Search Engine Marketing is growing rapidly. Many of the changes are because of the evolution of search engines themselves, others are due to innovations in other marketing channels. The US marketers increased their paid search investments to $60 billion in 2020. The emergence of new technologies has helped shape search marketing in many ways. It has helped marketers to be more creative with their marketing campaigns.

The internet has changed our lives dramatically, especially in the last 5 years. New technologies are constantly emerging and disrupting the way businesses function. The emergence of new technologies like AI, Virtual Reality, the Internet of Things (IoT), etc. specifically has a lot of impact on the way we conduct search marketing.

The following blog will look at seven such technologies that are changing search engine marketing for good.

#1 Voice Search

What better way to kickstart this list than with voice search. This technology has swiftly found its way into our day-to-day tasks. The number of voice assistants is estimated to reach 8.4 billion by 2024, overtaking the world population. So we know, this tech is here to stay for good.

Number of voice assistant users (in millions)

Now you know why there is a pressing need for businesses to adopt a voice search marketing strategy. Search engines want to display the most relevant result most easily and naturally possible. Google’s updates like BERT are adept with Natural Language Processing capabilities to better understand the context of voice search queries.

This means you have to modify your search marketing techniques to prepare for a voice-first approach. Consumers search with longer, conversational keywords which impacts your primary keyword research and on-page SEO. 

You can make the most of this technology by mapping questions coherent to the buyer’s journey. Leverage the 3.8 times faster loading speed of a voice search result to increase visibility to the users actively seeking to know more about your brand and who are willing to engage.

#2 Augmented Reality (AR)

The technology that was taken very lightly at first, has now proved its mettle through various marketing merits. The fact that 90% of companies with annual revenues ranging from $100 million to $1 billion are implementing AR and VR technology in some form has established its potential as a marketing channel as well as a brand differentiator.

Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) present ample opportunities to optimize the experience for eCommerce customers. There are many adept web design and development experts that can help you create a life-like customer journey, from browsing to purchasing.

Such designs are dominating the search marketing arena with innovative techniques. One of them is driving engagement through gamification. Google is adopting this idea in its maps feature wherein they focus on improving walking navigation through augmented reality

Interactive billboards to Snapchat lenses, all of these can become an integral part of your marketing campaigns. Virtual try-on and smart mirrors are changing the way people shop and eCommerce retailers and search engine marketers are adapting to convert these clicks into customers.

#3 Programmatic Advertising

When listing technological advancements, shaping the future, it feels mandatory to mention the domination of Artificial Intelligence. Here, it comes in the form of programmatic advertising. The technology has helped search marketers all over the globe get rid of the conventional methods to buy digital space for their ads.

The ad spending on the programmatic digital displays in the US continues to grow in double digits, even during the pandemic. The forecasts suggest that this trend will continue with programmatic advertising taking up 91.1% of the total digital ad spend in 2023.

The automation helps you better plan and optimize the ads without the hassle of proposals, quotes, and negotiations to buy digital advertising. The marketers are quite delighted to adopt the algorithmic advancement that decides where their ad money is best spent. However, this technology is still in its infancy and will take some time to grow to its full potential.

You can use programmatic advertising to avail the following benefits:

• Efficiently targeting customers across social media channels
• Enhance the value of your marketing messaging
• Expedite the transactions of digital media space

#4 Beacons

Beacons have been around since 2015 now. They are small Bluetooth signal transmitters that have a localized range. The technology uses push notifications to reach nearby clients. As a marketer, you can use this technology to display ads, discounts, or any other messages with the local population.

It is useful in search marketing as it helps collect the footfall and proximity data that can be used to develop SEO strategies. Beacons are extremely precise provide highly detailed location data in comparison to GPS or WiFi. 

This technology is suitable for brick and mortar stores for a precise understanding of how shoppers interact and navigate in their shops. They improve customer engagement through deeper insights. Renowned brands like target and Nordstrom have been making use of this technology for years now and have used it to bridge the gap between online shopping and the in-store experience.

#5 Visual Search

Visuals have always been known to impact the human brain prominently. It can identify images with 13 milliseconds. AI, however, trumps this number and is more efficient while producing search results.

The technology of visual search engines has transformed search marketing and continues to do so. It relies on neural networks that function through machine learning technology. Google has developed Lens, specifically to cater to the demand of visual searches as 62.2% of millennials preferred that medium.

The advancement of visual search technology can not only help to identify objects in an image but can help match them to your product listing, provide customer reviews and sort out the retailers.

So far, very few marketers have built image search into their web inventory with Pinterest being the face of this field. The technology can be utilized to optimize the schema markup and metadata of the images. With minimalism dawning new trends in the marketing department, you can expect the phrase “a picture is worth a thousand words” to come to life.

#6 Geofencing

First, let’s understand what does geofencing technology means exactly. In simple terms, it is the etching of virtual perimeter fences around a physical location using specific software. These boundaries or geofences can identify when a person or an object enters or leaves the demarcated virtual zone. This advanced technology makes it possible to trigger various events and actions when this happens.

This technology has elevated location-based search marketing to the next level. Google Ads offers location targeting, which is similar to geofencing, just without the boundaries of any perimeter. Alongside, Facebook Ads allow geofencing up to a one-mile radius and you can reach the target audience that steps inside your virtual fence.

You can curate ads and target them to potential leads who enter your geofencing boundary. The technology has multiple use cases. 

• You can target the audience visiting a specific event or a conference related to your niche with a special coupon or offer
• Gain an edge over your competitors by matching geofencing around their location. Publish ads with promotions or price matching messages to drive them to your store
• Increase customer retention and loyalty by targeting the audience who has previously visited your store.

You can bank on geofencing marketing to increase analytics, improve local reputation and the resulting sales. Narrowing down your audience through such ways is an integral way to maintain a concrete marketing budget.

#7 Internet of Things (IoT)

The Internet of Things can be described as any device that has an internet connection to it. These devices can exchange data to other systems and devices. These are not directly involved in the purchasing chain but are extremely useful to capture data related to consumer behavior. 

The mechanism behind the technology essentially encompasses 4 components; Sensors, gateway, cloud data, and user interface. IoT has made it possible to engage in predictive advertising that boosts engagement. 

These are devices like smartwatches, smartphones, voice assistants, and so on. The technology accelerates your search marketing ad campaigns through improved personalization. The number of connected devices a consumer possesses is directly proportional to the probability that they will come across your brand while browsing.

You can curate contextual advertisements that shoot up your conversion rate. Moreover, you can monitor consumer behavior with a refined lens through wearables that come under IoT and identify the value of IoT by understanding the semantics behind the search queries.

Conclusion

The internet is changing faster than ever and search marketing is growing with each passing year. The search engines have made several changes to their algorithms, which has had a huge impact on the search engine marketing industry. This impact has been so huge that it has affected both the technological and human sides of search marketing. 

New technologies are emerging every day, and these technologies are fundamentally changing the way people research and purchase products and services. These technologies have made it easier for businesses to leverage search engine marketing as a way to grow their business. As marketers, we need to stay up-to-date on the latest tools, trends, and strategies, or risk getting left behind.

Author Bio. :- Ronak Kothari is the founder of RONKOT, a full-service digital and printing agency specializing in web design, development, and digital marketing. With over a decade of hands-on experience in marketing, Ronak helps brands reach new heights.