5 Digital Marketing Trends That You Can’t Afford to Ignore

Many technologies and trends have disrupted the digital world in the past. For example, Facebook marked the beginning of a new era in digital marketing when they went public in 2006. Today, almost every brand (local or global) uses this and several other social media platforms for marketing.

The digital landscape will witness a few disruptive trends in 2019 as well. You will need to understand those trends to turn your digital marketing strategy into a smashing success. If not, you will be left behind.

With 2019 well underway, you must have already started implementing your new digital marketing strategy. Still, it isn’t too late to take a look at the key digital marketing trends for 2019 and to align your strategy accordingly.

Here are five martech trends that will be ruling 2019.

1. Micro-Moments

Google coined the term micro-moments to refer to a new type of consumer behavior. Micro-moments are moments or instances when consumers act on their need. Based on their needs, the four micro-moments are –

  • I-want-to-know moments: Consumers are just exploring. They are not necessarily interested in buying.
  • I-want-to-go moments: Consumers are looking for a local business with the intent to buy.
  • I-want-to-do moments: Consumers intend to learn or complete a task.
  • I-want-to-buy moments: Consumers are searching for a product or service with a clear intent to buy.

The concept of micro-moments comes from the fact that people usually make instant decisions. Ultimately, these micro-moments will lead to the desired action by consumers at any stages of their buying journey.

Focusing your digital marketing strategy on recognizing and understanding these four key micro-moments will result in better sales conversions in 2019. However, these moments last only for a few seconds. That’s why, as a marketer, you need to provide the right information to your consumers at the right time.

For example, take a person comparing two pairs of shoes. The person will need to know why one of them is a better choice than the other in just seconds. If not, they will probably leave the page and move on, probably forever. So, you need to dive in and guide the customer promptly.

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2. Voice Search

Voice search is also growing fast. According to the 2018 Voice Search for Local Business Study, 58% of consumers have used voice search to find local business information in the last 12 months before the study. It also stated that 76% of smart speaker users perform local searches at least weekly with 53% of them using these devices every day.

The increasing demand for smart speakers is the driving force behind rapid voice search growth. According to a September 2018 survey by Voicebot, nearly 57.8 million Americans (which is around 23% of U.S. adults) had at least one smart speaker. There was a 22% growth in smart speaker ownership between January 2018 and September 2018. 

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The ability of voice assistants such as Alexa, Siri, and Google has improved considerably over the years. As a result, an increasing number of people are using voice search to find local businesses, hail cabs, order food, and find their favorite entertainment (songs, movies, TV shows, and podcasts) online. So, tailoring your marketing strategy can boost your local SEO substantially in 2019.

3. Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR)

Both AR and VR offer tremendous opportunities for improving the online shopping experience. By 2022, the augmented and virtual reality market is expected to reach a market size of $209.2 billion.

digital marketing trends 2019

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While augmented reality layers videos and images on top of reality, virtual reality focuses on creating an immersive experience through visuals. They both have the potential to reshape the world of online retail. In fact, some global brands have already embraced AR to improve consumer engagement.

Leading low-cost furniture retailer Ikea is one of these few brands. It introduced an AR app to provide online consumers with immersive shopping experience without leaving the comfort of their home. The Ikea Place app provides 3-D renderings from different angles of over 2,000 products. You can preview even large items such as a sofa to make an informed decision. IKEA is expecting their online sales to reach $5.9 billion by 2020 with the help of this AR app.

4. Advanced Personalization

Personalization is fast becoming the backbone of digital marketing. Around 98% of the marketers agree that personalization helps advance customer relationships, while 74% of them claim that it leads to a “strong” or “extreme” impact. Nearly 9 out of 10 (88%) also state that their customers and prospects expect a personalized experience.

Many brands have made use of personalized digital marketing successfully in the past. For example, Starbucks used its gamified mobile app to offer a personalized shopping experience to its customers. The global coffee brand used information such as purchase history and location to make the Starbucks Rewards Program as personal as possible. The program helped increase revenue to an astonishing $2.65 billion.

5. Demand for Authentic Content

Along with personalization, consumers also want brands to share authentic content. Almost 86% of consumers say authenticity is important when deciding what brands they like and want to support. The number is high among Millennials, with 90% saying authenticity is a critical factor in supporting a brand.

One of the best ways to lend authenticity to your brand is to leverage user-generated content (UGC). The same report states that Consumers are 3x more likely to say content created by a consumer is authentic compared to content created by the brand. In short, anything from user reviews and social mentions to well-written blog posts by your clients can help attract more consumers.

Recently, to celebrate earning one million Instagram followers, Etihad Airways launched #Etihad1Million photo contest. The airways asked its customers to share their best and most impressive travel photos with #Etihad1Million hashtag on Instagram for a duration of 10 days. Their aim was to reward loyal customers and attract new ones by offering daily prizes.

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Parting Words

As you can see, the digital marketing landscape is continuously evolving. The only way to stay afloat in the digital realm is to anticipate the possible trends and align your marketing strategy accordingly. Hopefully, understanding these five trends early on will help you do the same. Find out as much as possible about these trends before implementing your strategy.

Have a successful 2019!