Digital Marketing is a marketing technique that utilises all the digital channels to reach consumers and promote brand awareness. A spectrum of tactics is used by brands to connect with their target audience in an effective way to promote user engagement and bonding. It is a great way of marketing products or services to customers as people spend a good share of time on the internet every day as they search for information.
The Search Engine has successfully managed to become a habit of people by providing them with the most relevant information as they seek. The power of Search Engine will continue to grow in the year 2019 too. It will keep providing the most relevant information whenever a search query is entered on it. Hence, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) will retain its importance in the future.
As per Mary Meekerās 2018 Internet Trends Report, an average adult in the USA spends 5.9 hours a day on the internet. According to Nielsen India report, an average smartphone user in India spends more than 90 minutes daily for various online activities while the premium segment spends more than 130 minutes a day.
As per a study conducted by Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and IMRB International research firm, the number of internet users in India is expected to reach 450 ā 465 million in 2019, a good increase from the current statistics of 300 ā 400 million users in 2018.
The basic digital marketing strategies such as SEO (Search Engine Optimization), SMM (Social Media Marketing), and also CRO (Conversion Rate Optimization) will keep maintaining their position in the domain even in 2019.
A top-class digital marketing agency will plan a digital marketing strategy in advance by considering the organisationās goals and expectations from the marketing campaign and their Return on investment (ROI). They go about the free and paid channels to reach out to more and more audience and help their clients achieve their business goals.
When we talk about the year 2019 or the future of digital marketing, it is important to note that a major chunk of the population has gone mobile for all their search queries, entertainment, connecting with other people, online video streaming and more.
So, the digital marketing strategy needs to be upgraded keeping in mind about the choices, habits, demographic data, their internet browsing history, time spent on websites on a specific subject or other such preferences of the target audience of today.
Here Are A Few Points to Focus on While Curating A Campaign on Digital Marketing in The Year 2019
1. Big Data
Big Data helps in generating detailed insights that can help you in improvising your strategic moves and make better and informed business decisions. Generating a high volume of structured and unstructured data using cookie files as they browse through the internet and processing it to evaluate and gain actionable insights such as customer behaviour, interests, purchasing patterns, favourites, and their background can help you to shape your digital marketing campaign. However, you need to use an analytical tool which can access all kinds of data including social media, log files, cloud, websites, emails, and other unstructured data to get insights on a granular level. It should have features like campaign attribution tracking, real-time analytics, funnels, and third-party testing & integration tools.
2. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML)
Artificial Intelligence is the future. The sooner you adopt it, the better your future will be. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its application Machine Learning (ML) consider the browsing and search patterns to analyse user behaviour. AI-powered Chatbots can help to automate and optimise customer service by communicating with customers or site visitors on a real-time basis. As per a report published by Gartner, by 2020 the chatbot technology will comprise 25% of customer service in comparison to less than 2% in 2017. And, 80% of the business will be integrating the chatbot system onto their site by 2020. Adopting AI-powered technology will help business cater to customers in a more personalised way which eventually will help in saving cost and accelerating business growth.
3. Data Security
Data Security or Cyber Security has become extremely important in todayās date. As we collect and process Big data from customersā browsing history to analyse and understand their preference, behavioural pattern, their purchase history and more, it has become equally important to safeguard their sensitive personal data along with providing them with the best of customer experience. Moreover, users, these days perform a lot of bank transactions while they make a purchase online, so, providing them with various layers of data security will help you to gain customersā trust and eventually gain brand loyalty.
4. Programmed Advertising
Programmed Advertising is about utilising the power of AI to automate the process of ad buying to target a particular set of audience. It is a process of automated bidding on advertising inventory on a real-time basis. Google is expecting to spend 60% of digital advertising budget on programmed ads by 2019. This process automation of bidding for ads is a very powerful tool and helps in increasing efficiency, and conversions. Real-time bidding or auction is an example of Programmed ad buying. As per a report published by eMarketer, almost 90% of the digital display ads in the USA will be programmatic ads by the year 2020.
5. Video Marketing
Videos are a very powerful tool to effectively engage viewers. Videos are being used on every channel and platform to engage with the audience. Social channels are among the top global platforms to offer videos to their users. Video marketing has grown from a singular marketing tactic to a whole business strategy over the years. As per a report published by HubSpot, more than 50% of consumers prefer videos from brands instead of text content. Video content is more conversational, actionable and measurable. As per a Facebook executive, Facebook is expected to offer all video content to its viewers by 2021. A video on the landing page of a website assists in increasing conversion by almost 80%.
6. Social Messaging Applications and Real-Time Communication
Social massaging apps are very powerful tools to let users communicate with each other on a real-time basis. WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and WeChat together have more users than other digital platforms such as Facebook or YouTube. WhatsApp, as well as Facebook Messenger, have 1.3 billion monthly active users. 55 billion & 2 billion messages are exchanged via WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger every day respectively. These Social channels can be utilised by businesses to send personalised messages to consumers directly. This aids a more direct communication between brands and their customers which eventually helps in better user experience, develop trust and brand loyalty.
7. Voice Search or Conversational UIs
Voice search has become the latest fad among users as it is conversational, convenient, easy and less time-consuming. Brands are modifying the digital marketing strategies for the shift in user behaviour. At present 20% of mobile searches and 25 % of Bing searches are voice-based. Voice searches are expected to cover 50% of all searches by the year 2020. AI-powered voice assistants such as Google Home, Amazon Alexa, and Apple Siri are doing an awesome job in providing value-added content to users in an effective way. Dominoās has introduced voice-based search to let customers order pizza easily.
As we are discussing all the digital marketing strategies to promote brands online and its importance to create a strategy by considering the brandās business goals to gain maximum Return on Investment.
Letās discuss some of the digital marketing trends that brands should adopt in the year 2019 to engage their audience in a more personalised way.
5 Social Media Marketing Tips for 2019
The popularity of smartphones along with the user experience and convenience this small device offers, the generation of today spends a huge chunk of their time every day on various social media platforms to connect with people, groups, brands, products, and services. Social media is fun, vibrant, happening and a lot of engaging.
Social Media marketers require the highest level of acumen to carry out a campaign and get the job right. It is important to avoid some mistakes to let your brand dominate Social Media in the future. Here is what you need to do to engage with your audience more.
1. Prioritize Social Listening
Social listening or Social Media Monitoring is one of the most important components of competitive social strategies. It is about monitoring the web and all social media platforms to find all kinds of mention about a specific brand, products, or any other mention which are relevant to your business. It is about analysing this information to understand the level where your brand stands in the market competition.
There are various Social Listening tools which you can choose from to leverage your brandās visibility. These are:
ā¦ Reddit Keyword Monitor Pro
ā¦ Google Alerts
ā¦ Stream view for Instagram
ā¦ Hootsuite Syndicator Pro
ā¦ Digimind
ā¦ Reputology
ā¦ Hootsuite Insights
2. Delight Your Viewers Visually
People these days prefer visuals more instead of text. Video content is more readily accepted by the audience as videos are more conversational, actionable and measurable. Videos are expected to dominate all kinds of content in the year 2019 for the fact that videos have a stronger impact on the viewer than any other form of content. Facebook is expected to offer all video content to its viewers by 2021.
Live video notification is a great way to capture the attention of the audience and keep them engaged. You can run live videos on YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram and market your business in an efficacious manner.
3. Ad Personalization
Ad personalisation is a great way to meet customersā expectations. With the help of AI, you can track your target groupās social as well as personal behaviour by tracking their social media posts, clicked links, time spent on various websites, purchase history and more. When you have so much of information in your kitty, you can send them ads based on their preferences and increase your conversion rate. As per research, 66% of the marketers use paid methods to reach their content to the audience and 80% of them target a new audience. It is very important to personalise paid as content to develop more authentic communication and bonding among brands and the audience.
The best example being, Amazon showing products based on your browsing history to entice you to buy products.
4. Real-Time Communication
Real-time communication helps brands to create an interest among their audience and keep them engaged in a more personal and inclusive way. Peer-to-peer communication helps in making the audience feel valued and eventually build strong brand value and brand awareness.
The social media channels are active 24/7. So, it is important to provide support around the clock. You can also schedule posts to be shared on social media at a given point in time. Real-time communication is a great way to monitor customer behaviour by helping them with their questions and queries. You can also integrate chatbots to help customers with an answer.
5. Influencer Marketing
Social media influencers are now a trend and this trend will continue to grow in 2019. Influencers rock the social media now. There are Twitter influencers, YouTube influencers, Stars on Instagram who have a strong hold on people or community. Marketing your brand through them gives youāre the leverage to reach these communities easily at one go.
Brands also need to have their C-Suite Level employees to use their social media handles to connect with the audience directly and share their thoughts, understandings, and insights on various subjects. This actually helps consumers to connect with brands in a more effective way while building trust and loyalty.
5 Content Marketing Tips for 2019
Content Marketing is one of the latest marketing forms which focusses on creating, distributing and publishing content online through various digital platforms. It involves the creation of content in the form of Blogs, Videos, Social Media Posts, Infographics, templates et cetera to build a rapport with the audience and eventually get the conversion.
Content Marketing helps businesses:
ā¦ Increase brand awareness
ā¦ Attract the attention of the audience
ā¦ Engage with the target group
ā¦ Build credibility
ā¦ Generate Leads
ā¦ Increase sales
Here are some content marketing tips to follow in the year 2019 to get maximum benefits from your marketing campaign.
1. Live Videos and Webinars
Live Videos are taking over the domain of content in a big way. The impact of videos on viewers in undoubtedly huge. As per a report, 64% of consumers make a purchase following a brand video published on Facebook or other Channels. Predictions are that video ads will dominate the internet by 82% of the global internet traffic. Marketers who use videos on the landing page of their website have 53% more chances of conversions.
You need to ensure that your videos are mobile-friendly. They are unique and engaging in nature. Optimising your content with fresh and beautiful content will ensure business growth.
2. Integrate Conversational User Interface (UI)
Conversational User Interface (UI) or voice search will dominate all search forms in the future. Conversational UIs such as Alexa, Siri or Google Home is providing users with a lot of conveniences and hence becoming an important part of their lives. Artificial Intelligence (AI) powered assistants are expected to become a lifestyle of the consumers in the future. As per a report, 20% of mobile searches and 25% of Bing searches are all voice-based and it is expected to grow up to 50% by 2020. So, a content marketer, you should modify your content so as to offer the audience with the most relevant content as they seek.
3. Integrate Chatbots
Chatbots provide a very personalised interaction and an experience to the audience. Integrating chatbots can help businesses increase user engagement and feel more connected to the brand. Chatbots also help in reducing operating costs in a significant way while providing the best value for money spent. Embracing state-of-the-art technology such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) will only help business build a stronger brand value among their target group by answering open-ended questions. They use ML for natural language processing (NLP) to provide the best response to FAQs by users. Chatbots can offer around the clock service to consumers and can always maintain a friendly tone while answering customer queries.
4. Use Analytics
While running a marketing campaign, it is important to measure your performance and ROI. Use of analytics is the best way to track performance by measuring the effectiveness of the content you offer. Social shares, Page Views, Likes and Comments are the basics of this data. However, to run a content marketing campaign in a more effective way, you need more in-depth data to analyse your performance. You can use analytics tools such as:
ā¦ Google Analytics
ā¦ KissMetrics
ā¦ Mixpanel
ā¦ SEMRush
ā¦ MozPro
Using these tools are very easy and convenient. So, take your marketing approach a lot deeper with the help of such analytics tools.
5. Offer Authentic Content
Consumers these days are very specific about what they hear or what they see. They look for authentic content which will add value and resonate with their life. So, here comes the importance of transparency while you promote your brand online. The content which you offer your consumers (Text, Audio, Video etc.) should reflect your brandās vision, mission, voice and personality to make them feel connected with the brand.
Your content should also have a good share of user-generated content as consumers find other usersā views on a product or service as more authentic than professionally generated content.
5 Email Marketing Tips for 2019
Email marketing involves sending out commercial emails to a set of people or a target group. It is a great way to advertise about a product, services or a business as a whole. It is done by considering a recipientās background, involvement, interests, and preferences and accordingly give them the information about your business. Email marketing is a great way to develop awareness, trust and eventually gain their loyalty.
Email Marketing is a very powerful tool to effectively reach out to target customers and achieve conversions. Over 2.8 billion people use emails as a form of digital communication. Reports say that email marketing can bring in 4400% ROI. To stay ahead of your competitors, you need to curate a proper email marketing campaign.
And, here is what you need to do.
1. Create A Relevant Database
To run a digital marketing campaign, it is important to decide on to the target audience first. Sending emails randomly will only create junk in the recipientsā inbox and they will probably block your email and restrict you from further communicating with them. So, you need to build an email list based on the people you want to reach out to promote your brand. And, for that, you require thorough research to understand peopleās behaviour and their expectations.
2. Have Mobile Optimization
As the whole world is shifting their base from a Desktop to a Mobile device, your email marketing strategy should comprise of optimisation of emails for mobile devices. As per reports, over 53% of emails are opened via mobile devices as compared to their desktop counterparts. Among them, 23% of the readers are more likely to open the same email again later. The reason being, 75% Gmail users (Out of 900 million Gmail users) check their emails on a mobile device.
3. Use Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the future of everything that is digital. AI helps in curating more relevant and personalised emails for the target group. It helps in predicting how a potential lead will behave once they receive the email. You can also estimate when the lead may unsubscribe from your mailing list and according to take actions to retain them as your email audience. You can make your marketing emails more personalised to gain the attention of the audience and keep them hooked onto the content you provide them. This will lead them to click onto the link you provide them in the email and take necessary action.
4. Send Story-Based Email Content with Relevant Data
Today, the whole world runs on data. However, only data cannot create interest among readers. You need to entice the readers with a story to gain their attention and keep them hooked onto your content. To run a marketing campaign, it is important to provide your audience with an interesting story which will comprise of precise and valid data about your company, its vision, mission, the kind of products you offer along with all other information about the services your company provides. This will help you to build credibility and brand awareness among people in the market.
5. Devise A Clear Call to Action (CTA)
No marketing campaign can be completed without a proper Call to Action (CTA). So, while devising an email marketing campaign, first decide about the vision and the purpose of it and accordingly drive the audience towards the outcome you want from them. An email marketing is not always about sales conversions, it is also about informing the audience about an upcoming event, product launch or just about giving them an overview of the company.
5 SEO Tips for 2019
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of increasing the online visibility of a website or a web page when a search query is made on the Search Engine. SEO is about obtaining a higher rank on the SERP (Search Engine Results Pages) whenever an appropriate keyword is entered during a search made on the internet. SEO is also referred to as an organic or unpaid process.
Carrying out the task of SEO perfectly is a very tricky one as the leading Search Engines in the world are constantly changing their search algorithms. So, it is important to keep your SEO strategy updated to get good results.
Also, there are few basic mistakes that you need to avoid to optimise your website and get a better ranking on the SERP.
1. Use the Most Relevant Keywords
SEO is all about keywords that you want your website to show up when a search query is made. So, it is very essential to choose and focus on the right keywords to get your website rank higher. You need to focus on the preference of search engines and users for their long-tail keywords. Using generic keywords will never give you good results. You need to analyze the words and terms your potential customers might use to mention your products or services.
2. Do Not Cram Your Content with Keywords
Overstaffing content with keywords is another major mistake that digital marketers do. Search Engines spam websites which are overstuffed with keywords and eventually throws your website at the bottom of Search Results. Moreover, overstaffing the intended keywords also make the whole content look repetitive and readers are most likely to lose interest in content like this.
3. Use Title Tags and Meta Descriptions
Title Tags and Meta Descriptions are two other important features of SEO. Search Engines consider these two factors while crawling all the websites during the time a search is made on them and accordingly index the ones with the best tags and descriptions. So, proper use of meta tags and title descriptions will help in enhancing the ranking of your website. Another important factor which you should consider is using alt tags or the image tags. The crawlers cannot read the images but can read the alt tags (alternative tags or texts). So, using the right kind of alt tags will help you enhance the ranking of your website.
4. Create Backlinks
To make the best of SEO, digital marketers need to create relevant backlinks to drive in traffic to your website. Linking tour website to other high-performing websites is a great way to drive traffic and offer them relevant information and make them feel happy about landing on your website.
Moreover, you should ensure using appropriate anchor text while creating links. This gives the search bots and also the readers an idea about what this link is all about and accordingly serve them with the relevant information.
5. Provide Unique and Interesting Content
Content is like fuel. Great content will keep the flame of āinformation questā high and boring or bad content will put the reader off it. A unique content which is informative, able to tell a story to the readers and also at the same time it is able to keep their interest intact will surely be preferred more by the readers.
SEO is not only about writing great text, but it is also about creating a buzz among people by promoting your content to the intended set of audience. The more people talk and discuss your brand on various digital channels, the more chances are for your website to rank higher during the time a search is made.
5 Search Engine Marketing Tips for 2019
Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is a type of internet marketing which is focused on promoting a website to increase its visibility on Search Engine Results Pages (SERP). SEM is both a free and paid form of marketing on the internet which includes both SEO and PPC. As per SEO the siteās architecture and the web content is adjusted or rewritten to rank higher on the results pages of a search engine and increase the Pay per Click (PPC) listings also.
A search marketing campaign, if planned and executed properly can get you extremely good results in terms of promoting your business and achieve sales conversions. Here are some points to consider to avoid Search Marketing mistakes and achieve great results from your online marketing campaign.
1. Devise a Well-Researched Marketing Strategy
For any kind of marketing campaign, creating a strategy is the first step towards executing it. A well-planned strategy will ensure targeting the right set of audience, create interest among them, keeping them engaged so that they can identify themselves with your brand and eventually decide to try out your product design or services. A well-researched marketing strategy ensures effective lead generation and more conversion.
2. Utilize Data
Data is the key to solve all kinds of problems, no matter what the problem is. So, considering customersā data will help you to target them so as to gain their attention and eventually create a positive impact on them. This will also help you to set up customersā expectations from your business. If they know beforehand what they are going to receive as a service or product, and get the same or better upon trying it, it will help in building trust and brand loyalty.
3. Set Up Customersā Expectations
All businesses run their marketing campaign focusing on only one goal and that is a substantial return on investment (ROI). Setting up Social media goals to meet the customersā expectations is critically impactful to get a higher return on the Investment. Setting up customersā expectations should be based on the two marketing milestones; Brand Awareness and Sales Conversions. Since expectations of the customers are tangible in nature and can never be measured entirely, it is important positioning the brand in a skillful manner to manage and maintain a good reputation in the market.
4. Track Performance
While running a marketing campaign, it is imperative to check the performance of the campaign in terms of the number of visitors on your website and rate of conversion you achieve through that. In the era of internet, you can easily collect stacks of measurable data and analyse them to devise, modify and optimise your marketing campaign to derive maximum benefits out of it by making the right strategic decision. Competitive analytics helps in understanding statistics better and make actionable decisions to bring visibility to your website. Optimising your digital effectiveness is the most effective way to maximise your ROI.
5. Optimize Your Website with Fresh and Unique Content
Content is the key. It is the tool that keeps the audience engaged onto a website. It is important to cater to your audience with fresh and quality content. The idea is to entice viewers with interesting content in all forms such as text, video, and images. Also, all the major Search Engines prefer to rank websites which are updated with relevant and valuable information on a regular basis so that the users find it useful. However, you should never build content only for algorithms, it is more important to catch the attention of the reader. Interesting and useful content will surely give you a significant competitive edge.
Conclusion
Marketing is a never-ending process and Digital Marketing is the present and future of the entire game of marketing. Companies who adopt the latest digital marketing techniques will be able to strive in this competitive market. And, those who adopt the futuristic digital marketing tactics will be able to go a long way by surpassing their customersā expectations in a big way and leaving their competitors a lot behind.
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