the more traditional marketing techniques will see less focus. For the most part, gone are the days of impersonal calls, generalised campaigns and stock images to spruce up your selling. People now want to have things tailored to their wants and needs. Small businesses will start to focus more on more personalised, targeted campaigns and will see better results because of it.
· Modern Tools
In order to become more targeted and personalised, small businesses must embrace and start to use modern tools. Techniques such as click segmentation and email marketing are much better suited to the new wave of marketing. For example, they allow you to send an email to a specific customer offering them a deal because you know they like a specific product that you sell. It is not possible to do this with a billboard or TV ad.
· Artificial Intelligence
You may have used an AI like Siri to ask what the weather will be like. Well now is the time for these AI’s to help us market our products and services. Small businesses will use these to help solve marketing problems and streamline their customer service. However, they are not ready to take over traditional media just yet due to the lack of human emotion that can be put in a robot.
· Social Advertising
While larger companies have been using Facebook ads for a while now they aren’t as prevalent in the small business field. 2018 will change this trend. Facebook ads will start to get more competitive and prices for them will rise as small businesses start to embrace it as a marketing technique.
· Cross-Channel Marketing
Most small businesses use several different people to be in charge of their different channels. They will have a person for Google, one for Twitter etc. but this is about to change. Small businesses will start using integrated strategies and be better off for it. This will allow them more focused marketing that will help them outperform competitors.