What Should You Include in your Digital Marketing Strategy in 2019?
What does digital marketing look like for the upcoming year? What new tools and trends are rising up in the pool of innovation? Where does your business stand in all the prep work for the latest and greatest?
Creating a marketing strategy that fits with the evolving digital landscape is crucial to staying ahead of the competition and reaching your target audience. Below are new trends in digital marketing technology that will improve your 2019 digital marketing strategy.
Augmented Reality
Shopping online has its perks of efficiency, comfort, and convenience. Many shoppers are keen on purchasing things online versus driving to the local boutique down the road and leaving the comfort of their home. Online shoppers tend to play a guessing game on whether that clothing item will fit, so augmented reality lets them see it on themselves before they make that purchase.
Furniture stores like IKEA have utilized AR to place furniture in the customers home for them to preview the product in place before it is purchased. This takes away the fear of a purchase not being the right fit. Another success story is L’Oreal who used AR to allow customers to preview makeup on their face before they make a purchase. L’Oreal found that customers are more likely to purchase a product after testing it using AR the same as if walking into a brick and mortar location and doing the same.
The rise of AR in the purchasing process has paved the way for AR ads. Snapchat and Facebook have developed AR ads that can be used like a filter. Many companies have taken advantage of this trend already and others are sure to follow with new innovative uses of this technology.
Social Media is King
Since its birth in 1997 with the supposed first social media network, Six Degrees, social media has taken ahold of advertising and redefined the customer voice. This innovative concept of connecting people via the internet has taken national campaigns into a global market. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, etc. connect users on a global scale. Social media allows the business to easily communicate with customers and bring a more relatable appeal to their brand. If your business is not on social media, you are missing out on an untapped market.
Towards the end of 2018, Facebook received a lot of backlash from data breaches, Cambridge Analytica and the use of targeted ads during the election. Even after these events, Facebook still has a steady amount of users. These users fall into the 30 – 55 year old range. Facebook is still at the forefront of social media advertising and is constantly shifting the sands of digital marketing as well. With a steady 2 billion users, we don’t see Facebook disappearing from the digital landscape in 2019.
After Facebook bought Instagram in 2012 with a whopping $1 billion, it has seen growth in users through updates that improve the user experience. Instagram has a heavy hand in stressing the value of quality content that engages it’s users through photographs and video sharing. Retail and food service accounts benefit the most from being on this social platform since it is very visually driven. Understanding what interest consumers is important when developing your strategy on this social platform. Currently, Instagram is one of the top platforms with users that are on average younger than 30 years old. Consider this platform when developing your 2019 digital marketing strategy.
Overall, social media isn’t going anywhere and businesses are jumping on the bandwagon more and more each day. Social media is paving the way in how we consume information and how we are served that information. Businesses are able to directly target audiences and serve ads to consumers who are interested in their products or aware of their brand. In 2019, you will see new social platforms and updates to existing ones that will continue to shape digital advertising.
Voice Search
Do you have Siri or Alexa? I’m sure first thing in the morning you’re asking ‘Hey Siri, what’s the weather look like today?’ or ‘Alexa, add milk to my shopping list.’ Voice searches have become more prevalent in our daily routine. As Artificial Intelligence evolves, it moves past listening to what we are asking and predicting our intent and behaviors. This enables a seamless user interface that integrates with our daily routines. Brands like Domino’s have started developing audio content that integrates with voice searches and brings an even more personalized experience to users.
Video Marketing
More and more businesses are including video marketing in their strategy and for 2019 there will be even more video-driven ads. Users are more likely to watch a video rather than read 2 – 3 sentences. As long as the video content is relevant and engaging it will be viewed. Just over 72% of businesses have said video marketing has improved their online conversions. Even more plan on including video in their 2019 marketing strategy.
Artificial Intelligence
As technology advances into 2019 we will see a rise in the use of artificial intelligence. More and more businesses are utilizing AI’s ability to analyze consumers online behavior and search patterns. AI is able to pull data across social media platforms, search engines and e-commerce sites to track how they find the products and services they are looking for. With this information, AI is able to adapt to accommodate the user experience at crucial touchpoints.
Chatbots
In 2019, you will see more and more businesses utilize Chatbots on their websites. The only time a consumer can be reached through your website is if they fill out a form. Chatbots add another avenue for conversion by engaging with consumers in real time on a website. These Chatbots are also able to track a consumers click patterns through a website and determine the best moment to engage.
Being able to touch your consumers the moment they are on your site is crucial to seeing conversions online. A Chatbot can communicate with potential consumers and point them towards your support team. Having a Chatbot on your website to respond to support questions will help redirect questions into queries.
Programmatic Advertising
AI is paving the way in programmatic advertising by allowing advertisers to be more specific when targeting audiences. AI gathers user data to help optimize ad placements across multiple platforms. Digital display advertising is on the rise and will see close to a 90% increase through 2019. We offer a digital display advertising package that utilizes AI technology to place your advertising in front of potential buyers.
Visual Searches
One example of a visual search is when you take a photograph of an item and AI technology scanning the image to match with more specific products across the web. Visual searches create another avenue for businesses to bring their products in front of potential buyers. Pinterest is one of the most prominent platforms that utilizes AI to conduct visual searches. Their visual search tool allows users to search an image to find out where
they can buy it online. Throughout 2019 you will find more e-commerce sites utilizing visual searches to streamline the online buying process.
How are you preparing your business for 2019? These trending strategies and technology are creating a seamless user experience and higher conversion rate for businesses. Think about ways your company can stand out by utilizing these tools and tactics. More and more businesses are marketing their products online and taking advantage of the opportunities that digital marketing has to offer. The digital landscape is evolving, are you ready for 2019? Contact us today to learn how we can partner to make your brand impossible to ignore.
Posted: Jan 16, 2019