2018 is almost over. This doesn’t mean that there aren’t things we can do to finish off the year strong. Before 2019 gets here, the digital marketing landscape will be entirely different than we are used to. The use of SEO, social media and PPC is changing. As a business owner, there are a few trends in the digital marketing section you should get accustomed to. Before we get into specifics such as artificial intelligence and visual searches, be sure you will not miss out the opportunity to pursue any digital marketing course. This course will put you in a better position to understand the specifics involved in digital marketing.
There are a few digital marketing trends that are developing in this technology-based, internet dependent era and businesses need to act on them in order to realize their goals and objectives for 2018 and 2019.
Here are a few key digital marketing trends that you should know before the end of 2018.
The Best Digital Marketing Trends In 2018
Artificial Intelligence
If you are a fan of conspiracy theories, then you know that Artificial intelligence will take over the world! Before that happens, we need this technological marvel to help us profit from our businesses. AI can help exploit digital marketing as it analyzes consumer behavioral tendencies and search patterns. This information is then compiled together with data from social media platforms and blogs to enlighten businesses on how users and customers source their products and services.
Artificial intelligence also helps businesses to gather information and tips by chatting with users. 2018 saw a rise in the use of chatbots technology (AI) in the customer service industry. Businesses that incorporate AI systems will be able to cut costs and accelerate growth.
Programmatic Advertising
This refers to the use of AI systems to automate ads which target more specific audiences. Businesses that incorporate bidding or auctions are exploiting programmatic advertising and buying. This form of digital marketing in 2018 is extremely efficient and fast. This leads to high rates of conversions and low customer attraction costs.
Chatbots
As mentioned before, this form of AI technologies will be a vital cog of digital marketing in 2018 and 2019. This technology exploits instant messaging to engage customers who visit your website no matter the time of day. According to Convince and Convert, over one billion people currently interact with chatbots. By 2020, projections show that 80% of savvy businesses will be using chatbots.
Customers that were interviewed said they preferred interacting with chatbots as they are responsive, give answers promptly, accurately recall your entire buying history, and never lose patience. These virtual assistants offer outstanding customer service, meeting customers’ expectations and automating repetitive tasks. This saves their time which is better put to good use.
The world-renowned car-hailing app, Uber, uses this AI technology to engage their customers. They’ve put in place structures that enable them to hire cars using popular apps like Facebook Messenger and Google Maps. These apps can be used to track the location of the car, get a time estimate and make payments.
Personalization
With 2019 fast approaching, businesses will need to stand out. They can do this by personalizing their marketing. This means that the businesses will require a more personalized approach to the content they churn out, products and emails.
This has been made easier since data points such as purchase history and consumer behavioral tendencies are available. Business needs to use these data points to create custom and personalized content.
Streaming giants such as Netflix and Hulu are already exploiting the benefits of personalization. When you log on to your Netflix account, you can notice that the company put in an effort to customize things to suit your tendencies.
IMAGE: PEXELS
Video Marketing
Before integrating digital marketing into your business processes and achieve success, take a look at the following numbers by Forbes:
- 73 % of social media users share a brand’s video.
- 68% of businesses that use digital marketing have posted better conversion rates.
- 67% of prospective consumers say that watching product videos convinced them to buy the products.
This doesn’t only apply to YouTube. If you want your business to realize higher engagement through video marketing, post videos on popular social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.
In 2019 a trend that will take over video marketing is live video. Businesses can use this trend to give their targeted audience a more personal view of their processes through interviews or a behind the scenes look of the office.
Hyperlink this to the article link no. 2 with the title: Why Digital Marketing Is Increasingly Vital For Business Success
Influencer Marketing
Influencer marketing can be best described as a form of digital marketing in 2018. This digital marketing trend emphasizes social dominant people rather than the target audience. Influencer marketing lets these individuals market the businesses products and services. They act as key leaders whose main purpose is to spread your brand or products to the market (their followers). This lets you focus on other business needs as they handle the marketing aspects.
This is a rather effective marketing device whose main purpose is to get new and consistent customers for your business. There are no set criteria for becoming an influencer. If you have a big enough following that was amassed organically, you can help a business spread its message through your social channels.
People tend to trust their fellow humans over press statements and advertisements.
Social Messaging Apps
Digital marketing in 2018 is currently using social messaging apps to promote businesses. If you are skeptical consider these numbers by Forbes:
- More than a billion users are active on Facebook Messenger per month
- There are more than two billion messages sent between people and businesses on Facebook Messenger every month
- WhatsApp has over three billion downloads
- People send over fifty billion messages via WhatsApp per day
The three major social messaging apps have more active users than Facebook or YouTube. These statistics show that there is potential for business to exploit the growing popularity of these social messaging apps for business purposes. People are spending a huge chunk of their time communicating through messages. You can get better conversion rates if you market your businesses products and services through these social media apps.
Most of these trends are highly underutilized in 2018. Learning them and getting familiar with them can help your based business exploit what they have to offer before your competitors catch on.
If you are interested in even more business-related articles and information from us here at Bit Rebels then we have a lot to choose from.
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