Our resident digital expert Philip Montague explores the emerging trends set to shape digital marketing in 2025. From AI-driven content personalisation to local influencer partnerships and voice search optimisation.
I want to give you all an idea of where digital marketing is going over the next 1 to 2 years by exploring the most probable trends for 2025.
It’s important to understand that by using technology you can dramatically accelerate the growth of your business. It’s my experience that the things I’m outlining here are dramatically under used in the gun trade, even in the largest and most successful firms.
Take the following as where you could be, with a little time and investment, and allow yourself to explore at least one in the coming year.
Artificial intelligence powered content
I write my content here manually, and based on my knowledge and experience, but I use ChatGPT to do my research on the topics, not Google. I can explore an individual area in far greater detail, and far faster this way because ChatGPT will bring the most relevant information to the surface for me.
In 2025 the leading businesses will be layering AI between their expert content production and their customers to create highly personalised experiences. Imagine I write an article but then it’s tailored based on what a CRM and the internet knows about your business. It will automatically take the expertise and make it individually relevant to all my different customers.
Think about how you might use AI services to tailor what you produce for your customers.
Local influencer partnerships
You’ll have seen on social media, businesses like Swatcom and Yildiz make use of ‘influencers’ to promote their products to a wider, targeted audience. The volume here allows these businesses to see trends in purchasing based on these influencers’ involvement.
In 2025 businesses will begin developing more local partnerships with smaller, micro influencers. It’s far more budget friendly, and likely to shape your local market to your benefit.
Look at who you know that uses your services that has a small following on social media. What little thing can you do for that individual that might encourage them to openly promote their involvement with you. Perhaps someone that already bought a Browning from you, that you could drip feed with a bit of high margin apparel to. In return for them tagging your business in all their posts that year?
Voice search optimisation
I mentioned earlier this year that you should ask Siri, Alexa, and any other voice search devices you can get your hands on, ask them all about your business. Depending on the results you get back you will need to tailor what’s written about you online, where your written about, and what your Apple and Google business listings contain.
Again, make sure you’re looking at what words you use. If you search for shooting ground, clay shooting, gun club etc. You’ll get different results locally. You want people that are looking for those generic things to find your business. Lea Marston for example, on Apple Maps. They appear for all kinds of searches about guns and shooting. But not for the term shooting lessons. That’d be one to add to the description.
In 2025 this is going to become even more prevalent.
Employee generated content
You’d assume that you need a marketing person, or at least a delegated head to create content for your business, particularly for social media. As sharing content becomes more important for winning business there’s a greater use of employee generated content expected in 2025.
Allow the people that work for you to photograph and film their work where it’s appropriate. Ask them to send what they produce to you. Reward the things you want to see more of. Share them widely online.
This will foster an environment of sharing that makes it easier for potential customers to find, understand, and fall a little bit in love with what you’re doing before they ever arrive at the store.
First party data collection
As privacy regulations become more stringent, and for the gun trade as social media companies further constrain our ability to grow, it is becoming more important to collect contact information at the point of sale. Then to use these email addresses for example, to stay in touch directly.
Use every sale as an opportunity to ask for an email address. There’s a warranty with that, let me email you the details. I’d like to email you to remind you that your gun is in storage, is that okay? I will email you once a year to let you know this gun needs a service.
There are so many angles to this one, and if it’s a justifiable, sensible reason, then people very rarely object. Just be specific about what you will and won’t do with it. I’ll send you offers once a week, but never more often.
Falling behind
The world of buying and selling is continuing to change. The trade has a legislative advantage, in that people have to be present to buy a firearm or shotgun. But there’s a world of opportunity in selling to non-gun owners, and selling goods that can be shipped anywhere and to anyone for example.
Where businesses fail to utilise digital marketing to access a wider audience it minimises their chances to grow, makes them less resilient to changes outside their control, and ultimately means they won’t be able to compete with people that do embrace the change.
Please get in touch with me on Instagram @MontyShoots or email monty@mk38.co.uk with any questions. I’d be delighted to help.
You can read the full December 2024 issue below:
