11 Digital Marketing Trends You Can’t Ignore in 2019

The world of digital marketing is continually evolving. Keeping your finger on the pulse is essential if you want your business to continue to grow and stay ahead of its competitors.

The stats speak for themselves.

Only 22% of companies are content with their conversion rates. So if you’re part of the 78% that aren’t satisfied – and if you want to do something about it – it’s even more important that you pay attention to the 11 digital marketing trends entrepreneurs can no longer ignore in 2019. 

Trend #1: Marketing Automation

Marketing automation isn’t new. It’s been around for years, yet 27% of companies still describe themselves as “new” to the technology, according to Invesp.

That’s why the trend I’m watching in 2019 isn’t just adopting marketing automation; it’s actually using it to its fullest potential. 

Take the example of product recommender blocks. They were a low-key trend back in 2018, but in 2019, they’re becoming more important than ever. In short, product blocks are blocks of code marketers can insert into their emails that enable them to dynamically recommend products to their subscribers. 

Typically, product blocks are tied to both an ecommerce platform and an email automation technology, giving marketers access to purchase pattern and online behavior data so that products can be suggested that customers are more likely to buy (think of them like Amazon’s “Customers who bought this item also bought …” feature).

Even if product blocks aren’t the right fit for your business, chances are there’s another marketing automation feature you aren’t fully taking advantage of such as post-click automation for example. Make 2019 the year you get the most out of marketing automation and social media automation tool. 

Trend #2: CDPs and Segmentation

Two words: artificial intelligence. 

In 2019, AI has played a more significant role in email segmentation than ever before. Traditionally, marketers segmented their email subscribers based on demographics, such as gender, age and location.

Yes, using demographic data to segment customers is better than not sectioning your email list at all. But it’s not without its pitfalls. 

For example, it’s not uncommon for customers to have very similar demographic profiles (location, age, gender, etc.), but still have totally different shopping habits.

This is where using AI to segment your list comes into its own. Marketers in 2019 can harness customer data platforms (CDPs) to categorize subscribers by their consumer behavior, based on data gathered across platforms. They can then group customers together who are genuinely similar to one another. 

For instance, the AI harnessed by CDPs can take any of the following factors into account, among others:

• Online shopping habits
• Browsing history
• Calls to call centers

CDPs force marketers to go beyond customer stereotypes and to categorize customers according to data. They can then send subscribers content that’s actually relevant to their needs, subsequently boosting their conversion rates.  

Take the example of FedEx and Sprint, two enterprises that use AI to pinpoint customers who are more likely to leave them for one of their competitors. With this info at their fingertips, they can create and deploy highly personalized – and highly effective – retention campaigns.

Trend #3: Omnichannel Customer Experience

For years, customer convenience has been at the core of omnichannel retail trends – and 2019 is no different with omnichannel customer experience.

The principle is simple: if it’s more convenient for a customer to make a purchase using more than one sales channel, they’ll do so. This is backed up by Google, which claims that roughly 85% of online shoppers start a purchase using one device, but finish it via another.

You’ve probably done this before in your own life. Have you ever spent your work breaks window shopping on your smartphone, only to complete your purchase later on – either at a brick-and-mortar store on the way home or on your laptop from the comfort of your sofa?

What does that behavior tell you? In short, you need to ensure your sales channels are all optimized to accommodate a variety of shopping experiences.

More and more digital marketers have modified their user experience so that their shoppers’ information automatically transfers across an array of devices and sales channels.  

Take Harveys, for instance, as a great example of omnichannel selling in action. Once the company had optimized its sales channels, Aadil Munshi, Harvey’s Digital Analyst, says, “We noticed how much more valuable our omnichannel customers were compared to an average customer walking into one of our stores.”

Trend #4: Interactive and Designed Content

Content is king and has been for years. So with the rise of content marketing‘s popularity, it should come as no surprise that digital marketers are exploring new ways to make their content more engaging. 

Enter gamification, through interactive and designed content.

In 2019, we’re seeing more and more businesses using gamified content as a lead generation tactic. People want to be entertained, which is why interactive content works wonders for getting visitors to engage with your brand. 

Take the Financial Times’ “Uber Game” as an example. It’s an interactive news game that encourages the gamer to put themselves in the shoes of a full-time Uber driver. Impressively, over 70% of players finish the game. 

Trend #5: Live Video

Live video’s been a massive marketing craze during the first half of 2019. In fact, Facebook Live broadcasts grew 4X in just the space of a year.

If you haven’t experimented with live video before, check out Jon Penberthy’s Facebook page for inspiration. He continues to grow his personal brand year over year, and live video streaming has been a massive part of his success. Another experiment to check out is to stream recorded videos to Facebook live.

Trend #6: Podcasting

Podcasting has seen a lot of changes recently; most notably, Spotify’s purchase of Gimlet Media for a whopping $230 million. That’s in addition to the release of its new podcast subscription platforms, Luminary and Brew. 

Given these and other changes, it should come as no surprise that podcasts are making more money than ever before. In 2018, total ad revenue grew to $600 million – and this number is predicted to continue growing in 2019.

Does this mean your business should launch a podcast? I can’t tell you whether or not podcasting makes sense for your company. But since 45% of podcast listeners have an average household income of $75,000 or more, it’s definitely worth a look in 2019.

Trend #7: Chatbots and Conversational Marketing

Consumers are impatient. Period. In fact, you have roughly ten minutes to keep them waiting around before you’ve lost them for good. 

According to Hubspot, 82% of consumers want an immediate response when they have a marketing or sales question. This figure only increases when customers have a support-related question, where 90% of people want an instant response. 

It goes without saying that your customer support team can’t be all things to all people (at once, anyway). That’s part of the reason that, over the last few years, chatbots have become increasingly popular among marketers – a trend which has continued to grow in 2019. 

In fact, experts predict that as early as next year, an astounding 80% of all enterprises will use chatbots. Advancements in chatbot technology and conversational marketing protocols are partly responsible for this trend. 

Traditionally, it was pretty obvious you were speaking to a chatbot, either over the phone or online. Today, chatbot tech has become so sophisticated that it’s hard to tell whether you’re speaking to a bot or a real person. 

The secret to this rapid development lies in natural language programming (NLP). This allows chatbots to respond to customers using complete and flowing sentences that sound natural. They can even be programmed to adopt a specific dialect and to factor in pauses that mimic the behaviors of real-life humans. 

Trend #8: Big Data Analysis and Machine Learning

The potential applications of big data analysis and machine learning in digital marketing are staggering. But one I’m watching in particular is the use of these two technologies in content creation. 

Marketers don’t always want to hear it, but the bulk of the work of content creation is pretty repetitive. That’s one of the reasons software developers can now code machines to handle some content-related tasks.  

Thanks to AI, machines can write reports and curate content. More impressively, they can also auto-generate marketing emails, so that each subscriber receives content that’s personalized to meet their unique needs.

We’re a long way from machines completely replacing human writers, but anything with the potential to reduce the manual effort associated with one of digital marketing’s most time-consuming tasks deserves a look in 2019.

Trend #9: Voice Search

Google’s voice recognition is said to be 95% accurate. In 2018, the surge in voice technology’s popularity prompted marketers to fine-tune their SEO strategy to take voice search statistics into account.

However, experts say voice search for finding info online is less prevalent in 2019 than it was in 2018. In a recent study, voice search came in fourth in a survey of 1,000+ people on how they used smartphones to find information on the web. That’s down from last year, when voice search was the third most popular choice.

So what beat voice search? Mobile browsers came in first, followed by search engine apps and built-in internet search windows. That doesn’t mean you can ignore voice search, but it may mean that, in 2019, it receives less of your attention.

Trend #10: Live Events

In an increasingly digital world, many consumers enjoy the novelty of live events. In fact, over 40% of marketers claim live events are their most important marketing channel. So, what are entrepreneurs doing in 2019 to make their live streaming events stand out from the crowd?

Using AI-powered Platforms

Digital marketers are using AI to help with all stages of event planning, from managing tickets to automating post-event email campaigns. 

Providing Unique Experiences for Each Attendee 

There’s a good chance you’re already collecting customer data (and if you’re not, you should be). When it comes to live events, you can put this information to good use by offering attendees personalized experiences. 

This could be as simple as customizing the freebies you give away, or as complex as adjusting the content of your conference for each attendee. Either way, personalization usually makes for a more successful event – so much so that nine out of 10 event planners use some kind of customization.

Incorporating Augmented and Virtual Reality (AR and VR)

More and more brands are using both AR and VR to provide attendees with an immersive event experience. Some entrepreneurs have gone so far as to host fully digital events that their audience attends virtually.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, marketers love these since they’re cheaper to host and – when done well – still create a memorable experience for attendees. 

Trend #11: Mobile

Specifically, we’re talking mobile app security.

By some estimates, as many as 75% of mobile apps wouldn’t even pass the most basic security challenges. Considering that the majority of us are glued to our smartphones, this is a huge deal. Hackers have been exploiting these security gaps (and will continue to) to steal sensitive data stored on mobile devices. 

As marketers continue to invest in new ways of reaching their audiences, I don’t expect interest in mobile app development to slow down. I can only hope that this interest will be matched by an increased focus on security in 2019.

What other digital marketing trends are you watching in 2019? Leave me a note below sharing your thoughts:

Header image: Unsplash