The digital advertising landscape is constantly changing and as a business, you can adapt to the changes or risk becoming irrelevant. Technologies have a way of changing the environment in record time. Some technologies that were released barely 5 years ago are already impacting the market. This means that businesses have to constantly think of new strategies to keep up with the new technological trends. The following are just some of the new digital trends we expect in 2019.
1. Content Authenticity
Consumers are increasingly becoming distrusting of marketing and ads. So, to be believable, a company will have to be authentic in both their marketing and content. 865 of surveyed customers admit that brand authenticity is very important to them when deciding the brands they will interact with. This number is even higher in millennials who will even call-out a brand for lack of honesty and authenticity. Authentic content that has been honestly shared will be readily accepted by users and even shared.
2. Voice Search is Growing
Nearly one-third of all searches made on Google every day are voice searches. Personal assistants like Alexa, Siri, and Google Assistant are making it very easy to accomplish these voice searches and the convenience of these assistants only indicates that voice searches are here to stay. Voice searches can provide a better CTR for an ad campaign because unlike the web searches, a voice search produces fewer, more targeted results.
3. An Increase in AI Use
Although most people still don’t understand how Artificial Intelligence works, it is already beginning to take shape. The most useful AI for marketers is chatbots. AI chatbots help a brand improve relations with its customers. They are also increasingly becoming popular with more and more people saying they don’t mind interacting with an AI chat box. They can be easily integrated into a website or used on social media, becoming the best way to get feedback from customers.
4. Micro-Moment Marketing is Becoming Popular
Consumers today are bombarded with so much content and ads in various formats that it is becoming difficult for them to consume any information. Micro- moment marketing is a consumer behavior where a person will turn on a device and instantly act on the need to learn something or buy something. Google estimates that customers experience these micro-moments 150 times a day. Marketers can capitalize on these moments by providing consumers with the right information exactly when they need it.
5. AR and VR
Customers in 2019 want to be involved as active participants in the brand’s messaging. Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality fulfill this need. They also give the brand an opportunity to use them to grow interaction with customers.
6. Social Media to Take Over
With more than 3.196 billion active social media users, it is hard to see how this new medium could grow any further. But when you consider that this is just 42{4df784c43bbd73ac7e20021a4775f528dea44aee084e253cde0d77ec4e2dcf5f} of the market, the only conclusion is social media proliferation will only continue to grow with time. Most marketers already know the impact of social media on their business and social networks are only expected to be more influential.
7. Visual Search
Machine learning is expected to be very big in the coming years and visual search is a potential game changer. Google, Pinterest, and Microsoft are all focused on the development of interactive SEO or visual search. Visual search works by identifying objects in an image and then searching for images related to those objects. It presents a huge marketing potential for digital marketers since 93{4df784c43bbd73ac7e20021a4775f528dea44aee084e253cde0d77ec4e2dcf5f} of consumers consider visuals a key deciding factor when making a purchase.
Looking for a career in Digital Marketing? Head on over to Digital Marketing Jobs for more information.
Tech feature on AI and chatbots: Research by Avi Ben Ezra | Tech news by Avi Ben Ezra