Last week, we made it to the annual Online Marketing Rockstars Festival in Hamburg Messe, where we learned about the latest trends in digital marketing. Among the many interesting talks, master classes, expos, and more, we had a great time! Let’s have a look at some key takeaways in our recap.
From famous faces discussing brand creation such as Girlboss founder, Sophia Amoruso, to trends around AI changing the future of marketing, the OM Rockstars conference offered many different topics that ultimately interweave into 2018’s key trend: connecting online to the continuously-growing mobile user demographic. Many users online use mobile for consumption out of convenience, so it is no surprise that Google has stated that more than 50% of web search globally comes from mobile devices, surpassing the desktop. Here are five key recurring topics that were mentioned and discussed at the OM Rockstars that we would like to share:
1. Accelerated Mobile Pages AMP up exposure
Since its 2016 launch, Google’s Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) has since been aiding various platforms or sites online by preventing a broken flow between the user and site. DoubleClick by Google states that 53% of all mobile visits are abandoned if the mobile page site takes longer than three seconds to load. Online advertisers should consider AMP ads to keep users’ viewing and interaction times longer and more stable. AMP’s abitlity to effectively speed up adverts’ loading times enable more exposure for online publishers and advertisers. Thus, a boost in visibility would bring more engagement and potential loyal consumers onto online advertisers’ sites. We as plista were one of the first platforms to adapt AMP and offer it to our clients.
2. Social media platforms as a powerful communication tool
Mobile devices have surpassed tablets in collecting more users by a milestone. Through this, social networks such as Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat have taken advantage of hooking users to their platforms. Social media offers the most convenient way of not only connecting people online, but also passing on information. eMarketer states that in 2017, 2.48 billion users were on social media worldwide, which is 71.5% of internet users in the world. What is even more incredible is that this number will continue to increase over the next years. eMarketer projects that by 2021, the world will have 3.09 billion social network users. This means an increase to 74.6% internet users worldwide. In that case, online marketers are left to consider utilizing social media to their advantage when reaching their targets.
3. Influencer marketing gets personal
Social platforms enable users to get personal and access information in a customized way. For example, Instagram users can follow their friends, celebrities, and favorite brands. Instagram’s 800 million monthly users leave a huge market space for online advertisers to target. Thus, influencer marketing has skyrocketed in the last years. With over 7.5 million subscribers on Instagram, fitness influencer, Kayla Itsines acts as a human advert for businesses who sponsor her with their products in exchange for a shout out post on her social media channels. This is because influencers have the advantage of appealing to social network users on a personal level. Instagram users who seek fitness tips and inspiration will follow a fitness influencer’s page. Thus, the user’s trust on the influencer’s brand makes it more likely that the user will also trust the brands of the products related to the influencer.
4. Creative visuals are in the eye of the beholder
We recently talked about the importance of online advertisers and publishers considering to get more creative on the visual adverts. This is because mobile users seek convenience and to-the-point information to consume. To spice up their visuals, advertisers should consider Dynamic Creative Optimization ads or more video ad formats. Meanwhile, publishers can consider changing up their content by producing moving pieces or videos. Online marketers’ are sure to find competition in retaining high performance as mobile users’ preference in ad and content consumption are what makes or breaks the viewtime of a visual.
5. Storytelling stories as captivating content
Content marketing is also a hot topic since it is a flexible way for online marketers to attract and build trust with their audience. That said, building a potential loyalty to your service, product or brand is highly achievable through content. Relative to the previous trends, creating content that tells stories is the most effective way to connect to your audience. Whether it is visual, textual, or moving content, utilizing a storytelling piece will be sure to appeal to your target. Captivating content with stories are an effective way to conjure more user engagement while offering a better user experience.
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