Digital Marketing
in 2019
“It’s not enough just to attract the attention of the user with an ad that looks interesting”
It is true that TV commercials that block broadcasts, movies, or games are getting longer, but advertising has long since moved to the Internet and there are totally different rules there. What do we expect in the field of digital marketing in 2019? How do you adjust your strategy to the latest trends?
In the following, we will answer that and more, so do not change the channel.
Numerous companies are already creating their marketing strategies and budgets on the basis of advertising plans online, including online search ads, social networks, video platforms, mobile applications, and other channels.
There are three main reasons for this. Ads on the Internet are:
- cheaper
- more effective
- reaching more people from a precisely targeted group.
Now let’s look at the trends that stand out and why you should pay special attention in the coming period.
MARKETING CONTENT
Imagine that you have one million pounds at your disposal and you invest all that money in the creation of a banner to advertise on the Internet. Would this increase your sales and provide more users of your services?
We are sure of one thing – this would definitely bring more visitors to your site. But, if you do not have quality content, and if you do not offer visitors to the site what they are looking for, no one would have stayed on your site. And that, of course, would certainly not lead to an increase in sales.
Therefore, remember, firstly, the importance of internet marketing is the placement of content that has true value for your target group, which provides added value and is relevant, useful, informative, educational and interesting.
It’s not enough just to attract the attention of the user with an ad that looks interesting. We do not say, of course, that design is not important, but if your users do not see or read something that they really are interested in, they will not click on it.
That’s why marketing content takes an important place in the digital advertising sphere and will continue to be one of the main methods you should use in 2019 if you want a successful digital campaign.
Digital marketing content, among other things, includes:
- Regularly writing, publishing and promoting blog articles on your site
- writing so-called guest blogs (posted on other sites, most often linking to your web pages)
- creating high-quality photos and videos that describe your business or your products
- publishing educational and interesting content on your business profiles on social networks (for example, writing articles on LinkedIn)
organizing webinar or online courses - writing books and/or e-books on topics from your industry (which you can then offer for free, with the obligation to leave an email address to expand your mailing list)
- regular creation and sending of newsletters
The goal of this type of marketing is to consistently provide original, useful and interesting content to the target group, which will, in turn, bring you:
- brand recognition
- trust in your brand
- customer loyalty
- long-term business improvement
EMAIL MARKETING
Most websites offer the ability to subscribe to an email newsletter. We believe that you have subscribed to a few of them. It’s also likely you read them regularly as well if they provide you with useful information.
The essence of email marketing is to regularly notify recipients about novelties in your business, actions, blog articles, new products, and activities, but not in the form of direct advertising, but through a skillfully told story and interesting content that calls for action.
Campaigns are currently one of the most common types of digital marketing, and they owe their popularity to features such as:
- ease of creation
- automated sending process
- a unique way of promoting products, services, and sales
- access to a large number of people
- a sense of personalized messages
- the ability to influence purchasing decisions, and therefore increase the conversion rate
- the possibility of revision and additional adjustment based on insights into analytical data on user interaction with newsletter content
When creating a custom email for your campaign, it’s important that you first create a plan to distribute all email accounts evenly, and also take care of the deadlines. We also recommend that you write the content for several e-mails in advance. You can do for the entire campaign if it’s feasible.
One of the most popular e-mail marketing platforms is MailChimp, and tools such as ActiveCampaign, Ontraport, Emma, Sendlane and more are also more common.
ADVERTISING ON SOCIAL NETWORKS
The well-known rule of “be where your audience is” is most clearly seen in the example of social networks. What does this mean? This means that, if you have a photo studio, your Instagram profile will be the most important for your business. Consequently, it will also be a network where you will be able to publish the most meaningful content for your clients, by which you will build your reputation, raise awareness about the existence of your study, and increase the number of followers, and also potential users of your services.
Each of the social networks has its own logic and advantages, and Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn are among the most important and ubiquitous.
If you do not have a business page on a social networking site like Facebook, it’s high time to create it, as this is one of the most effective ways to keep in touch with your audience.
In addition, Facebook advertising continues to be one of the cheapest options for digital marketing, as it can reach up to several thousand people at a price of one dollar per day, targeted based on location, demographics, and interests.
Depending on the situation, on Facebook, you can also select the goal you want to achieve with advertising. It can be:
- Visiting your site and winning a large number of potential leads
- liking, sharing, commenting, and other types of engagements for that publication
- installing promotional mobile and desktop applications
- attracting more visitors to your e-store or event
One of the free promotion opportunities available is creating a Facebook group. The group will focus on topics from your industry. Here, you will be a moderator and have the opportunity to answer user questions, and thus present yourself as an expert in your industry. This will quickly and easily qualify your business as a trustworthy brand.
Facebook Live and Facebook Stories are other forms of free promotion through the organization of webinars, sharing business advice, educational materials, personal and professional experiences and more.
A few hundred million people daily use Instagram Stories. This makes this option one of the most popular free online promotion channels. Although the content will be deleted in 24 hours, you can save it as Highlights, or as prominent posts that are easily visible to anyone who visits your profile.
That’s why Instagram Stories should be your favorite place to publish new and interesting content.
The recent launch of the Instagram TV (IGTV) application has provided one more opportunity for video promotion. IGTV is an independent platform that can be accessed with Instagram. It allows users to create video clips of between 10 and 60 minutes.
When it comes to paid promotions on Instagram, influential people are still a popular choice. In 2019, however, it is expected that influencers with up to 50,000 followers will be in demand since they now have more credibility with audiences.
The reason for the abandonment of the profiles with a million plus followers is primarily due to an increasing number of profiles with purchased followers, which makes them non-authentic and inadequate for the placement of paid promotions. In addition, the prices of promotional announcements with extremely popular and influential people have become inaccessible to many companies that want to advertise that way.
LinkedIn has been neglected for a long time, but the popularity of this business social network has grown from year to year and currently has 560 million active users.
The fact that it is a network with the most business people, mostly those who are in managerial positions and actively involved in decision making, makes LinkedIn an excellent choice for promoting your business and building your brand’s reputation.
LinkedIn is also the network where you can target the audience with your paid ads since you can target based on the area in which they operate, companies, positions, years of work experience and many other parameters.
You can get interested and potential contacts in three ways:
- by re-engaging those who have already visited your website
- by integrating an existing mailing list and targeting contacts
- by launching marketing based on user accounts
LinkedIn offers truly diverse advertising opportunities ranging from sponsored posts, paid InMail campaigns, text and video ads, to an option called LinkedIn Elevate, which encourages your employees to share quality and relevant content, further enhancing the impact of the campaign and increases the credibility of the brand.
VIDEO MARKETING
Creating video content has become so popular that it stands out as a separate form of marketing, which also involves the adoption of a separate marketing strategy.
What makes video so popular? Firstly- the speed of the review. Over the years, statistics show that more than 80% of people prefer to watch video on the Internet rather than read text. Because watching is faster and more effective than reading.
As stated in the Video Marketing Guide, created by HubSpot, more than 50% of users actually expect video content from the brands they monitor or support. In contrast, only 18% of them expect blog articles.
In addition, it is stated that:
- 90% of customers make a decision on online shopping after a review of the video display of the product
- the video on the sales page can increase the conversion rate by as much as 80%
- the very meaning of the word video in the email address increases the scan rate by 19%
Therefore, we recommend that you include video content in your marketing strategy for 2019.
You can use video content for:
- description of your brand/application/ service (explainer video)
- demo display
- video tutorials and other types of online education
- video reviews of previous customers/users
- live broadcast from conferences and other events
- answering frequently asked questions (for example, for Facebook Live)
- 360-degree display
- snapshots of expanded or virtual reality
One of the tools that can be useful is Videokit. You can use it to create videos by simply merging photos, adding specific text and music.
You may also find interesting a new Chrome extension called Recast, which will help you to convert text content, such as a blog article, into a video clip.
AUDIO MARKETING
Under audio marketing, we mean above all podcasts, which have recently gained great popularity and have become one of the important promotion tools.
A podcast, like a blog, is not a channel that you will use for direct commercials, but that’s why it’s a very important way of marketing with content.
As an audio format that is published online in daily/weekly/ monthly episodes, the podcast is an ideal solution. It allows you to share helpful tips, secrets of crafts or interviews with successful colleagues/industry peers through original content with your audience, and also to promote your business. In so doing, you build a reputation and gain loyal followers, or listeners. These can easily become the most reliable customers of your products and loyal users of your services.
If you decide to launch podcasts on your business site (or on a separate platform) in 2019, this will be a significant competitive advantage over the competition.
ADVANCED ADVERTISING AND PERSONALISED ADVERTISING
Google is still the most popular search engine, and Google Ads continue to be a very popular way of promoting online searches. Changing the name from Google AdWords to Google Ads in 2018, Google decided to update and simplify online advertising. You can now create Pay Per Click (PPC) campaigns within channels such as online search, YouTube, folders, mobile apps and more.
In the offer of the Google Service, among other things, are now:
- smart campaigns for small and medium enterprises
- online sales ads
- local campaigns
- Convenient text ads
- Campaigns for hotels
In this way, different companies can quickly and easily reach more potential customers, and this is certainly the goal of PPC advertising. Bearing in mind the growing success of the Guglov algorithm in machine learning, a further increase in the popularity of the Google Ads campaign in 2019 is expected, with an increasing degree of personalisation.
MICRO MOMENTS MARKETING
Micro-moments are closely linked to advertising on Gugel. Namely, micro-moments are related to the behaviour of users in cases of direct decisions and arise at the moment of answering questions such as: what will I eat for lunch?, what restaurant should I to?, what to buy for a gift?, or where to repair a car.
Gugel at such moments corresponds to the paid ads it is placing:
- where it needs it
- then when it’s needed
- in front of those who at that moment most need it.
It’s not a novelty, of course, but given the increasingly frequent mobile search (where such ads are best placed), we point out that this is becoming a more and more popular way of advertising, and that trend will continue in 2019.
Each micro-moment contributes to a better insight into the behaviour of users on the Internet and their interaction with content, which highlights the importance of reviewing analytics for your site. This also indicates the importance of personalised online advertising
PERSONALISATION OF ADS
Since there is advertising on Google, there is also targeted ad placement on the basis of personal preferences of users and the knowledge that Google receives on the basis of search history, current location, interests, habits, everyday online behaviour and many other parameters.
How many times did you happen to, for example, search for hotels for your next trip, and then the next day, you’ll find online reservation lists of reservation platforms just about the hotels you were interested in?
It is not, however, no magic. This is the result of Google’s insight into your behaviour on the Internet, with the goal of giving each user what he is most likely interested in, and that’s exactly when he needs it. The result of such an approach is usually the increased number of customers or users.
That’s why we recommend you to do a thorough research into the behaviours, habits and needs of people from your target group at the beginning of 2019. In this way, you’ll find it much easier to reach them and create more personalised ads with much more success, which will continue to be trendy next year.
CONCLUSION
We believe that the best way to promote your business at the moment is through digital marketing. In 2019, as we see it, some of the already existing trends will continue, while some new techniques will take primacy, primarily relating to audio and video content, and personalised ads.
If you need help or would rather engage professionals for digital marketing campaigns, contact us and we will take care of forming a strategy and taking concrete steps and activities.
