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Top 5 digital marketing trends your business needs in 2019

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Every year the advent of new technology gives birth to new digital marketing trends. Some of these trends are usually the network effects of technology that wasn’t widely adopted when it came out in yesteryears. Whether it is old or new technology, how it impacts your customer’s online behaviour is what is mission-critical. Any business owner that will manage to stay ahead of the curve in digital marketing will get to reap handsome dividends. Here are some notable trends to keep an eye on as you head into 2019.

1. Chatbots Are on the Rise

Chatbots have had a field day in 2018, and their use looks set to increase in 2019. A chatbot is a specialised piece of software that is designed to act as a virtual assistant to your customers. It is primarily text-based, but customers can also use voice input to interact with it. The core objective of a chatbot is to help a customer complete a task.

You can utilise chatbots in your digital marketing strategy by letting them handle the routine, repetitive issues your customers deal with. For example, you can use them to inform clients of their appointments, estimated package delivery time, etc.

Chatbots are predicted to help companies save $8 billion annually by 2022, and that can only stimulate their increased adoption in the coming year. One major corporation that has pioneered the aggressive use of bots is Facebook which uses them for all sorts of tasks. When you use chatbots, you free your human resources from handling frequent, repetitive tasks and as a result, they can direct their energy towards more difficult problem areas.

When thinking of deploying chatbots for your digital marketing push first determine whether you want to utilise it in a sales or customer service capacity. Keep in mind that bots are primarily meant to handle basic functions and you cannot as yet replace complex human interactions with them. If you’re not sure on how to capitalise on this trend, you can look at online digital marketing courses that can help you figure out how to do so.

2. Video is Still the King

When it comes to advertising in the online landscape, nothing delivers greater return on ad spend than video. By nature, the human brain is more attracted to visual material than written content. Add that to the fact that it is easier to watch a video than go through a lengthy article and you get a winning formula for digital marketing.

A particular side to video that gained prominence more than ever in 2018 has been live video. Sharing of live video content by consumers has grown, and it is now quite common to find users online sharing self-generated live video content on an almost daily basis. To get the results you want in 2019, you need to know how to best harness this particular trend.

Video, like any other type of online content marketing format, calls for the regular generation of valuable content to the customer. Once you brainstorm on all the things that you feel add value to your target clientele’s life and aspirations, decide on specific platforms to focus on so that you can grow in the consistency of presentation. Facebook Live and Instagram have proven to be the most popular platforms for live videos in 2018, and they are expected to keep the lead in 2019.

Remember that a core function of live video is to create an experience for the customer. Keep them fun and engaging as well and you will make inroads in your digital marketing reach.

3. Take Advantage of Micro Moments

In this mobile-first age, the time we spend on our cellphones generates a lot of micro-moments. These are moments where a customer expresses intent for example “I want to buy…,” “I want to see…,” “I want to know…” and “I want to do…”

Since micro-moments are physical displays of intent by clients, you need to be visible to take advantage of that need. Here, your digital marketing should focus on being brief to avoid confusing the target client. Social media ads ranging from 11 to 13 seconds will help you capitalise on the many micro-moments that happen throughout the day with potential customers.

The essential thing to remember is that your marketing will need to be precise and brief to draw the customer towards the solution you offer for their need at the moment.

4. Influencer Marketing With a Spin

The rise of the digital influencer has been well documented and is no longer a novel trend in digital marketing. The common practice here has been to use a celebrity to appeal to a broad customer base. While this has its merits, it is a short-lived strategy. If you seek to impact customer behaviour in the long haul local influencers are the new trend. They help deliver more long-term digital campaigns targeted at the customers in their locality.

5. Voice and Smart Speakers

There has been a slew of smart speakers that have hit the consumer market in 2018. Smart speakers are speakers connected to the internet and users speak when interacting with them. Voice-based user interaction is the next critical disruptive trend, and experts expect it to account for 50% of all online searches by 2020. Your digital marketing toolkit needs to be ready for it.

Analyse what your customers are looking for online and tailor your website to work in a complementary manner with voice. Customers use longer conversational phrases when searching using voice. You should, therefore, add these phrases to your online assets to rank higher on voice search engine results your customers receive.

Technology influences human behaviour, and digital marketing needs to notice these changes to communicate best. Automation of basic customer-facing tasks and the adoption of the voice-based search are some of the critical drivers of change in digital marketing that a business owner needs to stay on top of to reap the digital dividend of targeted marketing.

Contributors

Contributors

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