At the beginning of every year, trends are predicted for almost all areas and fields, and digital marketing is no exception to this. However, not all of the trends predicted at the beginning of the year gain popularity in the following months and there are also instances when new trends emerge in the middle of the year.
If a digital marketing agency wants to stay ahead of the game and offer clients a service they won’t be offered elsewhere, it is important that the agency keeps track of the top digital marketing trends of the year. At the beginning of 2019, we saw the prediction of a number of trends which have been put into practice since then.
Personalisation
Marketing used to target the masses as opposed to the individual. This made sense since a marketing strategy for traditional media, for instance, would be created for a vast audience. However, digital marketing aims at giving users a personalised experience and making them feel like a brand or company is catering to their individual taste.
Email marketing
Along the lines of personalised content is email marketing. What a digital marketing company would look at is who regularly checks their email, especially from the company or brand. Constant engagement with such individuals can turn them into customers at some point. Another key aspect to focus under this trend is the use of plain text in emails as opposed to images. The latter may result in the email being marked as spam.
Voice search
There are two kinds of voice search. One is where the answers to the user’s questions are read out to them while the other is where the results are displayed in writing. The popularity of both these types has led to digital marketing services focusing on voice engine optimisation.
Micro moments
There are four main kinds of moments that digital marketers can focus on; I want to know, I want to go, I want to do, and I want to buy moments. When a user searches for places to buy stationery, it is an “I want to buy” moment. A stationery store close to the user’s location can make use of the opportunity to promote their store and an online store can suggest items that may interest the user. These micro moments are a leading trend seen in digital marketing in 2019.
Smarter chat
When a customer or potential customer has a query, the conversation will be between the user and a chatbot. Smarter chat leads to real-time assistance and proactive interactions. Added to this, many also use digital marketing services like Whatsapp business messaging, where customers can easily interact with the brand or business.
Influencer marketing
A trend that will continue to rise in 2019 and has a lot to do with social media marketing is influencer marketing. Instead of using celebrities to market a product, which often comes off as unauthentic, brands use social media influencers to take the product to the target audience in a way that they can relate to and easily interact with.
Live videos
Most, if not all, social media platforms have features that allow users to go live, thus bridging the gap between users and their followers. This feature isn’t limited to social media users and can also be used by brands and businesses to engage with their audience.
Social media marketing strategies for 2019 will thus focus a lot on live videos and stories.
Augmented reality
One of the downsides to online shopping is the inability for the customer to try on an item, especially when it comes to clothing. However, with augmented and virtual reality tools, marketing strategies allow consumers to see what an item would look like on them. This too, is a trend that any digital marketing agency would want to stay ahead of.
Push notifications
A trend that we will definitely see more of as the year progresses is browser push notifications. From notifying customers of sales to reminding customers of shopping carts they haven’t added to in a while, push notifications are being used to increase user engagement.
AI and machine learning
Digital marketing strategies depend a lot on the data collected on consumers and enriched data will be a growing trend of 2019 despite conversations on privacy and transparency. With AI and machine learning, digital marketing Sri Lanka can predict consumer behaviour patterns, thus allowing a digital marketing agency to effectively engage with active buyers on various platforms.