Cheat Sheet: Digital Marketing Trends 2019
How can you make money in digital marketing?
Well, if you are serious about earning as a marketer you have to get fresh ideas (which no one knows about, eek) and follow the trends. You always need to find the means to deliver the message in a way that users are not used to… or find powerful trends (meaning your users are shifting somewhere else, be it a new platform, social media channel or a new design trend).
Check out last year’s hottest affiliate trends.
Challenging? Not necessarily!
Let’s take a look at some of the biggest trends that will define the marketing industry in this upcoming year.
Voice Search
Some experts believe that more than half of all searches will be carried out through voice by 2020. That’s huge!
And, due to the popularity of smartwatches, smartphones, and other types of mobile devices, voice searches have become the new way to carry out a search while on the go.
This is why marketing need to start optimizing their content for voice-activated queries.
What does that mean? You have to switch to so-called “natural language search”. How is it different from the text search? Have a look:
Before the development of voice search, marketers had to focus mainly on short-tail keywords and include just a few long-tail variations to compliment these terms
Now that voice search is becoming the norm, marketers need to aim for long-tailed keywords that come in form of a question. Using keywords that target a specific location like a city or country will also help target voice searchers more precisely.
Micro-Moments
A micro-moment is defined as a scenario where a consumer turns to a digital device to complete an action. Let’s translate it to the language of mortals.
Users turn to their mobile phones the exact moment they want to know something about a certain thing. For example, you have a conversation with a friend or reading about something…and suddenly you have this urgent need to fact-check or clarify a certain fact.
“Oh, how old is Jennifer Lopez?”, “How many calories in this Oreo cookie?”, “Where to buy a zipper” – and so on. You get it, it’s completely random.
Think there are no stats on micro-moments? You definitely underestimate scientists. Consumers can experience more than 100 micro-moments each day.
A great method to take advantage of micro-moments is to set up personalized push notifications. For example, sending Push at lunch time, or offering stationary with “Back to school offer”… or diet product in January when everyone is about to “start a new life”.
Privacy and Data Security
Since the introduction of the GDPR, data security and privacy have taken the center stage at a global scale. Consumers are now focusing on how their information is used and they only want to visit platforms that ensure a safe environment.
Marketers need to make users feel safe whenever they interact with an ad, which you can achieve by putting disclaimers wherever you can.
What’s more, advertisers should follow standard security practices that include using an HTTPS protocol to prevent users from seeing any security warnings.
Finally, you should use words like “secure checkout” and make sure all your certificates are up-to-date.
Social Media Stories
Social media platforms introduced the Stories feature a few years ago. But, due to the increase in its popularity, marketers have to employ this feature in 2019. Why?
Facebook, Whatsapp, Instagram, and Snapchat Stories can help you interact with your audience while giving them a feel of exclusivity. It’s like you give a sneak peek into a private life of your business, something very-very “in-house”.
That’s why you don’t have to make stories look too polished and professional. Not perfect? Even better!
You can use them to carry out polls, launch exclusive promotions, and give shoutouts to your fans as well as your partner brands through a live video.
And, because they are only available for a limited period of time users are more likely to take a look, especially if you use location-based hashtags and geo-targeting.
Entertainment and Humor are Key
If you are looking to get more airtime for the product or offer and build a connection with your audience, you can start leveraging humor to entertain your potential customers.
A great way to include your audience is by employing user-generated content. You can create a promotion that encourages users to upload a creative picture or video sharing their favorite part of the product you promote.
Remember that you can also use memes and funny banners to show a humorous side to your business. Having a playful attitude will make you more approachable and show that you’re synchronized with your potential customers.
User-generated pieces and light-hearted content show off your business’s quality indirectly, which may give you an edge over your competitor’s repetitive strategies — so don’t shy away from a playful banner!
Native Ads
Some projections estimate that native ads will represent almost 59% of all digital display ad spending in the US. Native ads look like a part of the website, which means should get creative to reach users without being obvious.
Keep in mind that native ads should be updated on regular basis to avoid burning out users that are constantly seeing the same adverts. Moreover, marketers should optimize their native ads and verify that the targeting settings are not too narrow and that the bids are not too low.
Native ads are so effective that we’ve implemented them into our extensive advertising network. Our customers can now take advantage of this ad format and reach their potential customers without the potential disadvantages that come with conventional online adverts.
GIFs, User Experience, and Landing Pages
Finding attractive elements that improve aesthetics without diminishing usability or speed is critical. Having a subtle animation or a good GIF can help guide and engage your visitors, ultimately improving the user experience.
But, you need to be careful as overuse may actually lead to a frustrated user base.
You should use these animations to bring more attention to your ads and landing pages. Banners and native ads usually provide positive results when combined with subtle animations.
And, having one or two GIFs on your landing pages can keep users engaged while guiding them further down the buyer’s journey.
Did we forget something? Well, it’s time to fix it! Leave your comment below and tell us about other digital marketing trends.
