As we continue to see more and more of what has become known as the "connected" or "digital" era, the term "trendy" becomes less defined. It is hard to say whether something is trendy or not because anything new can be considered trending depending on your perspective.

However, there are some trends that seem to have solidified in popularity and/or gone mainstream enough to be recognized as such. To make sure you are staying up-to-date on these trends, here are our top five hottest marketing trends for 2018.

1. Influencer marketing

Influencer marketing (also referred to as influencer outreach) has emerged as one of the most powerful tools used in today’s marketing strategies. Why? Because it works!

By adding influencers to your campaign, you increase the chance of people interacting with your product or service. You also get to use their influence to spread word about your products and services which further boosts exposure. Lastly, influencers are paid to promote brands so giving them the reward they want may very well expose the brand you're pitching at the same time.

The key thing to remember when doing influencer marketing is consistency. Make sure to keep posting content, responding to comments and messages, and producing engaging stories all the time even if you don't feel like it. Your followers will pick up on this and treat you with more respect than before.

2.

Productivity tips for marketers

Are you struggling to find the time to do your own marketing? Or are you given very little time due to workload, underproduction, or lack of leadership support? If so, it’s time to do something about it!

The amount of time most people spend online is rising rapidly (duh). According to Statista, an average person spends 9 hours per week on digital devices and services like Facebook, YouTube, and Netflix. The top media consumption apps each take up around 2-3 hours!

That’s one full work day that you’re not spending doing anything related to business. And we can’t stress this enough: even if you're in no position to make changes to how you manage your career at present, you CAN make changes to how you use technology for business.

How to boost your website's SEO

Even though SEO is touted as an ever-evolving process, there are some strategies that remain constant. When it comes down to it, SEO is about giving the right information to the right people at the right time via the right channel.

That means making sure your social media posts emphasize appropriate keywords, keeping your site easy to navigate for users, creating content you will be motivated to produce, and finding ways to reward yourself for hard work.

And don’t forget about mobile! The number of individuals using smartphones has exploded in the past few years, so make sure your online presence looks good across all screen sizes.

There are many free tools you can use to test the performance of your website easily. For example, Google Analytics allows you to see just how popular your site is, from where visitors come, to what pages they spend the most time on. You can also find out which keywords bring in the traffic.

How to create a social media presence

Starting your journey as an entrepreneur is never easy. There are so many things you need to learn, do, and become familiar with to keep your business afloat and successful.

One of the most important parts of starting and running a business is having a strong marketing strategy. This includes developing your website, finding supportive communities online, and creating engaging content that people will want to read.

With technology being integral to staying productive at work and home, it is very likely that there’s already a tool or two you're using for some part of your daily routine.

By incorporating these tools into your repertoire, you'll be maximizing their potential to help you achieve your goals.

You can add them to what you were doing before or find new ways to use them, either way, they're worth adding to your collection.

In this article, we'll talk about five trending digital marketing strategies to implement into your business. Some are free, while others cost nothing extra! No matter the price, all of these tips are valuable additions to your arsenal.

If you'd like to try any of these out, don't hesitate to pick and choose which ones you would like to test out. In fact, you could even make it a fun day job if you wanted to.

Tips for creating a marketing strategy

As seen with social media, trends are influence styles that grow in popularity. When those trends disappear, it is hard to know what pieces of your business or life you need to get rid of.

Just like with fashion, there are several ways to use trends as tools to improve your marketing effectiveness. Here are some tips to help you start using trends to enhance your marketing strategies.

You can find many online resources with fun and helpful ideas. There are even freebies available! Many of these apps have interactive features or at least easy access so you can test out the app and see how they work before buying a premium account.

This article will go more in depth about how to use trends to boost your marketing efforts but first, let’s look at some basics.

Time to reflect on how you can grow your business

As we move forward into 2018, it is time to look back at what worked for your business this past year and evaluate if there are any areas that need some improvement.

This includes looking at the strategies you used to promote your company, the products or services you marketed, as well as the channels through which you communicated with customers.

By taking an honest look at the things that didn’t work, you will be able to fix the problems and make sure nothing like this happens again. You also have the opportunity to create new lessons and apply them to future projects.

You don’t want to skip these reviews, because they are important for keeping your business moving forward.

Ways to get more leads

As we mentioned, marketing is an ever-evolving process that shifts with trends and technology. Technology has made it easy for almost anyone to create their own channel of business or influence through social media sites like Facebook and Twitter.

By having your personal profile on these sites, you are giving people a way to connect with you and learn about you! Yoursness and engaging content will attract new followers who may want your help or advice.

You can also do direct advertisements on these sites by creating an advertisement or sponsored tweet, post, etc. People reading the site would see your message and be inclined to click on it or buy the product if it sounds interesting.

Ways to improve customer service

Changing how you interact with customers can strengthen your business and inspire repeat purchases. Focusing on the latter is one of the best ways to stay motivated as a marketer.

Running a small business means there are always going to be people who don’t like what you offer or don't like you!

As a seller, you will earn dissatisfied customers every now and then - that is just part of doing business.

But, instead of letting these negative comments roll off your back, try giving more thoughtful answers to their questions and complaints. Listen to them, understand where they're coming from, and address those issues head-on!

Avoid being too promotional about your products and services. Instead, emphasize quality over quantity.

Your clients will feel better knowing that they got good value for their money. At the same time, you'll gain some credibility in the community.

Tips for managing your marketing budget

Even though you've chosen to invest in advertising, sifting through all of the advertisements can be overwhelming. There are so many ways that people advertise these days it can feel impossible to keep up with everything!

That is why it is important to focus on developing your social media profile pictures and cover photos that will stick out. Yours could emphasize your business or contain something witty that will draw attention.

Your header and footer images should also get some love – they play an integral part in making your website look professional.

Running a low-budget site may seem appealing at first, but as time goes on, you'll start to notice a lack of engagement.