Each year, digital marketing brings new challenges and trends that take over the industry. And without knowing what’s going on in the marketing world, companies can quickly fall behind the competition. So let’s explore a few important trends 2019 will hold, predicted by some industry experts.
Site Speed Matters
Today’s consumers have grown accustomed to getting results fast — this is why it’s important for all web pages to load quickly. If a site’s loading speed is more than a few seconds, there’s a good chance the customer is going to take their business elsewhere.
According to Evan Hoeflich of Evan Hoeflich Marketing, “…Website speed is more important than ever in regards to SEO and especially with the amount of competition on the web today. Google wants its users to have the best possible experience when navigating/clicking-through the search results, therefore they will generally rank a faster website higher than a sluggish one.”
And Scott Kasun of Forefront Web agrees that speed matters. “We should also see continued focus on site speed and “next generation” formats for images, as well as connecting the dots between search phrases and how users interact with your website. This will be a pass/fail for a lot of sites – get visits that stick = win; high bounce rates = fail.”
Focus on Consumer Experience
Ensuring consumers have a pleasant and easy experience navigating web pages is more important than ever. Whether it’s utilizing new technologies, customizing content for consumers, or ensuring pages load properly on all devices, understanding what consumers want will be critial for digital marketing this year.
Bill Evans from Technical Rx explains, “In 2019 digital marketers will need to continue taking a “multi-faceted” approach. Not only do you have to have technical SEO in place, but you will also have to make sure you include multiple device strategies. Understand your customer intent and how they will be interacting with your business. Is it socially? Is it primarily mobile? Most importantly, marketers will have to answer the question that their potential customer will be asking. Understanding, targeting, and then answering that question will result in quality, relevant content that search engines will love, and the customer will have a better experience interacting with your company.”
And Aamina Suleman from Logo Design Guru touches on the importance of having an engaging and seamless consumer experience, saying “In the current digital marketing world, brands are not only competing to stay ahead, but they are also on a journey to devise novel and creative strategies to engage their audiences and provide a seamless customer experience. It will be interesting to see how technologies like artificial intelligence, fifth generation network, and blockchain evolve, and how they affect search engine optimization and online advertising. This is an era of personalization and customization, whereby businesses use content, design, and technology to guide customers in their buyer’s journey. What will be more exciting to observe is how factors like robotics, politics, diversity, and the economy will further influence digital marketing in 2019 and beyond.”
Make Your Content Unique
In today’s competitive marketplace, it’s essential businesses do what they can to stand out in the crowd. To do this, companies have to think outside of the box and not just follow trends.
Darcy Sullivan from Propel Marketing & Design, Inc. says that companies can’t just do whatever everyone else is doing, otherwise, they won’t succeed. “You’ll never be the best in your industry by copying what your competition is doing. With the continued overload of content marketing online, you can’t just follow the leader and create similar content as your competition. Focus on creating new unique, high-quality content.”
In order to be known in your industry, it’s important to make sure the content you’re producing is fresh and unique enough to catch the eye of consumers. Not only should companies be producing unique content, but they should also be focusing on SERP SEO. New trends pop up all the time, and it’s important to figure out how to overcome certain obstacles along the way.
According to Charlie Carreras from MetrixSEO, “Mastering on SERP SEO will possibly be the best way to out manoeuvre the new trend of the zero click SERP.”
Keep it Simple
Digital marketing can be complex, to say the least. And some industry experts suggest sticking with the basics and making sure you have the fundamentals of marketing covered.
Having content shown in a featured snippet is becoming increasingly important, according to Jason Berkowitx from Break The Web. “In 2019, with the growth of voice search, the requirement for your content to be displayed in a featured snippet is now more crucial than ever. By optimizing for the featured snippet, you not only have the largest percentage of click-thru-rate (CTR) but you also have the opportunity to be the direct answer in a voice search. Ensuring your content provides the most detail or answers the question as early as possible within the content can increase your chances of achieving the featured snippet.”
And Kenny Lange from PHNX21creative says companies should focus on having the ability to adapt and combine ad spending and developing organic traffic. He explains, “The need to blend quick wins with ad spend and develop long-term organic traffic is felt now more than ever. You used to be able to be in either camp depending on your industry and preference, but I believe that time has passed. The time of fully integrated digital marketing strategies is upon us. Organizations have to adapt or be put out of business by those that do.”
Of course, no matter how much marketing changes, being open and honest about what you believe in as a company will continue to go far. Barrett Whiteman of Blue Carrot Creative says, “Transparent and authentic value-based marketing is here to stay and will be a pivotal component of any long-term strategy in 2019 and beyond.”
And last but certainly not least, Adam Smartschan from Altitude Marketing wants remind companies not to get caught up in the fancy analytics and methods use in marketing today. Smartschan explains, “It feels like the possibilities of digital marketing are growing every day. Precise targeting is easier, conversion funnels are more transparent, and analytics and visualizations are richer than ever. Problem is, all those shiny objects lead a lot of marketers – particularly in the B2B space – to forget blocking and tackling. It’s easy to get distracted and constantly try for moonshots when something new comes across your desk. But there’s a reason the basics are the basics: A lot of relatively simple tactics have worked very well for years, and (applied correctly) there’s no reason to believe they’ll simply stop. Go crazy with the new stuff sometimes, sure – but don’t neglect the foundation.”
Because digital marketing changes so often, it’s important to remain up to speed on trends and methods. Hopefully, the advice of these experts will help your business succeed with all of its digital marketing endeavors this year.
