In today’s digital marketing world, trends and tools are constantly evolving and changing to appeal to the consumer – whether that be through social media, internet, television, or third-party applications (and this is just touching the surface). While the need for marketing has been and always will be essential – the way that businesses market their products and services, as well as what platforms they’re using, has changed drastically.
During the infancy of the world wide web in the 1990s, early adopters were already starting to see great marketing potential for reaching mass audiences at lower costs (compared to television) and therefore improving ROI. According to The Next Web, the digital landscape in 2019 is now accessible by nearly half of the entire global population – that’s 3.8 billion people. Given the massive number of people who have access to the web, it is crucial to understand the best ways to leverage the right marketing tools and strategies to benefit your business.
Here are seven trends to keep an eye out in 2019:
1. Chatbots are here to stay.
Customer service is a huge deciding factor in whether a consumer either starts or continues doing business with you. However, not everyone wants to take time out of their day to talk to a real person[HA2] over the phone or has time to do it over email. This is where chatbots come into play. AI gives chatbots the capability to process and fulfill customer requests through a series of questions and prompts. According to a Grand View Research report, the global chatbot market will reach nearly $1.3 billion by 2025 – an average annual growth rate of 24 percent with no signs of slowing down.
2. AI will continue to grow.
Google Home, Amazon Alexa, Siri, Apple Maps, and Netflix – want to know what each of these applications have in common? They all use AI to better predict behavior and decision-making patterns, creating an all-around better, more personalized experience for the user. Artificial intelligence will continue to be a part of our everyday lives – though there remain ethical concerns about devices becoming too smart. However, it’s wise for businesses to pay close attention to how they can utilize AI as well as how their competitors are using AI to hit their target markets and drive growth.
3. Voice search.
Voice-based sales in the U.S. reached nearly $2 billion in 2017, and experts believe that those numbers could reach as high as $40 billion by 2022. What this means is that your business needs to take any measure necessary to ensure that you are optimized for voice search.
4. Video is everything.
According to a survey published by the Pew Research Center, nearly 73% of adults are using YouTube online or on their smartphones to consume video content. Video digital marketing offers great benefits in that it combines a 20th century medium with the advanced technology of 21st century metric tools to accurately record and analyze performance.
5. Video ad spend will continue to increase.
2017 and 2018 experienced a dramatic shift in video ad spend. Companies and enterprises that once spent over 80% of their video ad spend on desktop platforms and have now shifted ad spend towards mobile platforms. According to Pubmatic, enterprises are spending almost half of their video ad spend on mobile compared to 17% in Q2 2017 (2019 Digital Marketing Trends, Criteo) – thus showing the growing need for businesses to reach their consumers through engaging video content that is mobile-friendly.
6. Email communications are getting more personalized.
Whether it be for personal-use or professional, email continues to be a widely-used channel of communication, and it’s crucial that marketers utilize it to its fullest advantage. Over the years, email marketing has evolved, and generic marketing email content has lost its effectiveness – meaning that businesses have gotten much more creative with email messaging. Today’s email marketing landscape combines automation and personalization to create a unique user experience that businesses find has resulted in higher conversion rates.
7. Quality content is still relevant.
Quality content continues to be significant in today’s marketing world, but there is now a bigger interest in creating specialized content that caters to specific industries and experts. Combining quality content that appeals to both wide-spread and specialized audiences, along with proper techniques and the right tools, can yield impressive results for businesses.
Contact the team at Traffic Jams for innovative and effective ways to enhance your digital marketing strategy. Give us a call at (855) 599-3999 and we’ll help you revamp your marketing strategy for complete success.
