You’re ready to scale your business for the new year.
You’ve invested in better technology, you’ve written a killer business plan that will help you to get a great business loan, and you’ve even hired a few new team members.
The one thing you can’t afford to ignore?
The latest digital marketing trends for 2019.
Curious to learn more about what they are — and what they can do for your business? If so, then you’ve come to the right place.
Read on to learn more about the top online marketing trends for the new year.
1. Geolocation Services
Let’s kick things off by talking about one of the biggest digital marketing trends of 2019: geolocation services.
This is the process of allowing users — and your branded social media accounts themselves — to “check in” to certain locations. For example, let’s say a customer uploads a selfie to their social media account in one of your stores or using one of your products.
They can then use geolocation services to tag the exact store location, or just let you know which city or state they’re coming to you from.
This allows you to better predict future buying behavior, segment your market based on location, and understand more about your target market in general.
This way, you’ll be able to strengthen your overall customer engagement strategy. You can also identify the most profitable parts of your business.
You can even offer discounts to those that “check in” to your locations. This is just one more way to incentivize your buyers.
2. Shoppable Posts on Social Media
Wouldn’t you like to be able to get more revenue out of your social media accounts?
Thanks to the marketing trends 2019 has to offer, you can. Now is the time to fully embrace shoppable posts. After all, more and more people are doing their shopping based off of what they see on social media.
So why shouldn’t it be possible to do your shopping there, too?
Enter the idea of shoppable posts. Users can click on the items they’d like to buy within the actual Instagram post itself. Then, they’ll be redirected to the specific product page of the piece they’re interested in purchasing.
This makes them much more likely to actually complete the purchase.
We think it’s a much more effective strategy than the old “link in bio” marketing tool of the past.
3. Hyperlocalized Marketing
It’s no secret that local SEO is much more than just an entry on a list of online market trends.
Tapping into your local market is one of the most effective ways to outrank your competitors, benefit from connecting with other local businesses, and making a personal connection with your buyers.
But in 2019?
Local marketing alone is no longer enough.
We’ve entered the era of the hyperlocal.
What exactly does this mean for digital marketing trends in the new year?
For one, it’s about getting more specific with your keywords. In the past, you could include the name of your city, state, or maybe even your county, and you’d still get pretty decent local traffic.
Now? You have to get more detailed. You need to include keyword phrases with nearby tourist attractions, your street name, and the name of your neighborhood. Even include the names of other nearby businesses in your keyword phrases.
When you write content, keep it hyperlocal, too. This means doing write-ups of local festivals and events or even interviewing local celebrities. In short? Prove you have your finger on the pulse of what’s happening in your neighborhood.
4. Chatbots as Customer Service Representatives
Another one of the biggest digital marketing trends in 2019?
The domination of chatbots.
Especially if you’re a larger company that does the majority of its business online, it can be tough to feel like you’re providing customer service on an individual level.
Chatbots helps your customers to get answers to the questions they have about your products and services in real time. They’re the digital equivalent of a customer service representative.
Set up your chatbots to provide automated answers to common consumer questions. Doing so shortens the overall buying cycle. It also makes it easy for your customers to connect with the products that are the most likely to solve any issues they’re having.
This means fewer returns and more purchases in the future.
5. Market Segmentation
When it comes to online marketing trends in 2019, expect to see greater market segmentation.
This means that you’ll need to divide your overall target market up into ultra-specific niches. After all, a 65-year-old grandmother living in the Midwest doesn’t have the same needs as a 21-year-old man living in New York City.
So why market the same products and services to them?
That’s the value of market segmentation. It allows you to market the right products and services to the specific demographics of your target market. To do this, you need to start collecting as much data as you can surrounding the buying habits of your customers.
This way, you can send out automated emails and even social media posts when you know they’re getting ready to buy. For example, let’s say you have clients that only buy when you’re having a sale.
In the weeks leading up to your big year-end sale, start creating segmented marketing materials to send out to those sale-only buyers. This way, they’ll know that it’s coming — and be much more likely to actually make a purchase.
6. Live Video
Successful marketing innovation is all about increasing the feelings of trust and transparency between you and your target market.
One way to make that happen?
Give live video a shot.
There are tons of different formatting options you can play with here. We love the idea of doing a live question and answer session. Speaking off the cuff — and potentially even handling tough questions or complaints from consumers live — demonstrates that you have serious trust in your products.
Plus, you’ll be able to understand the needs and pain points of your market on a much deeper level.
Finally, live video gives your target market the chance to get to know the people behind the products and services they love. This helps you to make a much stronger personal connection.
Doing so also makes your brand feel more authentic and even more relatable.
Any reminder that you’re “real people” — and accessible — is always a smart move. While brand loyalty is certainly important, you also want your market to feel like they know you on more of a personal level.
7. Voice Search Engine Optimization
By the time we hit 2020, about half of all searches will be conducted through a voice search like Alexa or Siri.
2019 is all about learning how to prepare and adjust for this impending voice search takeover.
The goal is to have your content read out loud to consumers by these voice search devices. To make it happen, you’ll need to rank above the fold.
So, how can you pull it off?
First of all, make a list of the most common “who, what, where, when, why” questions that people have about your company, products, and services. Then, aim to create content that answers them.
When you write this content — and come up with keywords — remember that the goal is to be read out loud. This means you need to write the way people speak, not the way that they write and talk.
Keep your language casual. Don’t be afraid to use longer keyword phrases. Be direct, and get to the point as quickly as you can. Remember that you should keep things short and sweet. After all, you want your market to actually listen to the whole description as it’s being read aloud.
Do this, and you’ll see success when it comes to voice search.
8. The Rise of Personalization
It’s no secret that every customer likes to feel like the brands they’re loyal to know them on a personal level — and value their business.
In the past, it was usually enough to occasionally respond to comments on social media or “like” posts related to your company.
In 2019?
Personalized marketing is the hot new trend you have to follow.
This means personalizing your emails using the name of the customer. It means having phrases like, “Welcome back!” and a list of previous purchases on your website.
It even means, outside the digital sphere, including personalized packaging in your marketing strategy.
You want your consumers to feel like you know who they are and what they like. Personalization allows you to do just that. Once you learn about the products that they’re the most likely to buy, you can start coming to them with better offers in the future.
This is an incredibly effective way to not only turn followers into customers. It can also help you to turn one-time customers into long-term, loyal clients.
What’s not to love about that?
9. Stronger SEO for Videos
Here’s a stat that might shock you: by the end of 2019, video traffic will make up 80% of all online traffic.
The takeaway here?
Without embracing video marketing digital media trends, you could end up missing out on over 3/4 of your target market. In other words? Video marketing is no longer an option, but a requirement.
This means you’ll also need to start thinking about ways in which you can optimize your video content for search engines.
This year, in particular, it’s all about making sure that you choose specific categories for your video content. You should also include keywords in your video titles, as well as your video description.
Even if your viewers don’t necessarily read your entire video descriptions?
The search engines do — and index them based on what they find. So, don’t be afraid to get a bit lengthy when it comes to video descriptions.
You can even sneak keywords into your closed captions for an extra video SEO boost.
10. Remarketing Strategies
Looking for online marketing trends that can boost your advertising strategy’s effectiveness by up to 400%?
If so, then we think you should give retargeting a try in 2019.
But what is it, exactly? How many times have you gone on an e-commerce site, added a few items to your cart, and then, for whatever reason, walked away without actually finishing up your transaction?
We’re willing to bet it’s more than a few times. And your customers are, of course, doing the same things on your website.
But what if you could send them some subtle reminders about the items they have waiting for them? With retargeting, you can.
Pictures of the items still in their carts will show up in their social media feeds and ads on websites they visit. This will remind them of purchases they need to finish — and they may even add a few more items to their cart the second time around.
Which of These Digital Marketing Trends Will You Try?
We hope that this post has helped you to get a better understanding of the digital marketing trends you just can’t afford to ignore in 2019.
Whether it’s embracing live video and optimizing for voice search or understanding hyperlocal content and giving remarketing a shot?
If you follow the advice in this post, you will see higher profits and increased brand awareness.
Of course, before you can put any of these ideas into practice? You might need a business loan to bring your ideas to life. We can help you to get the funding you need so that you can provide your market with the solutions they’ve been looking for.
Make this the year you turn your dreams into a reality with our guidance.