Five Digital Trends That Will Stick Around For 2019
Digital Trends to look out for in 2019.
As we head into the new year, we find many businesses consider that it might be time to rethink their social media strategy for 2019. Around this time of year, we hear resolutions and goals being thrown around such as “This year I want to double my following” or “I’m going to much more ahead of my social media planning”, but how do you actually go about doing that?
To help our clients, we’ve pin pointed a few trends that are likely to stick around this year. Based on our own research and professional experience, below are a few digital marketing trends we suggest taking a look at for the upcoming year;
Content Will Still Reign
Content marketing will continue to be a crucial component of digital marketing. The quality is always going to be the focal point, but there’s also an increased interest in who the intended audience is. Having a more in depth understanding of a targeted market, and the ability to target that market more precisely is a rising trend in creating effective marketing.
While general content for the mass audience will always be important, specialised content for specific industries can also produce impressive results. A combination of specific content and constantly improving techniques for measuring content effectiveness, content marketing remains relevant and essential in 2019.
Video Marketing Continues To Rise
Video marketing will be the leader of digital trends in 2019. It is predicted that 80% of the online content will take up the form of visual representation. The videos will be the focal point of any marketing strategy as these will distribute the message in a better way while providing entertainment to the viewers.
Video has become a favourite form of communication since the rapid adoption of smartphones and social media apps. More than ever, we are seeing that video content does not have to have a high production value. Don’t shy away from pulling your smartphone out and recording a message to your potential customers about a recent win or to share some insights that will be valuable to them!
Chatbots Are Here To Stay
This AI based tech uses instant messaging to chat in real time, 24/7 with your customers or site visitors. Chatbots are here to stay as many customers prefer interacting with a chatbot as they are responsive, give answers almost immediately, they recall your entire buying history and best of all, they never lose patience.
Sephora is the perfect example of an advanced business. You can get all kinds of make-up tips if you chat to Sephora using the Kik App. The personal assistant feature also provides you with product reviews when you’re shopping in a store.
Email Is Getting More Personalised
Email continues to be a strong contender as a channel of communication with billions still using it for work, personal and commercial purposes. In fact, “Email remains a significantly more effective way to acquire customers than social media- nearly 40 times that of Facebook and Twitter combined”- McKinsey & Company.
In 2019, a combination of automation and more importantly, personalisation will make email marketing effective.
If you feel stuck on gaining a customer database, the easiest thing to do is run a competition. The old age marketing trick of attracting people to your brand by giving something away still works!
Storification
The stories format has boomed in 2018 on platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp. It is even being tested by Linkedin!
Brands need to consider that although posts with high resolution and quality production values are still important, less polished, more intimate content performs better in the stories format. Consumers often feel more comfortable with brands when to see raw but authentic, in the moment views into the backgrounds of brands.
It’s not too late to start planning your digital marketing strategy for 2019, and our sister company The Social Co Academy can help brush up those skills! Check out their training resources here.
Thinking about outsourcing your digital marketing strategy to an agency? Contact us today for more information.
