The coronavirus hit the world in a highly devastating way and changed everything about our lives. It shifted several industries to work online and forced almost everyone to endure the growing pains of adjusting to a remote work lifestyle. This extreme digital shift has encouraged more people to spend time on the internet — especially for shopping purposes. In-store shopping was unheard of at the height of the pandemic, and businesses had to move their focus to their digital storefront. 

With more brands selling primarily online, it creates an immense amount of competition. Take advantage of these 5 emerging digital marketing trends to give your growing brand a leg up on the competition. From developing Shopify marketing and Klaviyo integration to utilizing social media, there is a way for every brand to reach its target audience. 

5 Digital Trends Growing Brands Need to Know — Shopify Marketing, Instagram Reels, and More

    1. Facebook Instant Experience Ads

As Shopify’s marketing + ecommerce abilities expand, so do other platform’s abilities, such as Facebook. Facebook’s Canvas ads are now Facebook Instant Experience ads, which leverage the high level of mobile app usage. Users spend as much as 90% of their time on apps, which is why it can be highly beneficial to take advantage of Facebook’s Instant Experience ads. Although it sounds like just a name change from Canvas to Instant Experience, it’s much more than that. Take a look at the new key features:

• Increased design options
• Re-engagement functionality
• New analytic capabilities 

The Instant Forms option is working to bridge the gap between increasing sales and decreasing the bounce rate. Instant Forms will allow companies to gather contact information of valuable leads without forcing them to navigate away from the Facebook application. This new Facebook feature is an incredible way to A/B test and receive the most accurate results, which will give your brand a way to optimize your entire sales funnel. 

     2. Google Shopping Ads

As mentioned before, the pandemic encouraged everyone worldwide to stay home and shop online. At the end of April 2020, Google made it free for stores to sell their products directly on Google. This change was made because of the hardships businesses faced due to COVID-19, and these changes will continue to impact the digital marketplace. Google shopping is here to stay, and taking advantage of Google Ads will expand your reach and give customers an easier way to purchase your products. 

The Google Ads appear when users search for products across Google and Google Shopping and can be one of the best ways to generate sales — if done correctly. As an eCommerce brand, most of your warm leads are searching for the best products on Google. Paying for Google Shopping ads can get your brand in front of these warm leads that are itching to make a purchase. These ads will have a photo attached to them, making them perform much better than a text-only advertisement. While making your product listings, you can optimize the product titles and descriptions as well. Not only will Google optimize your text, but it will also take your photos into consideration too. Here are a few ways to optimize your product images:

• Use HD photos
• Have a light cream or grey background 
• Your product should take up 75-90% of the image
• No text, watermarks, or logos unless they are on the product itself 
• Add images that show your product from different angles

    3. Klaviyo and Shopify Integration

Although email marketing has been around for years, it’s continuously evolving. It can cost almost nothing to send an email to your consumers, and it can bring your business high conversion rates while building a valuable customer relationship. Integrating Klaviyo into your Shopify website will allow your business to send more personalized and targeted communication to subscribers. Take a look at the key features of integrating Klaviyo and Shopify:

• Klaviyo collects and stores all data relevant to your customers 
• Build the most personalized experience for your consumers
• Send personalized emails to remind consumers to check out their products in their abandoned cart

This integration will also send emails to new subscribers to ensure that they are onboarded and feel valued as customers. With this integration, you can take advantage of the data Shopify collects to increase sales, build repeat customers, and encourage subscribers who have never purchased from your store. You can connect numerous triggers from Shopify to Klaviyo to send out emails to various groups of your subscribers. Those business owners who rely heavily on email to receive feedback, recommend products, and generate sales can now have the ability to expand their capabilities. 

    4. Instagram Reels

There is no doubt that social media has and will continue to play a pivotal role in digital marketing strategies. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and everything in between were first created for people to share their own lives with friends and family online. But with time, these platforms are now becoming prevalent marketing tools. Instagram has recently announced that there will now be ads in Instagram Reels, one of their newest features designed to compete with TikTok. These ads will look just like a Reel and appear between other clips with a ‘sponsored’ tag near the account’s username. 

The Reels feature is just shy of a year old, as it was released in August 2020. One of the best advantages of Reels is its ability to increase your engagement by putting out bite-sized videos. With TikTok’s insane rise in popularity, short video content is one of the most critical marketing tactics a brand should use. To optimize the number of views you receive on your Reels, share them on your main feed, your story, tag relevant accounts, and share them on other platforms like Facebook and TikTok. Any brand can use Reels in different ways to showcase their company, such as:

• Frequently asked questions
• Tutorials 
• Trends
• Trailers for long-form podcasts or videos 
• Listicle guides

     5. Google Analytics 4

Google is constantly evolving, and the search engine has rolled out its vision for the future of analytics and data tracking. Google Analytics 4 includes more integration with Google Ads, expanded predictive insights, more data controls, and the capability to measure analytics across devices. The most relevant features include:

• Every single activity a user takes is counted with Google Analytics 4
• Different sets of reports that were never available before 
• Automatically alert marketers to data trends
• Predict outcomes and assist the company in anticipating what customers will buy particular products

As third-party cookies are phasing out, it has led to the question — how do we gather data from customers now? The new Google Analytics 4 will not solve this problem altogether, and there still may be gaps from where cookies used to be, but these new analytics will give brands a complete cross-channel view of their consumer’s actions. The cross-channel view will provide marketers with the ability to predict customer actions and gain more insights efficiently. 

When it comes to the digital marketing space, it is constantly changing. There are always new trends, new technology, and new social media apps that marketers have to dissect. With Shopify and Klaviyo integrations, Instagram Reels, and Google Analytics 4 all at the forefront, it can be confusing to understand where to start — this is where we come in. At Responsival, we will help you develop a digital presence for your brand that works just as hard as you do. From web design and development to marketing, our services can get your name out there while capturing your business’s style. Contact us today to get started on your digital marketing journey!