Digital Marketing & E-commerce: A Look Into The Future

Digital Marketing & E-commerce: A Look Into The Future

Digital marketing and e-commerce are two essential aspects of any business today. Leveraging these, firms have the opportunity to reach and sell to their target audience with never-before-seen efficiency. The growth of innovative technologies in these areas provides businesses further opportunities to optimize their digital advertising and e-commerce strategy.

The future of digital marketing and e-commerce is looking very bright. It has become incredibly easy to buy and sell online. Experts predict the e-commerce industry to grow by almost $11 trillion between 2021 and 2025, while e-commerce sales are expected to reach $5 trillion in 2022. More and more businesses use these tools to reach their target audiences and sell their products and services. And as digital marketing and e-commerce become more popular, they will only become more critical for businesses.

Digital marketing is a broad term that covers a wide range of marketing activities. It can be anything from creating and managing digital ads to developing and managing digital content across different platforms. In general, digital marketing includes any form of marketing that uses digital technologies to reach and engage customers. This could include creating a website or blog, developing digital content (like ebooks or infographics), running digital ads (like Google AdWords or Facebook Ads), or using social media to build relationships with potential and current customers.

In 2021 alone, digital marketing made up almost 65% of overall ad spend, with early projections of roughly 50%

There’s no doubt that digital marketing will be even more critical in the future than it is today. Digital marketing has single-handedly provided entrepreneurs and small businesses with the opportunity to gain a competitive edge in their respective niches. This is especially true during the pandemic, as Canadians have attributed digital technology to their survival. Small business owners have noted that even after the pandemic (48%), that plan to continue selling online with the help of digital marketing. With more and more people using the internet as their primary source of information, businesses need to find ways to reach them where they are.

Digital marketing allows businesses to target specific demographics with laser precision. They can also track the results of their campaigns and make adjustments accordingly. This flexibility and accountability are why digital marketing is such a powerful tool. However, digital marketing will look slightly different in the future, according to digital advertising consultants and influential marketers.

The e-commerce industry is expected to grow by almost 11 trillion between 2021 and 2025

Which elements of digital marketing are bound to change?

A published report has noted that 85% of digital ads will be made through an automation process in the foreseeable future. In addition, the “how” of obtaining insights from a data analytics tool will also change. Through programmatic advertising, businesses can categorize audiences and configure ad space with intelligent technologies.

As digital marketing evolves, so too do the methods and strategies for advertising online. In the past, creating a successful digital ad campaign required a lot of manual work, from designing the ads to placing them on websites and monitoring their performance. Nowadays, however, much of that process can be automated, thanks to technological advances. This is good news for businesses that can now create and run digital ad campaigns with much less effort.

There are a few different ways that digital ads can be automated. One is through the use of programmatic advertising, which is a type of automated bidding on ad space. By mid-2020, the percentage of digital advertising implementing programmatic advertising increased to 83%. Programmatic advertising allows businesses to set some basic parameters for their ad campaigns. Then the software will do the rest, automatically placing ads on websites and adjusting bids to get the best results.

Increase in Personalization

The world of digital marketing has become dominated by search engine optimization, data analytics, and artificial intelligence. Using A.I., businesses will automate more digital processes and access data insights and robust digital marketing analytics that will help them make better business decisions. In the future, ads can be bought automatically and personalized based on an audience. In doing so, businesses can optimize their ROI (return on investment) by only placing ads in front of relevant viewers. 

Businesses and entrepreneurs will have to be more critical in the age of digital marketing. An ad’s precise language, for instance, communicates the brand’s confidence and intention. Consumers are more likely to choose brands with no reservations about their message. Contextual advertising will become more prominent within digital marketing, considering it is a targeting method that protects a user’s privacy but can also be personalized and highly customized.

Voice Search SEO

Digital marketing efforts will become more definite and objective with automated assistants. Research demonstrates that 55% of households are projected to own smart speaker devices by 2022, and 65% of users between 25-49 speak to a digital assistant at least once daily. The popularity of voice search continues to grow, regardless of whether it is Alexa, Siri, or other notable brands. In lieu of typing manually, more users want to be able to speak directly to a dedicated digital assistant.

The focus will be on new keywords and phrases people use daily. Digital marketers will be able to target more accurate voice search results with their advertising campaigns and boost their SEO efforts as voice recognition technologies develop.

 

Moving towards an “Omnichannel” Direction

Entrepreneurs and small businesses no longer rely solely on a Facebook page to establish their online presence. Businesses need to be active on various digital channels, such as Facebook, Instagram, or Linkedin, and platforms based on market expectations and consumer needs.

The business community will be able to communicate its core message and value proposition to specific target audiences via various mediums in the coming years. More businesses can understand their consumers’ changing behaviors and location through an omnichannel digital marketing strategy.

As more and more businesses embrace digital marketing, the future looks bright for this industry. We can expect to see even more innovation and creativity as businesses strive to stay ahead of the curve.

So what does this all mean for future advertising? We expect to see more focus on digital channels and more experimentation with new technologies and strategies. But one thing remains constant: the need to create compelling, relevant, and engaging content that speaks to your audience and drives results.

What is E-commerce?

E-commerce, also known as electronic commerce or online shopping, refers to the buying and selling of goods or services over the internet. Online stores may sell physical goods like clothes, books, and electronics, or digital goods like software, music, and ebooks. A popular e-commerce platform, Shopify, enables businesses to create their online stores, and just last year, an estimated 2,297 million active websites were using Shopify. There are various e-commerce platforms such as Big Commerce, Magento, Wix, Squarespace, and Salesforce Commerce Cloud. However, Amazon currently leads the e-commerce market, with experts predicting that its retail e-commerce sales will reach $729.76 billion in 2022.

There’s no doubt that e-commerce is on the rise. More and more people are shopping online for items large and small, and businesses are taking notice. Dropshipping, in particular, has become a popular e-commerce model due to its low start-up costs and ease of use. Dropshipping is a type of e-commerce where businesses sell products without carrying inventory.

E-commerce has become increasingly popular as it allows businesses and private individuals to build an online business where they can seamlessly manage payments, shipping, and fulfillment through selective platforms.

But what does the future hold for e-commerce? Will it continue to grow at its current pace? Or will it level off?

Here’s what experts are saying about the future of e-commerce:

1. E-commerce will continue to grow

Undoubtedly, e-commerce will continue to grow in popularity, considering expertise predictions that e-commerce sites will take up 22.3% of total retail sales. More and more consumers are comfortable making purchases online, and this trend is likely to continue as internet access becomes more widespread. There is an increasing demand for e-commerce sales, especially considering e-commerce retail sales worldwide have increased by 17.1% since 2015. 

2. Dropshipping will become more popular

Dropshipping is a particularly attractive e-commerce model for businesses due to its low start-up costs and ease of use. As e-commerce continues to grow, dropshipping is likely to become an increasingly popular option for businesses looking to get started in the e-commerce space. Now with influencers, drop-shippers can use influencer marketing to their advantage. Typically, brands work closely with influencers by sending them their products and asking them to create content using their products. On average, influencer marketing can help businesses generate $7.65 for each $1 invested in influencer marketing.

3. The future of e-commerce is mobile

Mobile commerce is already on the rise, and this trend will only continue. It seems to be an excellent method to shop through, considering 73% of consumers will switch from a poorly designed mobile site to one that makes purchasing easier. As consumers become more comfortable making purchases on their mobile devices, businesses must focus on providing an excellent mobile experience to stay competitive.

E-commerce platforms have become increasingly popular in recent years as they offer a convenient and efficient way to shop for products and services. A growing number of consumers are using e-commerce platforms to purchase clothing, electronics, and home goods. In addition, e-commerce platforms offer a wide variety of payment options, making them an attractive option for many consumers. On average, Amazon, the most popular online marketplace, ships 1.6 million packages daily.

4. Social media will play a more significant role in e-commerce

Social media is already a major player in e-commerce, and this trend will only continue. Using social media in e-commerce has proven to be worthwhile, as online stores with a social media presence have 32% more sales than the average store that is not on social media. As more businesses use social media to promote their products and reach potential customers, social media will become an increasingly important part of the e-commerce landscape.

A study by HubSpot showed that 36% of respondents have previously purchased from Facebook, 24.5% on Instagram, and 13.5% on Whatsapp. Many marketers utilize Facebook to target users they believe will potentially purchase a product from their brand. Brands build relationships with their customers and effectively attract interest to their brand. Instagram has also created Instagram shopping, where e-commerce brands can create an online storefront that allows Instagram users to discover their products through the tap of a button. Social media has aided in the increase of the e-commerce market in the U.S. The United States is the second largest e-commerce market, with revenue of U.S. $599 billion in 2021 alone. 

5. E-commerce will become more global

The e-commerce market is already global but is expected to become even more so. The e-commerce industry was valued at USD 9.09 trillion in 2019 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 14.7% between 2020 and 2027. As businesses expand their reach to new markets and consumers become more comfortable making cross-border purchases, e-commerce will continue to grow as a global phenomenon. It is expected to become even more so in the future. As businesses expand their reach to new markets and consumers become more comfortable making cross-border purchases, e-commerce will continue to grow as a global phenomenon.

A few countries often cited as leaders in e-commerce are the United States, China, and Japan. These countries have the world’s largest e-commerce markets and the most developed infrastructure for online shopping and delivery.

The e-commerce industry has seen a significant shift in the past year due to the outbreak of Covid-19. Many businesses have had to adjust their operations to accommodate the new reality of online shopping. The pandemic has also increased e-commerce sales, as more people are opting to shop from the comfort of their homes. This trend is expected to continue in the coming years as e-commerce becomes increasingly.

The e-commerce industry is booming, with businesses of all sizes looking to get a piece of the pie. But which industries are leading the pack when it comes to e-commerce? According to a recent report, the most e-commerce industries in the world are fashion and apparel, with expected sales of $1003.5 billion by 2025. Of course, e-commerce is not just limited to these industries. There are businesses in every sector that are finding success online. But these are the ones that are currently leading the pack.

E-commerce platforms such as Shopify have made it easier for businesses to start selling online. And with e-commerce continuing to increase, now is the time to start if you haven’t already.

So if you’re not already using digital marketing and e-commerce, now is the time to start. These two powerful tools can help you reach your target audience, sell your products and services, and grow your business.

What do you think the future holds for e-commerce and digital marketing? Let us know in the comments below!