1. Ads That Don’t Read Like Ads
Consumers are tired of traditional advertising, which they don’t trust anymore. Blame the Internet; it is easy to find reviews of nearly every product or service available. Consumers trust strangers more than they trust brands, so as a marketer, you have to give them what they want.
Gather images or videos of customers using or wearing your product by holding a contest. Promote the contest through social media and offer a free product or another small prize for winning entries. Use these images, with permission, in ads. Consumers like to see real people using a product. This is arguably one of the foremost digital marketing trends for 2019 and it will work for nearly all brands. Winners will share their image in your ad on social media, bring you potential new followers and fans.
2. Influencer/Advocate Digital Marketing Trends
Brands can use a digital marketing agency to discover and negotiate with digital influencers in relevant industries. You may create the content or the influencer will create it. Influencers on social media, especially YouTube, have a built-in audience that trusts the individual.
Advocate marketing is one of the latest digital marketing trends. Where influencers typically never tried your product before, advocates are passionate fans. Employees usually make good brand advocates. Use a marketing agency to develop content for them to post on social media unless they work in your in-house marketing department. Consumers will trust employees who are authentic in their praise, especially employees who use the products themselves or in their households. Nothing says quality baby care products than an employee who uses nothing else for their own baby.
3. Video Marketing
By 2019, video will account for 80 percent of the content consumed online. Finding a digital marketing agency that can produce engaging, high-quality video content is essential for dominating the competition. YouTube is still a viable platform, but innovative brands that want to take advantage of the latest digital marketing trends have to go where their target audience hangs out online. Facebook and Instagram are ideal platforms for brand videos.
Depending on your industry, the following videos can engage your audience; product videos, event videos, explainer videos, how-to videos and live videos. Use Facebook live for charity events your company hosts, presentations and interviews. Encourage audience interaction, by having answering questions.
4. Image Searches
Brands with visual appeal should start thinking in images as well as in keywords. They can take advantage of one of 2019’s hottest digital marketing trends; image searches. Pinterest already has Lens, a visual search engine that can show consumers what they are looking for and enable them to purchase it. Google and Bing are working on upgrading their visual search as are other companies. Quality visuals are vital as are descriptive file names and alt text.
5. More Visibility for CEOs on Social Media and Forums
Consumers like to hear about new products, changes to existing products and industry news from the CEO. This doesn’t mean a news alert on LinkedIn, people want a Facebook Live video or a post, answers on Quora or an article on Medium. Imagine asking a question of a brand on Facebook and receiving an answer straight from the CEO. You’ll brand loyalty will increase, even if you had a complaint.
Most CEOs and other C-level executives don’t have a lot of free time, but a few authentic messages are all it takes. When Matt Cutts worked for Google, a simple post or presentation of his received hundreds of thousands of views and shares. Higher CEO visibility is one of the few digital marketing trends that costs nothing to implement and offers an incredible ROI.
6. Showcasing Reviews
Reviews are user-generated content that are digital marketing gold. Posting reviews on your website is one of the most important digital marketing trends for 2019. Having a digital marketing agency set up up with an uncomplicated reviewing platform will encourage customers to leave reviews. Thank customers for positive reviews, promptly answer reviews with questions and politely respond to negative reviews.
Don’t fret over negative reviews unless most of your reviews are negative. Consumers know you can’t please everyone all the time and a few negative reviews increase consumers’ trust in your review platform. Offer a sincere apology to a customer that isn’t happy and show your website visitors you care about making things right.
Reviews are one way to build trust on your website.
7. Augmented Reality
Brands like Ikea are already using augmented reality to show consumers how a piece of furniture will look in their home. Online eyeglass companies can show consumers exactly how frames will look on their face; the technology can be adapted to nearly all high-ticket items. The trick to this and other digital marketing trends is to get consumers onboard by explaining the value to them. If you want someone to upload an image of their living room or their face; explain how this will help them make the best decision.
8. Content Marketing
Content marketing doubles as one of the most common and effective digital marketing trends and SEO tactics. Despite content marketing being one of the most talked-about digital marketing trends for the last several years, few marketing professionals understand how it differs from writing blog posts.
Content marketing is creating useful, engaging content that speaks directly to your desired audience. The latest content-based digital marketing trends include podcasts and webinars. A call to action at the end of the content is okay, but make the content about your industry, not your company.
Now’s the time to get started on adopting the most relevant of these digital marketing trends, if you haven’t already done so.
