Marketing has changed more in the past five years than in the previous fifty. Digital marketing trends aren’t slowing down; in fact, they’re speeding up. The web, business operations, and AI have all opened up new avenues that smart and informed marketers can take advantage of to grow and expand business opportunities.
There’s no slowing down for the marketing trends that will continue to disrupt the entire industry. The digital marketplace is highly competitive, so you can’t afford to ignore the latest trends, whether you own a small business or a large one. Here are the new trends in digital marketing that you can’t afford to miss out on during 2019 and beyond.
Influencer Marketing
Influencer marketing will continue to evolve. This is all about finding the right person, or persons, that your niche audience can relate to and trust. This falls under the social media marketing umbrella. Social media is now all about engagement, greater authenticity, and transparency.
The days have passed when consumers place their full trust in celebrity endorsements. A more affordable digital marketing strategy is to hire small influencers. They are a lot cheaper to hire, and if they’re a niche expert, your audience can relate to them with trust. It’s possible to borrow someone else’s influence to boost your own branding and grow your online presence.
If not already, you’re going to start hearing a lot more about ephemeral content. Ephemeral content self-destructs after 24 hours. Content creation is still within the purview of marketers, but today’s consumer still has some control there. Remember, it’s all about telling a story with authenticity. Up to 86% of consumers who participated in surveys cited authenticity as a driving force that enables them to make informed buying decisions.
Marketers have also discovered that disappearing content creates a sense of urgency. People respond quicker, as they fear missing out on something important. Marketers design ephemeral content features to drive audience engagement and drive brand loyalty. The design features can include polls, swipe meters, and questions. Marketers can also harvest a lot of information from their findings. Instagram, for instance, allows businesses to interact with their audience in real time.
Conversational Marketing
Conversational marketing comes of age against the backdrop of artificial intelligence. It has become more common for marketers to put chatbots on websites. These chatbots now serve as sales and customer service representatives. Chatbots are a growing trend. The technology is getting more and more sophisticated. By 2020, at least 25% of businesses will allow the chatbots to stand in as customer service reps.
Conversational marketing aims to foster one-on-one relationships and personal conversations. This makes it one of the most important digital marketing trends of the day.
Personalized support is another way of looking at this type of marketing. Marketers can offer guidance at a time and place that best suits the customer. There are several platforms that apply like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and other similar platforms.
Customers today rely heavily on chatbots, live chat, and CRM systems. These are examples of the tools that can guide customers through their journey. These tools have the ability to connect sales, customer service, and marketing into one bundle. Future business will continue to develop ways of combining technology with genuine conversations.
Voice Search
Voice search comprises as much as 20% of Google queries. This number will only increase in the immediate future. By 2020, half of all Internet searches will likely come from voice search. Mobile search will have a powerful influence over this. As such, marketers will need to polish their content so that it’s more conversational.
Video Marketing
The world today has an appetite for video marketing. While it’s not necessarily a new trend, it’s still a powerful means of digital marketing that deserves a lot of attention and respect. Distributing and creating powerful video content becomes easier and more convenient by the day. Customers crave video. Expect social media platforms to make it increasingly easier to meet consumer demand. Now is the time to jump on the video bandwagon if you’re not already there.
Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain
You shouldn’t overlook AI and blockchain technologies, either. We know that blockchain has already disrupted how the world views financial systems. It only makes sense that this technology should expand in the world of digital marketing. Blockchain technology gives marketers greater control over how advertisers can use personal data. This will be a major factor in winning the respect and trust of consumers as well. When customers trust you, there’s a greater chance they’ll share information with their inner circle.
Artificial Intelligence Merges with Digital Marketing
More than 83% of Americans own a product or utilize services that use some sort of AI. Two examples are Siri and Echo. The power of these technologies can help to further personalize a brand with consumer experiences. This is perhaps one of the greatest benefits of digital marketing. These technologies are capable of offering an infinite amount of data. This is something that no human can possibly do for consumers. This enables in-the-know companies to design marketing campaigns that better match products with customer needs. Things have switched from a mobile-first world to an AI-first world.
Data Increases and Advanced Data Processing Capabilities
We’ve been in the era of big data for quite a while. However, what the industry is experiencing with big data today is nothing like what the world will experience tomorrow. Data collecting is growing at an exponential rate. As the Internet of Things increases, so will the amount of data that businesses can harvest.
Digital marketing technologies are beginning to catch up with the massive amounts of data that companies and data scientists collect. Expect technology to increase a marketer’s ability to hyper-personalize messaging. As it stands, consumers are still the ones to volunteer most of the data about themselves. AI will change this in the future.
Choosing the Right Digital Marketing Agency
There are many digital marketing teams from which to choose. One of the most important considerations is that you find an agency that’s the right cultural fit for your business. Take stock of your company’s budget. Demand full transparency from the company you choose. Consider a company that is innovative and creative to help your business stand out from the competition.
One of the best ways to grow your company is to partner with a full-service digital marketing agency that can walk you through all the SEO processes that can get your online business on the map. Call us now and get a free consultation!
