2019 Digital Marketing Trends You Should Clutch With a Death Grip
Understanding today’s consumer will equip your business for stronger digital marketing tactics in the coming years.
Convenience is king (or queen). That’s the lesson that the last two decades of our online world has taught us. Even with all the would-be advancements in digital marketing technology, the most enduring trends are those that dial down on human motivation. Take this practical truth into consideration, and you’ll be able to tell the bankable opportunities from the marketing pitfalls.
With that in mind, let’s take a quick look at 3 key digital marketing trends that you need to grab onto for dear life. If you care to delve deeper, you’ll notice that each one is rooted in basic consumer psychology. By the end, you should have a clear game plan (yes, this is a post-Super Bowl piece) for tinkering with your own digital marketing strategy.
Trend #1 (of 3): Make it Personal
Do you ever feel like you’re being hunted by ads? Considering the sheer number of advertisements that we’re exposed to each day, you wouldn’t think it an issue. However, what makes my skin crawl is seeing a “personalized” (and I use this term loosely) advert related to a Google search I made mere minutes ago.
According to eMarketer, spending for these programmed advertisements is going to skyrocket within the next year until 90% of mobile ads are triggered this way. Talk about dialing down on a trend! If consumers have taught us anything however, it’s that they become increasingly resilient against advertising the more they are exposed to it.
Personalized marketing should focus less on sheer volume and more on quality and timing.
If you want a terrific, real world example of how this works, take a look at Target. They invested heavily in researching the important transitional moments in people’s lives, which is when they are most open to changing purchase habits. As a result of the company’s studies, they learned how to identify expectant mothers from their buying patterns and tailor effective digital promotions towards them.
Another excellent way to personalize your digital marketing is to take in voluntary information from your target market. Your mind may automatically jump to 5-minute surveys, but that’s only effective on loyal fans and highly-incentivized individuals. Instead, look for tools that simultaneously provide you with information and make the shopping experience more convenient (faster, simpler).
DoggyLoot offers a fantastic picture of personalized marketing. They customized their website so that users can streamline their shopping experience in less than a minute. Owners provide crucial details including breed, pet name, animal size, and gender. DoggyLoot then provides appropriate results that cut out unwanted products.
Remember that the ultimate goal of personalized marketing is to serve customers better. Answer these questions:
- Do my marketing tactics help my target market, or hassle them?
- Is my marketing making shopping easier or harder?
- How can I gather useful data without overstepping boundaries?
- Would I appreciate this marketing tactic if I was shopping elsewhere?
Best tools for personalized marketing: product recommendations, direct emails, social media ads
Trend #2 (of 3): Pursue Visual Strategies
Did you know that 65% of the population is composed of visual learners? That’s why no matter how many times you repeat those instructions to that fancy restaurant, your friend is going to look back with that same blank stare. It’s also why countless marketing strategies fail.
Visuals sell.
Visual marketing is an industry segment that features still-imagery, and (depending on who you ask) video content. I like to lump video into the mix for the simple reason that it seems dumb not to. In truth, visuals have always been integral to marketing efforts, because pictures are worth so so many words.
- Google continues to augment their search results with visual snippets. Top ranking websites utilize this knowledge and fill their content with bullet lists, infographics, and captioned pictures.
- YouTube now has the highest teen usage rate of any social media platform, above Facebook and Instagram. When it comes to shopping, many consumers consult YouTube video reviews before making important purchase decisions.
- Top social media influencers are now paid in the millions of dollars. Replacing traditional movie stars and pop idols, they can make or break sales for a product with one video review.
How can businesses orient themselves towards visual learners?
Update your website’s layout so that it’s more user friendly. This means fewer page-covering dropdown menus, for starters. Keep website navigation simple with a concise menu and an immediately visible call to action. Clean design works wonders for your site bounce rate, as fewer potential buyers flee in frustration.
Second, start linking social media content (especially Instagram and Facebook posts) back to your website. Embed YouTube videos in your site your site as well, even if it’s in a small blog section that’s updated every month. Organic (unpaid) reviews from enthusiastic fans make great content.
Speaking of YouTube, try approaching an influencer who’s subscribers match your target market. Ask them to perform an organic review of your product. Just make sure it’s a killer product; you don’t want a bad review. You can also offer to sponsor a usage video, which offers a practical way of promoting your product in action.
Best platforms for visual marketing: YouTube, Instagram, and company websites
Trend #3 (of 3): Optimize for Convenience (& Google)
This is a fancy way of saying “Make it easy for people to find your products.” If you deal in consumer products, you need to be ready for most of the ways potential customers search. That includes voice searches instigated through Siri, Alexa, Google, and other contenders.
Keyword optimization is a huge part of making your company search-ready.
Search engine optimization (SEO) doesn’t mean going and buying the most expensive keywords you can find. In fact, the right keywords rarely have the highest search volume. Find words searched by your target audience, then augment them with city, state localities. If you take the time to pepper these words (and variations) throughout your website, you’ll make it that much easier for people to find you through Google. If you need to, go back to the basics and read how Google’s search algorithms work.
If you really want people to find you quickly, make sure to take advantage of all the tools available from Google My Business. Nowadays, you can even post promotions that pop up when your business appears in Google Maps. If there’s an applicable industry review platform (like Yelp or TripAdvisor), taking advantage of these only helps your search rankings.
