28 Jan 4 Business-Critical Digital Marketing Trends For 2019

Digital marketing continues to evolve in the early days of 2019. Watch out for these top four online marketing trends. How can you make use of them in your business?

Social media usage is changing

While Facebook remains the largest social network based on numbers alone, digital marketers should be keeping an eye on user demographics to reap the full impact of marketing dollars. The only demographic that’s increasing is the over 55s, and other age brackets are in decline. That’s useful to know if your products are focused on an older market. Instagram and Snapchat are where younger users are congregating, but don’t be fooled into thinking they are solely for teens – the 25-34 year old bracket shows the biggest growth for both platforms. Users on these newer platforms are more receptive to shared content (earned marketing) and collaborative efforts with high-profile users so boost your branding there to increase exposure and sales.

Content marketing is evolving

Content marketing is becoming more refined in 2019. Smart marketers are generating content as a part of a broader strategy, not as a stand-alone effort to trigger SEO results. Consumers are seeking out valuable content that’s shareable, too. Focus on generating content that your target market wants to see and engage with. Spend more time developing your strategy for content creation and deployment to remain ahead of competitors.

Omni-channel engagement strategies

When was the last time you reviewed your consumer engagement strategy? You might think you’re doing it right if you have a profile or page on every social network and a chat-bot on your website.

Providing multiple touch points for consumer engagement is great, but 2019 is the year of moving beyond multi-channel engagement. If each contact point operates in isolation, you’re missing opportunities. Cue omni-channel engagement. If you can deliver a seamless experience that carries a consumer through an initial engagement point to sales without a break in continuity, you’re providing an omni-channel experience. It’s not easy to pull off, so check in with what you can do, and what you need to do to deliver the ultimate communications and sales experience.

Email still has room for innovation

Email is a reliable workhorse. Unfortunately, that reliability can encourage less innovation, especially if the formats you’re using currently work well. There is definitely potential for email to become even more effective at driving traffic and sales in 2019.

As you consider your overall marketing and content strategies, consider how email can fit into it. Can you deliver actionable or shareable content into consumer inboxes? Can your customers start a sale from within an email and complete it onsite? Give email a chance to star in your omni-channel strategy and see results in our bottom line.