It is officially 2019, and with the New Year comes all sorts of new trends that you need to keep up with in order to ensure 2019 is a successful one for your business.
In particular, there are plenty of new digital marketing trends that you should be aware of. Most of these trends you will recognize, as they have been slowly growing in years past. This year, you can no longer deny their popularity and importance! Let’s dive in.
In years past there was some speculation as to whether or not voice search would really take off, but we can now confirm that it has become a regular method of search for millions of people, and those numbers are only continuing to rise. As seen above, it is predicted that nearly 67 million people will use voice search at least once a month. That is up from around 45 million in 2016. Thanks to things like Apple’s Siri, Google Assistant, and Amazon’s Alexa, it is easier than ever to use your voice to do, well, just about anything.
Research also shows that by 2020 around 50% of all searches will be voice searches. This is the year to get on board with voice search and understand how it will impact your website and how people access your information. Instead of writing your copy with the intent of it being read, there is now more of a focus on writing copy that sounds good when spoken out loud.
You also should consider what types of keywords or phrases a person is likely to use when using voice search. This typically includes more long-tail keywords that are more conversational in nature and are typically in question format (for example: “what is the best way to pack your carry-on luggage?”) Make sure your content answers these types of questions that your target audience is likely to be asking.
Perhaps a result of how impatient the average consumer is today, AI, and in particular chatbots, are becoming incredibly popular. These bots can be programmed to do a variety of tasks and answer common questions your audience is asking. Instead of having to pick up the phone, or even start a live chat online with someone, a user can now ask a chatbot and get an answer instantly.
Thankfully, this trend will also help you save valuable time previously spent on answering these inquiries. It is projected that by 2020 25% of customer service will use some type of chatbot technology. This year in particular will see major growth and is the time to adopt this technology as more consumers come to expect this type of customer service. Set yourself apart from your competition by providing this type of service that saves you time, allows you to grow, and makes your customers happy!
Video marketing has been a major trend the past several years, and with good reason. It is an incredibly effective form of content that users love. Keep up your video marketing in 2019! This year, however, you should also focus on live video. This new trend in the video world allows brands to showcase their products and their overall brand identity through the use of live video that is not edited or overly produced. It is simply you and your products (or an influencer with your products- a very popular type of live video). These videos allow your users to get to know your brand on a different level, and is something that people really enjoy and connect with.
Keep in mind that even though the video is live, there should still be a solid content strategy in place. What will you focus on in your videos? Will it be a Q&A session? Demo? Product unveiling? You also need to decide which platform to focus on, as there are now several options available for live video. Depending on your brand and target demographic you can better decide if you should be going with Facebook Live, Instagram Live, Live on YouTube, or another service.
Personalization
Personalize your web push notifications by including things like a user’s first name
Personalization is another trend that isn’t new, but one that marketers have tended to avoid for years. While most see the benefit, many simply don’t know how to incorporate it into their marketing strategy. However, you can no longer use that as an excuse as more and more brands increase personalization in all of their marketing- from content at their website, to email, social media, and other marketing such as web push notifications.
96% of marketers agree that personalization helps improve customer relationships. We have long talked about the benefits of personalization as it relates to things like increasing sales, nurturing leads, and boosting website traffic. Web push is an excellent way to send personalized marketing campaigns, like the example above.
Personalization can be seen both in details like a user’s name, as well as (and most importantly) the content itself. As more and more brands get on board with personalization this becomes all the more crucial, as users are seeing content that is perfectly tailored to their interests. By utilizing proper segmentation you can craft campaigns (whether it be web push, email, or paid ads) that are relevant to your various customers.
Be sure to take the time to build your customer profiles and target them correctly with content and ads that are personalized to them in order to stay relevant in 2019.
Finally, in addition to voice search becoming more popular, so is what is known as visual search. In 2017 Google released their Google Lens, and Pinterest has also been involved as well with their Pinterest Lens feature. Instead of typing in a search query, all a person needs to do is point their smartphone at something, take a picture, and get results. In February of 2018, Pinterest recorded 600 million monthly visual searches, up from 250 million just the year before.
Visual search provides an improved user experience, as someone can find matching (or similar) products just by taking a photo. The results also tend to be more precise, which also improves the user experience. If you are an ecommerce brand with physical products, you need to focus on optimizing for visual search. In fact, 93% of consumers list visual factors as most important when deciding to make a purchase.
Prepare your site for visual search by optimizing all of your images (and making sure you’ve got great visual content!) Make sure your images are properly sized, mobile responsive, have proper alt tags, and more.
Wrapping Up
The digital marketing world is continuing to evolve in 2019. Search is continuing to change, with vocal and visual searches becoming the norm, video marketing continues to dominate along with new live video content, chatbots have become a user’s preferred way of gathering info, and of course content continues to need to be personalized and relevant in order to perform well.
Are you ready for the new year? Which new digital marketing trends are you planning to focus on most in 2019? Let us know by sending us a message!
Looking to get started with web push notifications? Get started for free with Aimtell, or learn more about web push by reading our Beginner’s Guide.
Tags:
digital marketing, digital marketing trends*, web push notifications.
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