With the expansion of technology, the overall state of digital marketing has changed drastically since 2009 when WunderLand Group was first created. The top trends and key marketing tools at that time are now outdated, which poses the question: what can we expect the world of marketing to look like in 2029? Here’s a look back at how marketing has evolved in the past 10 years.
2009 Marketing Trends
Google had only celebrated its 11th birthday, and the main focus among marketers 10 years ago was email marketing and pay-per-click (PPC), also known as search advertising. According to AdAge, search marketing accounted for almost half of Q2 2009 internet ad spending. At the time, nearly a third of all Google users also used Bing at least once a month and nearly 40% used Yahoo.
Aside from search marketing, social media marketing started to become a selling point for CMOs. Remember – 2009 was mid-recession. And as Forbes states, humans will always show traits of human behavior. When in crises (in this case, financial), we turn to one another for interaction, support and bonding, which is why social media boomed in the late 2000s. Since marketing budgets were tightly wound, marketers took to social media, which proved to be a much more cost-effective platform and had the opportunity to reach millions of users. While seeing the infinite upsides of leveraging social, marketers also noticed some downsides, one of them being that negative product reviews or complaints (particularly via Twitter) were easily accessible to the rest of the world causing a potential PR nightmare.
Another tactic that came out of the recession was discount marketing, according to Internet Marketing Inc. With emptied consumer pockets, brands (even the big ones) were looking for any way to keep their competitive edge. This was a time when many companies went through a brand refresh, redesigning their online materials. Because of this, the idea of bringing microsites and landing pages was brought to life. Blogging also became a popular venture, allowing consumers to share their thoughts on various industries and products that affected them directly.
2019 Marketing Trends
Fast forward to present day and topics like Artificial Intelligence (AI), voice interaction and content are everything. 10 years has passed and social media platforms are overcrowded and slightly outdated. All the content featured on these platforms are either disguised as click bait or the content doesn’t have the trust of the consumer, so of course, content has become king in winning over consumer values.
AI has joined the forefront in one of the most valuable forces in marketing. It allows marketers to look at valuable data sets and create influential findings that can transform businesses. According to Forbes, 90% of companies already use AI for customer journey improvements. The big hit with AI is that it delivers on its promises. It genuinely allows marketers to be more efficient, productive and accelerate marketing activities that are too manual for humans.
Voice interaction is increasing among mobile users, especially since the inception and evolution of digital assistants like Alexa and Siri. The trick for marketers is catering to the consumer’s intent when searching, especially since the way consumers search while typing versus while speaking is extremely different. It’s important for marketers to understand which keywords to target and what kind of content consumers are looking for when they’re at a computer versus speaking into their device.
For more information on the progression of marketing throughout the years, contact WunderLand Group today.
________________________________________________________________________
WunderLand Group is a full-service staffing and project studio fully dedicated to helping your creative, digital, and marketing projects succeed. Our experienced team is here and ready to start creating opportunities and connecting creative minds.
