Digital Marketing Today

So you have a company website. Good for you!! Now you are thinking, “Whew, the work is over.” This is just the beginning. You have to get your business found by your ideal client/customer.

Back in 2000 when we started our company, essentially all you had to do was have a website and life was simple. “Look at me, my company has a website,” and now all you had to do was print the URL on your marketing materials and you’d get traffic.

Well those days are long gone!

Let’s pretend that your new website was built responsive and your content was optimized. Now what?

Enter digital marketing.

What is digital marketing? A broad scope of work and understanding. According to Hubspot, digital marketing encompasses all marketing efforts that use an electronic device or the internet.

The trends for effective use can be fast moving, so staying on top of the correct marketing tools can be daunting.

The choices range from SEO to Content Marketing to Social Media Marketing to Pay Per Click (PPC) to Video Marketing to Affiliate Marketing to Email Marketing to Inbound Marketing. See what I mean about “daunting”?

In preparing for this article, I’ve researched what the “experts” in this field have to say about digital marketing trends to watch in 2019. This list is a compilation of their opinions and just a brief list of trends happening this year.

1. Video Is a Must — 2019 is an even bigger year than 2018 to tell your business story in video, live and/or filmed. By 2020, video marketing is projected to account for 80 percent of total internet traffic. Get your make up on and get in front of the camera. Your customers are waiting to see and hear from you.
2. Good Content Still Matters — You can have all the “bells and whistles” on your website, but, if your content lacks depth and accuracy, you will soon be left behind by the search engines and your web visitors.
3. Social Advertising — You have a whole lot of channels to choose from to share your business story. The upside is great, the down side is the costs will be rising. Time to increase your marketing budget and define exactly where your clients hang out.
4. Storytelling — Use creative telling and transparency about your brand purpose. Have you noticed how so many national brands have changed the way they are delivering their messaging? Look at the latest McDonald commercials, Bank of America, and Buick.
5. Reviews, Reviews, Reviews — Get your customers involved with endorsing your brand.
6. Email Marketing — Really!?! you say. Yes, it’s still important, but it’s being personalized on a totally different level.
7. Local Influencer Marketing — Does your company have a national footprint? If not, then partnering with local influencers is the new trend. We all know who our local celebrities are.
8. Chatbots — AI-powered live chat tools or digital customer service. Be prepared to deliver customer service 24/7. This concept was emerging in 2018 and continues to be an important way to connect with your ideal client/customer.

And you thought this digital marketing stuff was easy. Hire yourself a qualified company to get your company and its messaging seen by “Your Ideal Client.”

Julie S. Cook is the owner of Idea Three Creative. For more information, visit www.ideathree.com.