Internet has divided our lives into before and after and has brought about changes in every sphere of our lives. Marketing is also taking advantage of all the opportunities that online world has to offer, like digital media, programmatic ads and e-commerce platforms.This article is an overview of the latest marketing trends online.

E-commerce and social media are growing and taking away customers from traditional retailers and media. Global Web Index Survey of over 50 thousand internet users all over the world found that among various social media platforms YouTube and Instagram have gained the most momentum over the last two years, even though Facebook is still the most popular platform. But if the trend continues, YouTube might overpass Facebook in the next couple of years. The amount of video content consumed by the internet users is growing, and advertisers are increasingly using video marketing to promote their goods and services. When it comes to social media, influencer marketing can be very effective, especially if an influencer has a loyal and highly involved audience.

Currently the leading internet ad platforms in the USA are Google and Facebook, and with targeted advertising, that these platforms provide a company can better optimize its marketing mix and get a higher ROMI. But other platforms like Amazon, Twitter and Pinterest are growing fast and taking their share of the market. The idea to use e-commerce platforms for advertising seems absolutely natural, because where else can you find so many potential customers ready for purchases. Ernst & Young also mentioned this trend in their 2019 report about Indian advertising sector opportunities and trends.

According to eMarketer research, and adult user in the USA spent 6.3 hours a day on digital media (laptop, mobile, OTT) in 2018 compared to 3.2 in 2010. Ad spending changed according to our media consumption, and in 2018 internet advertising spends amounted to about $110 bln. On the graph below you can see that mobile undermined the position of TV as the main media channel.

Other important trends include personalisation and interaction with your customers. People tend to have a more positive attitude to personalized marketing, and it helps to improve customer experience and increase brand loyalty. The key to successful personalisation is data and use of technology. Knowing clients’ search and offline activity companies can create better offers for them. But data is not only the key here, but also a problem, because GDPR forbids sharing personal data. Nothing is impossible though, and McKinsey found a way to gather data complying with the regulation and use it to optimize ROMI. Data has always been crucial for any business’s success, and today it’s also important to know how to manage it and use to your best advantage. To help companies with this task there are various data management tools and AI that can analyse big amounts of data, identify trends and patterns. Another application of AI is chatbots, which are on the rise now. They provide the necessary personalization and interaction with clients at any time and also improve customer experience. Programmatic advertising is yet another example of how AI can be used in marketing, it automates the process of media buying and maximizes ROMI. According to EMarketer estimates programmatic advertising spends in the US amounted to over $46 billion in 2018, and by 2020, 86% of all digital ads will be bought through automated channels.

Technological advances give companies to perform and promote their services better, the only thing they need is to understand what options are best for them. If you need to automate your marketing processes, there are various tools for that too. For example Adoptomedia offers a flexible platform that makes digital transformation of your business much easier. It can be integrated into existing IT infrastructure of a company to achieve the necessary level of transparency in cross department operations, verify compliance, manage contracts, provide visibility of numerous operations for C-level executives and set common KPIs. CheckMedia Solution is a new tool for strategic and tactical assistance in marketing, that increases ROMI by at least 10-20% and calculates it in real time.