Marketing is still one of the best ways to spread awareness for a product, service or brand. With an ever-changing landscape when it comes to consumer satisfaction, paying attention to the current trends is a good way to stay ahead of the competition. There were a number of prevailing trends in 2018 that were well worth considering and implementing. Below is a quick refresher on what worked well in 2018.
1. Authentic face to face communication.
We have become a very visual society. This is evident from the prominence of social sites such as Instagram and snapchat. They are all about pictures, videos and personal stories and marketing in this generation requires no less. People want to be stimulated and entertained. They want to feel like the have a deep and personal connection to the brands and products they love and authentic face to face communication is one of the best ways to achieve that result.
2. Artificial Intelligence
There have been ongoing conversations about artificial intelligence in a variety of different fields. When it comes to marketing, one of the most beneficial ways to implement this resource is towards customer service. Very few companies are able to stay open for 24 hours a day but consumers may need assistance at any time of day. This brought the rise to the chat box idea. This robot is able to handle customer interactions for you and can be programmed to deliver the experience you’d be proud to offer yourself.
3. Micro Marketing
This strategy pushes the envelope when it comes to customer engagement. If getting your message in front of customers is the basis on which marketing is hinged, then micro marketing gets you one step closer to perfection. Using this strategy will allow you to get the right message in front of the right people at just the right time. A lot of time and research has gone into researching when is the best time is to promote your product our service so it has maximum effect. This can be the difference between a good result and a great result.
2019
With all that has been promoted and implemented in 2018, what can we look forward to in 2019. Which trends are here to stay, which have been improved on and what new strategies will be introduced in the new year to increase returns on your marketing efforts? The following review will cover the top 5 updated marketing strategies for the year 2019.
1. Multichannel Marketing
You can have the best mode of advertising or marketing available on the planet. There is no way that you can guarantee it will always be the most convenient to all the people all the time. These give rise to the need to diversify and be able to send the same message over multiple channels. This allows consumers to have access to your products, services and brand wherever and whenever they need it. This can play a key role in converting your overall reach into engagement and ideally action.
2. Back to Basics
Marketing Strategy is like the frame of a house. It looks good and it attracts the attention of others but it’s useless without an adequate foundation. No matter how good it looks, no one will be able to use it. This is the same idea when it comes to marketing. It’s important to take the time to come up with a solid business plan so when strategies are implemented consumers will be able to gain the full benefit from your products and services. No matter how innovative the future gets the 5 P’s of the marketing mix always takes preference over strategy.
3. Search Engine Optimization
This strategy is all about being seen and Google is the King of the Hill in this regard. They have made major modifications to what used to be Google Adwords. Paid advertising is a sure way to make sure your product, service or brand gets to the eyes and ears of the persons that are most likely to show interest. Google has integrated a number of their processes such as analytics and data studio to make sure users get the most out of their marketing efforts. Using this search engine as a tool is guaranteed to give you an extra edge in your market niche.
4. Visualization
This trend continues to make waves going into 2019. An analysis of social media trends continues to reveal that we are a visual society with platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and snapchat leading the way when it comes to reach and engagement. These sites are focused on pictures, videos and personal stories. Even with the changing age demographic leaning toward older adults, these platforms continue to take the lion’s share when it comes to marketing efficiency.
5. Automated Marketing
Starting with the introduction of the chat box which became a major trend in 2018, automated marketing seems to be the way to go when it comes to customer service. Companies continue to expand into international markets and the need for 24 hour service continues to increase. Consumers need to have access to information and queries at times and from places that may not always be convenient. With the ability to program and automate their service to customers, any company stands the chance of not just converting their overall market reach into action oriented customers, but they are able to maintain loyalty with the customers they already have. Including this tool into your strategy for 2019 will be a step in the right direction.
Conclusion
There are a number of trends that are on stream now and many more that will be developed and introduced or updated during the year. By implementing a strong strategy and game plan, 2019 should be another successful year with improved market growth and sustained customer loyalty. Only time will tell which trends will remain and which will become obsolete. Selecting the right strategy at the right time to be used on the right person will make a tremendous difference moving forward.
Sources: American Marketing Association, Wider Funnel, Smart Insights
