Business-to-consumer (B2C) sales have exploded over the past few years thanks to the pandemic and new digital technologies. According to BigCommerce, online stores can now launch in a matter of a few days. Becoming successful is another story, though, and will depend on how effectively you can promote your brand. The key is to identify a niche and develop a strong web marketing presence. They note that “marketing for online business isn’t optional” and that being proactive is the only way for your B2C company to survive.
B2C Digital Marketing Statistics
Even though B2C companies spend great deals on marketing their products, Omnicore reports that 70% cannot integrate their content appropriately and consistently enough to maximize sales. Better content can steer potential customers to your blogs by as much as 2,000%, and search engines like Google drive as much as 93% of all website traffic.
It is estimated that mobile devices influence over $1.4 trillion in local sales, and 18% of local searches lead to sales within one day! Are you missing out on these opportunities because your B2C company lacks a cohesive digital marketing strategy?
You may have an online storefront, but only 40% of WordPress websites are up to date. If yours is not optimized for smartphone use with social media platforms, you miss out on business.
More than 50% of mobile phone users also engage with voice recognition technology on their devices, and 87% of companies that use marketing videos claim that this has increased their website traffic. It has also been shown that organic SEO works about 5.66 times better than paid search ads, and 43% of online stores experience significant traffic from their own social media pages.
B2C Digital Marketing Trends
There’s no denying it: adding visuals to your content marketing plan is a crucial trend for the coming years. Outbrain explains that text-based posts do not keep audiences engaged as long as photos, videos, illustrations, and GIFs, so these should be included wherever possible in your posts and articles. Infographic templates and how-to guides are also on-trend because they are helpful and interactive for users.
User experiences are taking priority, and sites designed to make the most of a user’s time are the ones they patronize. E-commerce sites should be easy to navigate and well-designed with clearly visible text and colors that reflect your brand. The layouts should also be attractive, interactive, and responsive; otherwise, your potential customers will get frustrated or lose interest.
Your content has to fit your target audience. Someone searching for a new cellphone will not want to wade through pages upon pages of television sets.
Another trend to leverage is VR/AI. Perfect Search writes that voice recognition (VR) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) revenue is projected to increase from an $8 billion industry to around $12 billion by 2023.
This increase means that personalized search engines, virtual assistants, chatbots, audio searches, and language tools will continue to remain at the forefront of digital marketing as the metaverse continues to expand. B2C companies that support these interactions with consumers are better poised to meet the needs of the changing marketplace.
Privacy and Security
Besides investing in these new technologies and adjusting content to keep pace, B2C companies must continue prioritizing customer privacy and security. Recently, Google and Facebook have changed their ad policies, and those policies now target negligent marketers while protecting their vulnerable users. It is vital to be aware of all their updates and to adjust content and ads accordingly.
Like other industries, consumers will hold B2Cs more digitally accountable than ever before. Staying on top of how your media positions, portrays and performs in diversity, sustainability, equity, and inclusion is also crucial.
Users want to trust and remain loyal to their favorite brands, so they look for self-aware, authentic, and transparent companies. Does your content reflect this?
With so many B2C companies out there, consumers have the luxury of picking and choosing from countless online offerings. They have shorter attention spans, and if a brand disappoints them in any way, they are quick to move on.
Wordsmyth Creative Content Writing can help you devise and carry out a digital marketing strategy for 2022 and beyond if you want to step up to the competition and make your brand known. Contact us for a free consultation, and we will find the best ways to help you achieve your marketing goals.