7 Digital Marketing Trends That Will Give You an Edge in 2019—Part 1
The ultimate key to marketing is making sure you aren’t falling into a comfort zone. As soon as you get comfortable with the digital marketing tactics you are employing, the trends shift, and if you aren’t on top of them, you’ll be left behind.
At the same time, it’s impossible to implement all of the latest digital marketing trends into your business. That’s why we feel the best approach is to choose the ones that will help you stand out amongst your competition.
We’ve cut down the clutter and outlined 7 digital marketing trends for 2019 that will give you that edge. Here they are…
1) Website Speed Enhancement
Google has made it clear that website speed is essential if you want to rank. The Google speed update now issues penalties for slower sites, but even when companies try to follow Google's benchmarks, most still struggle to improve their speed.
Enter AMPs. Accelerated Mobile Pages help improve the speed of page loads on mobile devices, which in turn improves conversions.
It’s hard to grasp just how important this is, but this stat should give you some perspective: According to KISSmetrics, a 1-second delay in page response can result in a 7% reduction in conversions.
The AMP framework is simplified, which is why it allows pages to load quickly, so the downside is that the pages on your site that include it will be limited in terms of CSS and JavaScript. Smart Insights provides some in-depth information on AMPs here.
It’s also important to boost your site speed for desktop, and it is well worth the money to hire a web developer or SEO specialist who can make adjustments to accomplish that. You can also run a speed test here and then work through the list of suggestions they provide.
2) Omnichannel Marketing
As more and more marketing technology comes into play, businesses are running into silo issues. Their systems and software solutions aren’t integrated, and their view of their customer isn’t accurate as a result. Not only that, but their customers aren’t having the buying experience they deserve.
Omnichannel marketing allows customers to make purchases seamlessly across several touchpoints and channels. It goes beyond multichannel marketing, which simply allows people to complete transactions in multiple channels.
The customer journey of today is a complicated one. A consumer might begin browsing for a solution on their phone, read social media reviews on their iPad, and make the purchase on their laptop. It’s essential that you make the buying process as easy as possible for your customers, particularly if you offer e-commerce products. Using software such as Magento, BigCommerce, or Netsuite will provide a seamless buying experience for them.
3) Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence (AI) is showing up everywhere in every industry, including marketing. For example, chatbots provide an inexpensive way to boost customer satisfaction, and they are probably the most widely used AI technology in marketing today. This automated solution provides quick data-related responses 24/7, and it is patient, often with a little humor and personality as well.
AI is also used for programmatic advertising, otherwise known as automated ad buying. It targets audiences, anticipates who would engage with an ad, takes or passes on bid opportunities, and even provides companies with buying habit data, such as info on how customers find offerings and indications of when a customer is about to leave in favor of a competitor.
Other marketing automation solutions include lead generation, customer acquisition, brand awareness and engagement, and go-to-market strategies. The next few years are sure to come with more and more uses for artificial intelligence in the marketing arena, and it’s something every company should have on its radar.
4) Remarketing
Remarketing is not new, but it is poised to be the top digital advertising tactic of 2019 because it is so darn effective. Remarketing is when you show ads to people who have visited your website while they are browsing other websites.
It’s a well-known statistic in the sales industry that people need to have 6-8 touches before they are enticed to make a purchase. Remarketing is simply the online version of that strategy. It has been demonstrated that conversion rates improve the more times a viewer sees an ad, even though the click-through rate decreases.
There are many options available for remarketing:
- Google Ad Remarketing – Allows you to add a remarketing tag to your website. Then you build your ads in Google AdWords.
- Facebook Remarketing – Allows you to retarget a customer list, website traffic, app activity, and engagement on Facebook.
- AdRoll – Allows you to remarket on Facebook, Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft.
- RetargetLinks – Allows you to do link retargeting by creating a short link and sharing it on social media, emails, blogs, etc. When someone clicks on the link, they will see your ads.
5) Security
Customer data is now collected all over the place, and it’s great for businesses because it provides valuable information that helps them improve their digital marketing efforts. For example, it can help companies understand what is and isn't working and how to tailor their SEO to use the keywords their customers use; plus, it improves engagement, CTR, conversions, and customer satisfaction.
But with all of that goodness comes a huge responsibility, and your customers need to know that you’ve got their backs. It is absolutely critical that you take measures to ensure your customers' information is private, secure, and safe in your hands.
6) Transparency
In addition to putting an emphasis on security, you can’t forget about transparency. Honesty and integrity are key for all successful companies in 2019 (and beyond).
Be transparent about the good stuff and the bad stuff. You’d be amazed what people will forgive when honesty is present. At the very least, you should make every effort to be transparent about the data you collect, what you do with it, and how they can access it or delete it if they choose to do so.
7) Live Video & More Video
Video has been on the lists of the top digital marketing trends for almost a decade now, but it continues to remain there because it becomes more and more important with each passing year. This year, the trend is to use more video than you have in the past and to incorporate live video into your digital marketing tactics.
Why is video so important? Because it gets engagement. Wyzowl states that 70% of consumers say they have shared a brand's video and 72% of businesses say video improved their conversion rates.
Video is no longer just for YouTube. It is now used on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Companies are using videos for interviews; product demos; behind-the-scenes footage; event coverage; and as a way to strike a chord, educate, and entertain their audience.
There is really no place in your marketing that you shouldn’t be including video. If you’ve been posting mostly images and text on social media, start adding some video posts. If you have been using video but not live video, it’s time to go live. Many companies are also moving to personalized video messages through email and messenger apps.
Your Action Steps
It’s probably not possible to take action on all of these digital marketing trends, and it won’t serve you to overwhelm yourself with all of them. So, choose 1 or 2 that you think will benefit your company the most and set up some action steps to bring them into your strategy.
If you can’t find any in this article that you feel would benefit your business, click HERE to see 5 more digital marketing tactics that will be hot in 2019!
Once you’ve mastered those, you can always add additional tools and tricks to the mix. Of course, by then, it’s likely a new set of trends will be presenting themselves. In the marketing world, almost all of us are playing catch up to some extent, so don’t fret, and do your best to keep your marketing efforts relevant and timely.
At Viral Solutions we are committed to seeing YOU succeed. It is our goal to grow your business with proven digital marketing strategies that will help your business for the long haul.
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