Digital Marketing News: What’s New in 2019?

Digital marketing trends are like fashion trends—things go in and out of style, and if you want to stay relevant, you must keep up. In 2019, there are certain trends that no business can afford to ignore if they want to be part of the conversation and to reach their audience in the right places. The truth is that the audience for your brand is always on the move online, and you need digital presence solutions that follow them.

If you’re unsure about the validity of the idea of digital marketing following trends, consider your own social media use. Chances are that you once used MySpace all the time, and now you can’t even remember what your account name was. More recently, you may have swapped your Facebook habit for scrolling Instagram. These digital trends represent how important it is to keep up the current landscape. If not, you could end up building a marketing strategy that is shouting into the void. Don’t let your marketing efforts go unnoticed. Put these trends on your 2019 to-do list.

Video Marketing

The move towards video marketing has been in play for several years, but in 2019, it definitely cannot be ignored. The numbers on video marketing don’t lie. Some 70% of consumers say that they have shared a video from a business, and over half of consumers say that seeing a video makes them feel more confident about purchases.

Videos are not just for YouTube. You can use them on any media platform, including your own website, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Sharing them on multiple platforms makes it easy for audience to encounter your video content and then share it.

Another trend within video marketing is for live videos. Although live videos are not right for every brand, going live on a video stream to give people a glimpse behind-the-scenes of your business or to preview an upcoming product generates real-time excitement. It’s a great way for your message to gain traction and reach new users.

Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing sometimes gets a bad rap. People are frustrated by celebrities pitching brands on Instagram that they seem to not even use. However, when done correctly, influencer marketing increases brand visibility and legitimacy.

The key to effective influencer marketing is finding the right influencers. It’s not all about broad name recognition, but rather, name recognition within the specific market segment that you are trying to reach. For example, if you are marketing food that is aimed at kids, getting known mommy bloggers and parenting journalists to talk about your products on their social media channels is much more effective than simply hiring a big-name actor.

Several brands are using market segment-specific influencers with great success to enhance awareness and improve brand perception and reputation. By setting specific goals for your influencer campaigns and selecting the right brand evangelists, you can reach these marketing benefits for your company.

Live Chat

Live Chat and Chatbots can use artificial intelligence, or AI, to communicate with customers around the clock. They have been used by tech savvy business for a few years now, but in 2019, more brands will need to adopt them in order to be competitive.

Imagine being able to communicate instantly with any customer who visits your website in order to deliver your marketing messages and clear up questions, without every having to have an employee actually working directly with them. That is exactly what a chatbot can do for your business. Unlike support staff, chatbots do not get frustrated with repetitive requests and don’t provide incorrect information, because everything is set to communicate your message.

As an added benefit, chatbots can save your business a significant amount of money, by letting some tasks be automated so that you can accomplish important tasks without the need to hire additional staff.

Micro-Moment Marketing

When consumers need something, they’re likely to reach for their smartphones to look up an option. When they see a choice, they usually make a decision to make a purchase or visit a business within seconds. These are called micro-moments, according to Google. Micro-moments tend to focus on things people want to do, places they want to go, food they want to eat, or information they want to know. They’re looking for quick answers, and they’re likely to pick the first solution they get.

As such, it is important for your brand to be the one that they see. Naturally, that means using SEO and PPC to rank highly in search engine results, but it also means making sure you are in the places in which consumers are looking during these micro-moments. If your restaurant is the first place that pops up in Google Maps for people looking for Chinese food, then you stand a good chance of being picked. If someone wants to see how to apply lip liner, ensuring that your makeup brand’s video is the first result on YouTube ensures that you make the connection with that customer.

Micro-moment marketing also focuses heavily on local digital marketing. Customers are using search terms that end in phrases like “near me” for these micro-moments. Your marketing efforts have to connect locally to be effective.

At Salem Surround, we know how to put these 2019 digital marketing trends to work for your brand. Wherever your customers are online, surround them with the right message at the right time. We work with national brands and local businesses alike, and no job is too large or too small. Whether you need to launch a digital marketing campaign from scratch or just need to update your approach to 2019, contact us today to learn more about how we can help.

 
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