How did digital marketing trends impact digital agencies in 2012?

The world of digital marketing is always evolving and marketers who provide their services to businesses need to stay on top of the current digital trends if they want to both meet their benchmark results and increase their return on investment.

Some of the digital marketing trends which came to fruition have had a considerable impact on how digital marketers approach their work for clients. Here are just a selection of the trends which occurred in 2012 and how they have changed digital marketing  approach adopted by various digital agencies.

Magnetic Content

The purpose of magnetic content is to increase positive brand awareness by acting as a supplement to paid media. It encourages leads to be generated by collecting consumer information in exchange for valuable content. Magnetic content is in effect a mixture of advertising and content and its broad appeal is that we’re attracted in by a great story.

A compelling idea which is brand-relevant and encourages your target market to think of your product as being relevant within their life is the purpose of magnetic content. The challenge for digital agencies is to make this connection and produce creative content which will potentially go viral across social media.

Integrated Marketing

In a world of technology, the way people consume digital media is changing. People have access to media 24/7 and with smart phones and tablets soaring in popularity it means we are becoming more interconnected. Staying relevant means enhancing your engagement and focussing on the customer so that they can receive your message easily, no matter what device they’re using.

Web design has arguably changed the most. Designers are now thinking about how their website layouts look when accessed on mobile devices and some are taking the option of creating new designs or mobile optimised sites. Integrated marketing which takes a multiplatform approach is now taking precedence too and QR codes and apps such as Viggle are enhancing the experience for consumers, changing the way we interact.

Location based services

Social apps such as Foursquare, Path or Ban.jo are leading the way in location based social media. Their prominence shows the importance society is now placing on context when it comes to communicating. The opportunity for businesses is endless and incorporating location based services into your digital marketing strategy can be a vital means of sharing your content on a much larger scale.

Social media metrics

Initially social media success was measured by how many likes a page had received, friends or followers that a profile had accumulated. These metrics are no longer satisfactory and many marketers want to see a return on investment. MarketingSherpa puts this figure at 20% from their 2011 marketer’s survey.

Soon, finding ways of incorporating social media metrics into their overall marketing plans will be the measure of success for a digital agency.