Looking back in the past couple of months of 2019, it seems that many marketers are playing it safe. While automation and new social media trends have made some changes, digital marketing hasn’t evolved all that much in the recent period.
However, what does the rest of 2019 have in store when it comes to marketing? Here are some interesting trends which will shape the rest of the year in digital marketing and what businesses can expect from these changes.
Push for more content
I’ll be the first to say it – I’m tired of hearing how content is king and how it gets incredible ROI compared to traditional outbound marketing. Content is everywhere and getting your message heard is becoming harder by the day. So why should you bother doing content as well?
Simply because content goes beyond marketing – there are plenty of ways you can use it to your advantage. Companies like Ahrefs have established themselves as thought leaders with the value they provide to their target audience. On the other hand, blogs like Buffer show the inner workings of a remote SaaS company and have many faithful followers.
The bottom line is – content does work, but only if you have a set strategy in place. There is no one-size-fits-all solution in content marketing and to stand out in 2019 with your content, you really have to go the extra mile. However, the end results are very much worth the effort.
Dive deep into chatbots
Once science fiction, chatbots are now a thing of reality and their cost has dropped so low that for the price of a few burgers per month, you can have your very own chatbot set up on your website. However, most entrepreneurs still cling to the belief that the use of chatbots is limited to customer support and basic inquiries about products and services.
The chatbot of the future is very different. Using artificial intelligence, these bots will be able to dig through your knowledge base, find a suitable answer and deliver it at the right time. These chatbots can even adopt a unique personality and you can tailor their language according to your specific industry and niche. In essence, the customer will have a hard time telling that they’re talking to a bot and not a human being. All of this will make chatbots an excellent solution for a multitude of uses that go beyond customer service.
Invest in video marketing
If you’ve been following the latest video marketing stats, there’s not a single number that’s not impressive. By 2021, 80% of all internet traffic will come from mobile. Whether it’s YouTube or social media, people will consume more and more video as time goes on.
With that in mind, it’s prime time to hop on the video marketing bandwagon. Even if you don’t have the manpower and resources to create video content, you should definitely give it a go. The barriers to entrance are lower than ever and many benefits of video (such as high ROI) are very promising. No matter your preferred platform (YouTube, social media, your own website), spending the extra bucks on video will be a worthwhile investment.
Host a podcast
Speaking of the low barrier to entrance, hosting a podcast is a marketing tactic that is bound to become even more popular with time. There are many benefits from podcasting, from making new business connections, presenting your company to a larger audience, getting high-quality traffic and backlinks and much more.
The best part is that all you need is a laptop and a high-quality microphone to get started. As you get into it, you can add other elements, such as banners and landing pages for specific guests. If you’re not that great with sound editing, it’s worth it to hire a freelancer to polish your final podcast drafts. Finally, it’s a good idea to spend the extra time figuring out the right questions for your guests.
Leverage social proof
Here’s some bad news – 84% of millennials don’t trust traditional advertising. The good news? They trust their peers and even strangers online and will consult their opinion before making a purchase. Social proof is one of the oldest tricks in the marketing book and it’s coming back in 2019, backed by new technologies.
Platforms such as crowdy.ai allow you to fully leverage social proof and turn your existing customers into advocates to get more new customers. For example, you can show recent conversions on your website, whether it’s purchases, sign-ups or something completely different. You can also show the number of visitors to your pages, the number of social media followers and much more. Any chance you have to use social proof in your marketing, you absolutely should, because it’s one of the very few outlets that consumers trust nowadays.
Conclusion
The world of marketing in 2019 won’t be exactly revolutionary. It will be about using old-school tactics combined with new technologies to get the maximum results with minimum investments in time and resources. The rest of the year will be marked with some new technologies brought on with automation, but the best results will still follow from tried tactics that have worked successfully in the years before.
