In a blink of an eye, it’s almost the end of January and we’re observing new trends that are popping up in the digital marketing realm. Digital marketing is so prominent in our lives that you might even receive a notification from an app on your phone while you’re reading this article. Be it mobile apps, websites, social media channels or emails – we’re all subscribed to some form of mailing list and receive updates from the brands we follow. All because we constantly want to stay current, or as the millennials call it, having FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out).
In today’s article, we look at the digital marketing trends that marketers want to look out for in 2019.
1. Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Artificial intelligence uses data analysis to understand consumer behavior and buying patterns faster and more efficient compared to the traditional method of collating data. AI also offers information and tips to users by getting into conversations, such as in social media conversations (e.g. Facebook comments section) and activities are scanned to analyse consumer thinking patterns and helps marketers decide what is the next step to advertise their product and services. (Source: Entrepreneur)
An advertising strategy that has utilized AI will be programmatic advertising. Programmatic advertising uses AI to automate buying so they are able to target specific audiences. Real-time bidding or auctions are a type of programmatic ad buying. This automation is brings about higher conversions and lower customer acquisition costs.
Businesses that adopt AI will be able to save costs and accelerate growth. Thus, having an edge over their competitors. (Source: Single grain)
2. Chatbots
Statistics on the global chatbots market shows that it is growing at 24% annual growth rate, and 45% of customers prefer using them as a primary mode of communication in customer service. We have seen many companies adopt chatbots in the year 2017 and it continued in 2018. Even banks in Singapore such as DBS, OCBC and Citibank are already using it to attend to customers enquiries.
It gained popularity because chatbots are user-friendly, responsive, and are a convenient way to engage with customers without a need for actual human interactions. If your business focuses on customer satisfaction, then you might want to consider investing in chatbots. However, business owners should note that even though chatbots might be able to resolve simple customer issues, it is highly unlikely be able to attend to complex requests from customers. (Source: Entrepreneur)
According to Gartner, 25% of customer service will use chatbot technology by 2020, up from less than 2% in 2017.
3. Video Marketing
Video marketing has been becoming more popular these days because it caters to online users that prefer visuals rather than texts. It is effective for marketers that are looking to distribute content and increase engagement to consumers.
Here are some video stats about video marketing:
- 70% of consumers say that they have shared a brand’s video. (Wyzowl)
- 72% of businesses say video has improved their conversion rate. (Wyzowl)
- 52% of consumers say that watching product videos makes them more confident in online purchase decisions. (Invodo)
- 65% of executives visit the marketer’s website and 39% call a vendor after viewing a video. (Forbes)
The platforms for video marketing are very accessible and it is as easy as making a video post or starting a live broadcast on Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn. The ones that do well usually have their videos range from less than 1-minute to 5 minutes. These cater to people that have a short span of attention or are busy bees that don’t have much time to watch an hour long documentary.
Furthermore, using live videos during events in real-time allows your followers to feel more involved with your brand and ensures that they don’t miss out on your activities. Live videos sometimes involves interviews, product demos and behind-the-scenes of events, etc. (Source: Single grain)
4. Influencer Marketing
According to Raghav Haran, “Influencer marketing is a type of word-of-mouth marketing that focuses on using key leaders to drive your brand’s message to the larger market…. Rather than marketing directly to a large group of consumers, you instead pay influencers to get out the word for you.”
Using influencers is an effective marketing tool that helps businesses to attract customers as marketers are able to make a powerful impact on their promotional campaigns to a wider audience by tapping on their big amounts of following. Since people generally trust another consumer opinions over company statements, it is good for companies to research the top influences that relate to your industry and follow them on social media channels, before collaborating with them or engaging their services. (Source: Single grain)
5. Tapping on Social Messaging Apps
Social messaging apps such as Whatsapp, Telegram and WeChat are no longer just used for messaging. Whatsapp alone has 1.3 billion monthly active users and 55 billion messages are sent via WhatsApp every day. They are very useful in sending messages to customers directly, as they allow personalization and improves the user experience. Some businesses in Singapore have used it to invite their existing customers to events or to promote their new products.
What makes using social messaging apps special and different from chatbots is that they have to be existing customers in your database, join the group using an unique link or subscribe to the group before they can receive any information from companies. Thus, this will not seen as spam from a random company and they will less likely ignore the company’s message.
For example, Singapore’s news and media companies such as The Smart Local, Rice media and food blogger – Daniel Food Diary have used a Telegram group to post their content, articles and promotions.
To conclude, there are many new digital marketing strategies to use but marketers don’t necessarily need to rush into a trend just because it’s something many businesses are doing. It is important to do your proper research about your target audience before you use it for your company.
For more on any other marketing statistics to consider, click here to read about other media you can leverage on for your next business strategy plan.
If you would like to know more about how you can formulate your digital marketing strategies to target millennials, do join us in our next LearnXNetwork session on 13 Feb as we bring together local influencers – Sally Yeo (@VerySallyish) & Yong Wei Kai (@Sgcafehopping) and the Founder of Singapore Guide Book – Tatiana Gromenko, for a sharing session on understanding the consumer behaviour of millennials and how they converted their followers into sales leads.
For more information, visit our event page @ https://herlearnxnetwork-feb.peatix.com
Psst! It’s free for our members and we have a special discount code for our Facebook followers – key in “HERFb8” when purchasing your tickets. Early bird tickets end on 8 Feb 2019.