With 2019 around the corner, it’s time to set out our predictions on the trends that we think will shape the digital marketing landscape in the New Year. Knowing the potential of these will help you define the best strategy for your business to keep ahead of the game.
Chatbots
Chatbot technology will be gaining more popularity in 2019. This technology is already allowing brands to improve customer service by saving them time and money. They help with screening issues to handle before they’re sent off to human staffers. They are also much quicker at finding the answers to technical questions than humans.
But don’t think this is just a static communication with a robot. This technology is becoming much more human-like. These chatbots have humour and personalities and offer tailored services to any customer seeking help, at any time.
Chatbots can be integrated with a website, an application or a social media platform. They store useful information that can be used for personalised marketing strategies afterward. HubSpot is a good example of an integrated software that allows you to use chatbots to automate your marketing in a more effective way. We at Extra Digital are already helping clients with leads conversion using this tool.
Voice Search
Personal assistant devices are leading the way in voice search and apps like Amazon’s Alexa, Apple’s Siri and Google Assistant are becoming increasingly popular.
What does this shift mean for your marketing? When running a traditional keyword search, Google gives you hundreds of results. However, when you ask your personal assistant device to give you an answer to a query, they normally provide you with a single answer. Being in a second position could mean that you lose the opportunity to be seen by your potential client, so making sure your SEO is voice proof will be one of the challenges for this coming year.
What could you do to start? Keep your page load time down, make sure your blog answers as many questions as possible around a topic without being afraid of being as extensive as you need – Google prefers to source voice search answers from long-form content.
Visual Search
Visual search is the other method gaining popularity. With visual search, users can get more specific results by uploading an image when running a search.
Google Lens is a clear example of a visual search engine, which recognises objects and other things visually using a camera app. By taking a picture of common items such as business cards or books you could get specific details like phone numbers, addresses or reviews.
The rise in visual search presents a huge opportunity for everyone but specifically for online retailers. Tailoring your SEO to visual search will become vital if the visual side plays an important part in your business.
Micro-moments
Marketing is all about being in the right place at the right time. Now, more than ever. In a saturated environment, users have become total experts at switching off their attention towards emails, promotions or ads. Micro-moments are a new type of customer behaviour that occurs when people actively turn to a device to act on a need, learn something or buy something.
Why are they going to be important in 2019? Because everyone makes instant decisions on what to buy or what restaurant they want to eat at. This means that your business has only a few seconds to catch their attention and it’s vital that you make the necessary efforts to appear at the top of these micro-moments. Giving your customers the information, solution or product they need at the exact moment in time should be one of your priorities for 2019.
Live videos
Ok, you won’t be surprised if we tell you that video is still on the rise. It’s estimated that by 2019, 80% of global Internet consumption will be video content.
Streaming videos may seem daunting and just helpful for those who have a fashion blog. If this what you think, you couldn’t be more wrong. Live video has the potential of connecting you with customers and prospects in a more instant and meaningful way. It shows authenticity which will help you improve the relationship with your audience.
If your business hasn’t jumped on the video trend yet, it’s now time to consider how this type of content could be introduced into your business. Our advice? Think of areas that could benefit from video content, consider going live to answer questions or give solutions to your clients and don’t be afraid of doing it! According to a study carried out by Stackla, 86% of people consider authenticity important when deciding what brands they like and support, so being authentic is the way to go!
What are trends to jump on?
As with all trends, some will take off and others will flounder. It's about knowing what's right for your business and which trends will have the greatest impact on your marketing.
If you wish to discuss your marketing strategy for 2019, give us a call! One of our experienced marketing consultants will be happy to help - +44 (0)1227 68 68 98
