Top Digital Marketing Trends for 2019

Digital marketing is a very critical part of the modern business environment. It is also developing quickly with new tools and technologies emerging every day. It is thus no longer enough to keep pace with current digital marketing methods.

The need of the hour is to look forward and stay ahead of the curve. By anticipating what’s coming up in the future and then taking positive steps in that direction, you can take your business to where it should be tomorrow. With 2018 almost two-thirds over, it is now time to study and evaluate the top probable digital marketing trends for 2019.

Artificial Intelligence Powered Solutions :-

If 2018 has seen brands take the first hesitant steps in experimenting with machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) applications, 2019 will refine them further and get it right. The value of AI in improving operational efficiencies, increasing productivity and getting higher customer satisfaction is becoming evident by the day.

The coming year will see customer-centric digital marketing reach new heights through AI-powered technologies. There will be better customer profiling, specific cutting-edge personalisation strategies and optimised trend analysis.

Marketers will use AI to understand customer behaviour, which content a customer is focussing on and whether it is marketing generated, user-generated or support and technical documents. This aspect will enable marketers to reach a targeted audience with a degree of precision and accuracy never seen before.

Businesses that seek to maximise technology in their functioning will be the greatest beneficiaries of AI because digital workflow will become more streamlined and easy to use. For example, digital marketers can maximise paid advertising campaigns for clients by using smart algorithms to evaluate the efficiency of their campaigns in real time.

There will be automated A/B testing with algorithms automatically updating themselves. It will enable marketers to modify campaigns in motion, thereby increasing ROI on marketing spend for clients.

Influencer Marketing :-

Traditionally, marketing has been the process of increasing brand awareness through ads in newspapers, radio and TV. While these routes are still widely used, the focus is slowly changing to online digital marketing campaigns.

In today’s era of the Internet, it is natural that marketers will tap into the online segment to get their message across. Celebrity endorsement is another aspect of marketing. This concept largely relies on the fact that people will buy products that are used by celebrities whom they aspire to emulate.

When online marketing strategies are combined with celebrity approval, the net result is influencer marketing. Influencer marketing, therefore, has two segments – online campaigns and using celebrities for product endorsements.

In the online section, the most significant influencer is probably Instagram, a picture based platform that is used to showcase products and announce new launches. Individuals with a “non-celebrity” status but with a vast following are roped in as people closely follow what they are doing.

Marketers often subtly advertise products by sending samples to them, hoping that they will use and publish photos on Instagram.

Facebook and YouTube are two routes that also ensure optimised marketing of products and services. In the endorsement section, there is often a misconception that someone with a massive following on social media is the right influencer.

In reality, an influencer is one who has the ability to change the conventional decision-making process of others and get them to do something different. This form of marketing is expected to be a reality in 2019.

Blogging For Lead Generation :-

Blogging is not merely about letting followers know about your company’s products and services, when done right by marketers it can establish you as an authority in this field, boost SEO and ensure higher lead generation.

When marketers create blogs that are educative about your industry, you can position yourself as a go-to resource in the eyes of your customers and audience. This aspect also increases the value of the pages published on your site and creates a positive impact on Google and other major search engines.

The resultant increase in rankings in search results pages attract more visitors, leading to higher conversions and sales.

When customers visit your site, you have to cash in on customer lifetime value. This is a process initiated through blogs that capture their personal information, a tool known as "lead generation".

Some of the more effective methods of lead generation that will be trendsetters for 2019 are using call-to-action buttons in the blog text, the "Hello" bar which spans a page and includes a CTA and offering unique content. E-commerce sites offer discounts for lead generation.

Marketers will also go for the “welcome redirect” and a WordPress plugin that will direct visitors to a section for lead capture before they can reach the blog post.

Voice Search As An SEO Strategy :-

Estimates show that by 2020, half of all search queries will be voice based, a trend that has picked up in 2018 and is slated to grow stronger in 2019. Consumers too are welcoming this intelligence voice search as it allows them hands-free surfing of the Internet.

Digital marketers will be adapting to voice search in the coming year when they devise SEO strategies. Rather than thinking about what searchers will type in, they will now have to consider what the searchers will speak.

This transition from the written text to the spoken word will be the defining factor for choosing keywords in an SEO campaign. The webpage content will have to be on a more conversational tone that aligns well with voice search.

Voice search is projected to be extensively used in the coming years on Smartphone handsets. Hence the priority of marketers will be to structure mobile friendly responsive sites for their clients.

Use of Blockchain in Digital :-

The technology behind Blockchain is a very recent one and crypto-currencies like Bitcoin are based on it. It is a decentralised database encrypted on a peer-to-peer network. Any transaction is represented by a "block" which has to be validated by all users of the network. Hence, all operations are entirely safe and secured from any external manipulations.

Blockchain technology will revolutionise the digital marketing scenario in 2019. In Blockchain, the middleman has no role - in finance that is the banks, and in advertising, it is Google that might find their role redundant.

A traditional advertising campaign is usually done on Google (or other search engines) Display Network and PPC services. However, Blockchain marketing assures the owner that the ads and the services are validated on the Blockchain and that for every click they will get paid fairly.

An advantage of Blockchain marketing is that the effectiveness of the campaigns is seamlessly monitored in real time and this can be used to maximise ad campaigns and ad frequency. Any campaign modifications can be made if needed to get the best ROI on market spend and increase conversion rates.

Marketing agencies that have geared up their systems to incorporate this technology into their strategies will undoubtedly steal a march over competitors in 2019. A leader in Blockchain marketing today is One Stop Media, an agency based in Melbourne, Australia.

Video Marketing :-

Years ago, the Washington Post had predicted that videos would drive almost 80% of all Internet traffic by 2019. That forecast makes sense today because the average attention span is short and people would rather watch videos than read a blog post.

Realising this trend, marketers are actively publishing videos on behalf of their clients on websites, from live product launches to behind-the-scene exciting nuggets of organisational information.

By actively engaging through videos on social media platforms, customers will be able to increase their reach and brand awareness manifold. Additionally, it is a very cost-effective medium. At any time and place, you can pull out your smartphone and stream live videos on Facebook. The coverage is almost unlimited in these cases.

Video marketing will become a useful tool since marketers will offer what the customer wants to know. When done well, video marketing produces impressive results. Studies have shown that a video in an email increases click-through rate by 200 to 300 per cent and one on a landing page increases conversion rates by 80%. It is food for thought for marketers in 2019.

Chatbot as a Marketing Tool :-

Chatbots and marketing automation is the technology of the future. Even though it is still in the nascent stages, IBM predicts that by the end of 2018, Chatbots will be driving almost 85% of all customer service interactions.

Implementation of this automated marketing technology will grow exponentially in 2019 and customers will get any information they want round the clock.

With the development of Chatbots, marketers are branching out in the development of conversational interfaces. This helps in answering FAQs immediately and users do not have to fill in lengthy forms for general queries.

Mobile Marketing Channels :-

Mobile phone users have grown exponentially in recent years and hence it is natural that organisations and marketers understand how to link up smartphone users in marketing strategies. Here are the top channels in mobile marketing used by marketers to create plans that will help the target audience find your site.

Organic Search:-

In 2019, as is now, the mobile will be the common point of most online searches. A Google study has shown that 65% of searches today originate from a smartphone and that percentage is proliferating, regardless of whether it is for online shopping or seeking information. Hence the focus of marketers will be on creating responsive websites that are equally compatible on all screen sizes.

Content Marketing:-

Content needs to be planned based on the device it will mainly be used on. For instance, the same Google study shows that PCs are primarily used for managing finances and other complex business activities while smartphones are used more for entertainment activities and communication. Marketers should keep this aspect in mind when creating content in 2019.

Mobile App Store:-

Mobile users, in general, spend about 10% more time on mobile apps than on the mobile web. Hence marketers in 2019 are likely to focus more on tapping the tremendous potential of mobile apps development for businesses that want to make full use of this highly interactive channel. Only if a robust mobile app strategy is worked out with great content will an app be found on such platforms as Apple App Store. Mobile search has today overtaken searches from other devices and hence marketers will be focussing on this segment in future.

Social Media Marketing :-

Social media marketing is not a new marketing tool, but with the increase in smartphone usage and unlimited access to the Internet, you can connect to any service online by just pressing the right buttons.

Marketers are increasingly using the social media platforms for creating brand awareness which, in 2019, will be integrated with more services. An estimated 90% of social media apps will share all user data with their audiences.

It will create a flawless and smooth experience across all third-party apps, an excellent opportunity for marketers to expand and offer better services.

Visual Search :-

The development of Pinterest Lens and Google Lens has fired up the battle for visual search engine supremacy. Apart from opening up new frontiers in e-commerce, the visual search will, in 2019, completely change consumer purchase decision making.

Visual search is still in its infancy but is predicted to improve website user experience leading to higher conversion rates and more traffic. In future, it is seen as a disruptive force for SEO and SEM even though it will not displace the utility and importance of text-based research and the use of keywords.

A few examples will illustrate what this visual search technology is all about. Just think of taking a picture of a restaurant and a search engine gives you all the information about its name, location, menu and peak demand times. Or you take a photograph of a bag carried by a stranger on the streets and the technology will help you order one right there.

Search engines rely on machine learning to enhance user experience. Google Lens can now identify objects within pictures and give you a host of information on them. This technology will be extensively used by marketers in 2019 to create optimised marketing strategies.

These are some of the trends that are expected to power optimised digital marketing strategies in 2019. However, technology is constantly evolving and many more new ones may be added in this last quarter of 2018.