The marketing world is constantly changing — with new technologies and tools, it is increasingly important to stay up-to-date on the latest info to ensure success for your business. With the new year right around the corner, here are some marketing trends to look out for in 2019:
Consumers are less trusting of traditional advertising and marketing, so it is essential to be as honest and transparent as possible. Consumers are now putting more trust into other people when it comes to purchasing decisions, for they are three times more likely to say that content created by a consumer is authentic compared to content created by a brand. Because of this, user-generated content is key — persuade your consumers to share their experiences with your brand and leave reviews.
Consumers are talking to their technology now more than ever — almost 1/3 of the 3.5 billion searches performed on Google every day are voice searches. Experts even predict that 50% of all searches will be voice searches by the year 2020. Make sure your content is optimized for voice search by using simple, conversational language on your site. You should also localize your SEO strategy by using modifiers that give value to common keywords about your products or services (ex: “best” and “top”). For example, if you owned an Italian restaurant in Cleveland, include keywords such as “best pizza in Cleveland.”
You’ve probably been on a website and had a messenger box appear to ask if you needed any help. These chatbots allow companies to improve customer relationships and increase work productivity because they offer personalized customer service 24/7, allowing you to focus on more important work. Consumers like interacting with chatbots because they can quickly answer questions and sometimes have personalities. Chatbots can be incorporated into a website, app, or social media platform.
Consumers spend about 3 hours and 35 minutes a day on their smartphones — with all the available content, it can be hard to get your consumers to notice you. This has sparked a new form of consumer behavior known as micro-moments. Micro-moments occur when people instinctively turn to a device to act on a need to learn something, do something, or buy something. Because people make instant decisions on where they want to eat or what they want to buy, you need to provide the correct information at a moment’s notice. Make sure you are positioned where consumers search for information in the moment such as Google, Google Maps, and YouTube.
You probably think direct mail is dead because of the digital age, but it could be the thing that sets you apart from other businesses. Direct mail is the top channel for direct response and has an ROI of 29%, which is higher than paid search and online display ads. Use direct mail’s decline in popularity to your advantage by including it in your integrated marketing campaign to engage consumers that your competitors might be ignoring.
2019 will be all about creating an authentic, personalized experience for consumers. Remember to keep these trends in mind when executing your marketing campaigns to grow your business and reach your goals in 2019.
