Top 7 Digital Marketing Trends on the Rise in 2019

Technology has pervaded our lives like never before. There are no signs of any slowdown.

If you think about it, we are interacting with digital and technology right from the time we wake up to the time we retire to sleep at night. Our typical day starts with checking messages, notifications and emails on our mobiles. All through the day, we consume online stuff like articles, search information online, check our social accounts and at night, listen to our favourite music or podcast.

Many startups have caused digital disruption and gained significant market share in domains previously reserved only for the big and established corporates.

Let's take a holistic view of all the digital and technology trends that are poised to assume an even greater importance in 2019.

1) Voice Searches

Although the signs of its growing prominence had started to show up in the previous year itself, this is the year when voice based searches will explode.

One of the major reasons for this is it’s ease of use. They allow you to multitask by eliminating the need for typing search queries. While cooking, you might want to search for your favorite recipe and you just do a voice search without using your hands. Or, while driving, you might want to order some item you forgot to add to your shopping cart.

An estimate by Klick says that by 2020, around 30% of web browsing and 50% searches will be by voice commands. Smartphone voice search usage is also expected to surge. Most people are not fully aware of the possibilities through voice search.

Currently, many voice based AI apps like Google Assistant, Bixby and Siri are being used, many companies are working on voice based solutions to incorporate in their businesses and make their customers interactions more user-friendly.

2) Solutions powered by Artificial Intelligence

Some technologies like Machine Learning, Predictive Analysis and Natural Language Processing are powered completely by Artificial Intelligence (AI).

These AI powered solutions will find much greater use in big enterprises, governments, B2B and B2C markets worldwide. In fact, AI has already percolated our lives in the form of Facebook Messenger bots and many others.

It takes personalization of marketing communications of an organization across different channels to a completely new level. It’s a boon for the marketing function because products and services recommended and offered to the customers and potential users will be highly user friendly and preferences driven.

The list of recommended videos on Netflix and YouTube or the suggested products on Amazon based on your browsing history, testify to the effectiveness of AI driven marketing solutions.

3) Video Marketing

Video marketing is poise to grow in 2019. About 80% of the online content consumption by the end of 2019 will be video based, as predicted by Tubular Insights.

For most of the businesses, video marketing strategy will be an integral part of the organization’s marketing strategy. Videos have a two-way appeal - they cater to the audio and visual senses. It is much easier to explain a difficult concept or provide information on products and services through videos than through large blocks of text.

The rapid increase in smartphone usage and social media apps has given a further push to video content consumption. Creating videos doesn't have to be a costly affair.

You can simply record a short but valuable message for your customers through your smartphones. Casual style and average quality videos are not always a no-no, as long as the content adds value to your users’ lives.

If you want to make your videos more entertaining, then some apps make it super easy by allowing filters and text to be added to raw videos.

4) Importance of exceptional content

Content has been important all through 2018 but now, reputable and trustworthy content will become all the more important.

People with not solely rely on advertisements to know about a business. Rather, companies who have been churning out informative, engaging and authentic content will have better chances of being noticed online.

People have got tired of viewing intrusive advertisements and content marketing becomes extremely important in such a scenario.

Some noteworthy points are:

You can increase your traffic manifold by regular blogging and creating content that resonates with your target group.People prefer high-quality and original content rather than rote answers and canned solutions.Visual content will outperform blogs and articles.

It’s time to align your content strategy with your marketing goals and objectives.

5) Rise of Programmatic Advertising

Technology has evolved the such an extent that with automation, it can be used to buy and sell online media. All they types of online ads inventory, streaming modules, voice commands etc. will use artificial intelligence powered technology to decide which advertisement should be shown to the target customers and at which moment.

This will give a new meaning to marketing campaigns wherein the messaging is pre-set to the ability of the tool to decide what ad to show through which marketing channel.

Marketing is truly becoming an omni-channel concept and brands will be able to deal with just one company for the right messaging.

6) Marketing Automation and Chatbots

Both marketing automation and chatbots will find increased usage in social media for customer service interactions with users.

This supercharges social media platforms as valuable mediums for increasing engagements with customers and prospects. Chatbots too are helpful in serving customers with hyper-personalized experiences and in making the websites conversational.

This has eliminated the need to hire staff just for answering frequently asked questions.

7) Machine Learning

This is another area that will make it big in 2019. With the collection of more data, user behaviours and demographics across various channels, technology is able to analyse and interpret patterns in customers preferences.

This is machine learning and it helps in giving better user experiences in their interactions with the businesses. It increases the conversion rate, regulates ad spend, attracts qualified leads and increases the profitability of the businesses.

The emerging digital marketing trends have immense opportunities for businesses and it’s already time they started taking action to harness these opportunities.