Marketing trends in 2018 ranged from chatbots and user-generated content to voice search capabilities and the use of artificial intelligence. With so many strides being taken in the technological world, what can the marketing world expect in 2019? Let’s take a look:
Marketing Principles Overview
Gone are the days that a product or service was the center of a marketing strategy. Today’s era puts the consumer in the center of all marketing decisions. This is due to one simple fact: word of mouth (WOM) marketing is the most powerful marketing tactic.
Businesses have realized people are more likely to put their trust in people they know as opposed to advertisements. Now, customer satisfaction and accurate testimonies are indispensable. In addition to keeping your WOM marketing model flourishing, here are marketing insights to consider for 2019:
Content is [still] king.
A study recently concluded that 1 out of 2 people won’t contact a sales rep until they’ve viewed at least three pieces of content related to the product. People are doing their research before reaching out to the company with their questions.
Videos demand consumer attention.
If content is king, then video is queen. Experts predict that by next year, over 80% of consumer content found on the Internet will be video-based. Consumers are more attracted to watching an informative yet fun video than reading content. (This explains why YouTube is runner-up in the category for most popular social media platform.)
Search engine optimization (SEO) continues to fuel success.
One thing is for sure, SEO content is as important as ever. Roughly 48% of people use mobile search engines to make an inquiry. Google factors website speed, fresh content, keywords, and other factors into its results.
Google Adwords has rebranded.
Google Adwords is now Google Ads. Its Smart Campaigns make the advertisement process easier for small businesses. While there are certain drawbacks, there are more benefits such as an automated ad creation, ad delivery selection, and a focus on building your target audience.
Your social media presence is imperative.
According to the Data & Marketing Association, “social media spending will account for almost 20% of marketing budgets in the next 5 years.” It is estimated that roughly 2.7 billion people will have a social media account in 2019. With so many people online, businesses will use a portion of their marketing budget to reach their target audience via social media.
Customer reviews are gaining power.
According to a recent study, 97% of people say that reviews are a deciding factor whether they make a purchase. Additionally, if there are no customer reviews for a product or service, 92% of people contemplate not making the purchase at all! Requesting and monitoring reviews can gain customer loyalty and business credibility.
What will 2020 hold? There is talk that Amazon product ads will give Google Ads a run for its money. Additionally, many experts believe that artificial intelligence will surpass PPC specialists. We have 11 months left in 2019 – how will you transform your marketing tactics based on this information?