Digital Marketing Strategies for 2019
It's hardly news to anyone that marketing is a constantly changing landscape. Today's hottest marketing trend could slide into irrelevance tomorrow. To stay competitive, marketers have to continue to evolve their strategies, keep an eye on emerging trends, and discard that which is no longer useful. Here are a few new strategies for upping your marketing game in 2019.
While it's hardly new, inbound marketing has continued to grow in popularity and effectiveness, and looks to continue being the de rigeur strategy into 2019 and beyond. As a broad approach, it will likely prove the most useful weapon in your marketing arsenal.
Unlike traditional ("outbound") marketing, which relies on direct sales, and straightforward promotion, inbound marketing relies on content creation to draw customers in. Rather than "pushing" sales toward customers with techniques like cold calling and traditional ad campaigns, inbound marketing uses tools like social media, podcasts, and blogging.
While there's still plenty of call for outbound marketing in 2019, statistics will tell you inbound marketing is too popular and powerful to ignore. Some inbound marketing techniques you could add to your 2019 campaign plan:
Guides and eBooks
One of the most powerful tools in the inbound marketing toolbox, guides and eBooks are a great way to provide value to customers while promoting your own website, brand, or product. A handy guide in your field of expertise is informative, non-intrusive, and relatively easy to put together. eBooks can be put together using free layout tools and uploaded to Amazon and iBooks, while guides can be published to popular online hubs like HubSpot.
Infographics
A close cousin to the text guide or eBook, infographics are another resource that provides value to both marketers and users. A good infographic provides a easy-to-digest information related to your business in an attractive, appealing package. Because infographics encourage rapid absorption of data, they're highly shareable, and one viral infographic could provide a wealth of leads. If you need help getting started, there are plentiful free tools for creating your own infographics on the Web.
Video and Podcasts
Video has been rising in popularity for years, and for good reason. Video has become relatively cheap to produce, is free to consume, and (when done well) delivers a lot of information in a short time. Platforms like YouTube and Facebook make it easy to get videos out to the audience, and helps build customer engagement. For these reasons and more, plenty of marketers are ditching the traditional newsfeed posts and going straight to video.
Influencer Marketing
Influencer marketing leverages the power of popular Internet personalities (influencers) to endorse your product or service. Because influencers often have huge audiences and high levels of trust amongst their followers, they can be a powerful asset to your 2019 marketing plan. When done correctly, influencer marketing can build credibility, convey a sense of authenticity, and organically build brand awareness. Influencer marketing isn't as easy as it used to be -- getting popular on Instagram has grown more difficult as competition increases. But as a strategy, it's too effective to ignore.
Social Media and Customer Engagement
The social landscape of the Internet has changed dramatically over the last decade. Where the Internet of yesteryear was mostly comprised of blogs, personal websites, and content hubs, today's users tend to congregate more on social media. Platforms like Facebook and Twitter are the internet to many contemporary users.
Fortunately, this means there's a powerful and accessible inroad to engaging with customers. Many brands increase their profile by answering questions on social media, sharing viral videos, and cultivating unique personalities. Some of the biggest companies out there are using social media to build their brands. This is where hiring marketers with skills in consumer behavior pays off.
As always, authenticity is key. Brands have to be cautious when stepping into the waters of social media, lest they make a critical misstep and get famous for the wrong reasons.
Content Clusters
SEO experts have been using content clusters for awhile now -- configuring their websites to create hubs of content that appeal to both end users and search engine algorithms. With a properly constructed content cluster, readers can find out all about your product or service in a short time, without having to leave your website or go searching for the information they need. As a strategy, it's not just good for your SEO, but great for your marketing efforts.
Accessibility
While it may not seem like a marketing strategy as such, accessibility has grown significantly in importance over the last few years. Optimally, a company website should be accessible to all, whether they're hard of hearing, vision impaired, or otherwise challenged. Adding subtitles to your videos, descriptions to your images, and employing best practices in your website design doesn't just broaden your audience -- it also puts your values on display and lets customers know you care.
By themselves, none of these techniques are a catch-all. Savvy marketers must learn to mix and match their strategies, provide goals and measure key performance indicators to make sure those techniques are working. Like the marketing landscape, marketers must keep changing and growing if they're to thrive.