Digital Marketing Trends to Watch in 2019

#DigitalMarketingTrendsin2019

Digital Marketing is an ever-changing playground and it can be difficult to keep up with the latest global trends.

I’ve been researching trends on multiple platforms (YouTube, Pinterest, Google and LinkedIn) and trends differ depending on who’s sharing the information, however, there are a number of trends that stand out.

This information was presented in Cape Town on the16th May 2019 at the Social Media and Marketing Conference in Cape Town held by Ayihlome Training Projects.  I’ve uploaded the files to Slideshare and I’ll add a video as soon as possible.

In this post, I’ll share 8 of the most prominent Online Marketing Trends today.

  1. Video Marketing
  2. Content Clusters
  3. OmniChannel Marketing
  4. Influencer Marketing
  5. WhatsApp Marketing
  6. Storytelling
  7. Live Chat and Chatbots
  8. Voice Search

As we go through each of them, I’d like you to keep this question in the back of your mind:

Which of these trends do you see as your BIGGEST OPPORTUNITY in 2019?

Digital Marketing Trends Question

1. Video Marketing

Video is seen as a MEGATREND.  There are 3 main reasons you’ll want to get into Video. 

1.  Videos are HUGELY Popular right now.  Wouldn’t you rather watch a video than read an article?  That’s exactly what your customers are doing.

2.  Videos can be much more emotive and authentic than written content. They can bring a boring website to life.

3. Google loves video, especially YouTube videos embedding in posts. Videos are great for SEO.

Let’s just talk about YouTube.  YouTube Stats are Crazy!

  • Daily, People are watching 1 BILLION Hours of Video on YouTube.
  • YouTube has nearly 2 Billion monthly active users.
  • 4 x as many People prefer watching Videos on YouTube than any other Social Media Platform.

Find more YouTube Stats at HubSpot

Advertising on YouTube

And, as Facebook Ads are becoming more expensive, it’s becoming more popular (and more effective) to advertise on YouTube.

You have a better chance of your Ad being seen and heard on YouTube. Facebook Ads start with the sound turned off and most people don’t turn it on.

Facebook has recently taken away some of its powerful targeting options. YouTube’s Targeting options are worth looking into. You can even target people who have been researching what you offer on YouTube (remember, Google owns YouTube).

2. Content Marketing

Content Marketing is here to stay.  The more information and inspiration you can provide your clients, the better.

The latest trend in Content Marketing to look out for is Topic Clusters or

Content Clusters

This is a unique method of Content creation that can boost your SEO, ease the flow of traffic through your website and dazzle your customers or clients with answers to all their questions.

The search engines reward sites that cover topics best and your audience will love you for it too.

Step 1:  Find the main problem or pain point you solve.

Step 2: Create a Pillar Post covering the broad topic.  

Step 3: Make sure you choose a popular Keyword.

Step 4: Create cluster posts that link to your main post, covering other aspects of the topic.

The search engines reward sites that cover topics best and your audience will love you for it too.

So, if we were to choose this topic: Digital Marketing Trends in 2019, we could create a Content Cluster mapped out pretty much like this one.   I could write a separate post on each trend and link it back to this post. (Actually, I may just do that).

Digital Marketing Trends in 2019
3. OmniChannel Marketing

With the internet becoming more and more crowded, it’s important to employ as many social media platforms as possible in your digital marketing strategy.

Once upon a time, all you needed was a website and/or a Facebook page. Now, it’s getting increasingly difficult to be taken seriously if you’re not on Twitter and Instagram.

And, as mentioned, YouTube is definitely one to consider.

Pinterest is also not to be overlooked as a search engine and a platform that can bring huge traffic to your website.

And the trending channels right now are LINKEDIN and TUMBLR as their growth is faster than any of the other channels.

LinkedIn is known as the best Business to Business Channel and it’s my favourite channel by far.  Because you can connect with a targeted audience.  And because it’s more professional than any of other platforms.

LinkedIn Advertising is virtually a replica of the Facebook Ads dashboards, but cheaper and they have plenty of interesting Advertising options to explore, including Sponsored Posts.

3 Reasons to Advertise on LinkedIn

  1. Targeting is astoundingly accurate and you can target many different characteristics, including skills.
  2. You can start advertising for as little as $2 a day.
  3. Marketers choose LinkedIn over other platforms for Lead Generation.

You’ll find the Complete Guide to LinkedIn Ads on Hootsuite.

And I’ve only mentioned 7 Channels so far: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest, LinkedIn and Tumblr.

If you really want to spread your wings and fly, you could start looking into Flipboard, Mix, Snapchat, Quora and Reddit. And there are countless other platforms springing up.

Phew!  Exhausting as it sounds, Omni Channel Marketing is a growing trend and one that cannot be ignored.

Each channel has its own benefits and drawbacks and each platform attracts a unique segment of the market, so it’s worth doing your homework.

Don’t miss Brandwatch’s 123 Amazing Social Media Statistics and Facts.

What Digital Marketing Trends will you take advantage of in 2019? In this post I take a look at 8 prominent trends in 2019. #DigitalMarketingTrendsin2019 4. Influencer Marketing

Influencer Marketing is a growing trend.  We all know the value of word of mouth marketing.  We know that people trust people before they trust businesses.

For years, Brands have employed Brand Ambassadors, compensating famous TV, Film and Sports personalities to advertise their products. In the new world of Online Marketing, Micro Influencers are providing exactly the same service.

I saw this in action last year when I was invited to attend the Happy Event #MommyHero Event.  Happy Event did both.  Elana Afrika-Bredenkamp was their Brand Ambassador and they shared the stories of Mom Bloggers and other Mommy Micro Influencers around the country on their website and Facebook page.

To Thank us for our interviews, we were all treated to a morning of pampering and delicious snacks.  A very clever marketing move as each Mom Blogger blogged about the Event and shared pictures and happy thoughts on their own social media channels as well.  I use my Mommy Hero mug every day and it always fills me with a sense of pride.

So Influencer Marketer is a win-win.  As Brands work with Influencers, their Influence grows. As Influencers work with Brands, their Influence (and Revenue) grows.

5. WhatsApp Marketing

Who knew that WhatsApp Marketing would be on this list?  It came as a surprise to me because WhatsApp Business is the new kid on the block.  It only launched in January 2019 and attracted over 5 Million Businesses in their first year.

The opportunity is huge though, especially in South Africa where virtually everyone and his Grandpa have a cellphone but very few have personal computers. Can’t find updated on Stats on this, sorry.

WhatsApp stats are impressive, to say the least. Here are just a few. You can find more stats at Business of Apps.

  • WhatsApp is the biggest Messenger App in the world, with 1.5 Billion Users in 180 Countries
  • WhatsApp outstrips Facebook Messenger by 200 Million Users.
  • 65 Billion messages are sent every day on WhatsApp.

So if you haven’t joined WhatsApp Business yet, now might be the perfect time to get ahead of this trend.

6. Storytelling

Instant Storytelling is hooge right now.

Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp have all hit 500 Million Active Users, according to Tech Crunch while Snapchat is trailing behind with 190 Million Users.

Brand Storytelling is also a growing trend.

And the simple art of Storytelling is making a comeback in all arenas.  Bloggers who tell stories attract more followers and gain more engagement.

The simplest place is to start if you want to jump on this bandwagon is with your website.

Create a Simple Marketing Message on your website

  • What You Offer 
  • How it will help your Customers or what pain point or problem you solve
  • And what they must do to take the next step forward

Distil all information down to the most important parts, what matters most to the Consumer.

And provide stories and testimonials of happy customers who have enjoyed your service and prove that you deliver on your promises. Social Proof is extremely important, both online and offline. (See Influencer Marketing above).

7. Live Chat and Chatbots

I don’t know about you but I love this new trend. When I was looking into buying Divi, my first paid WordPress Theme by Elegant ThemesI learned so much from their Chat Bots or Live Chat Conversations.  I plied them with questions for weeks and they were always responsive, day or night.

And that’s the major benefit of installing a Chat Bot on your website – 24-hour Service.

Of course, you’ll have to program the Bot to answer all your Frequently Asked Questions but imagine the time-saving once you’re all set up. How many times a day do you and your staff answer the same questions from your customers?

I was interested to find that smaller, newer web-based companies, even here in South Africa are also employing this Artificial Intelligence (AI) or Smart Technology.  I was contacted by someone just this week who has started up a Baby Sitting Site and I was incredibly impressed by their website. It’s stunning.  Have a look at We Sit.

The other benefits of Chat Bots and Live Chat are that Responses are Instant, creating a great customer experience. You can even handle complaints quickly and easily using a Chatbot.  Or at least you can start with a Bot and then refer them to a Live Chat or someone who can handle their query within a few hours.

Read more about Chat Bots at DigitalMarketing-Wiki

8. Voice Search

Now, this is an interesting new trend because no-one quite knows what to do with it yet and what impact it’s going to have on SEO.

What we do know is:

20% of all mobile searches are done using voice search and the number is rising every year.

When people ask verbally they usually say a lot more than they would when they type in their search query. So Long Tail Keywords are going to be important.

This is what’s known so far about optimising your website for Voice Search:

Step 1: Switch over to SSL or https.

Step 2: Fill out your Google My Business Profile as completely and accurately as possible and keep it updated.

Step 3: Ask Questions the way people would ask them verbally. (Again, knowing your FAQ’s are important)

Step 4: Use Long Tail Keywords in your posts to ask and answer these questions.

Step 5: Make sure your website uploads as fast as possible.

For more tips, visit this post by Sachs Marketing Group

I also loved Neil Patel’s quick video on Voice Search:

There are many more Trends I could have mentioned in this post. Here are a few of them:

  • Podcasting
  • Artificial Intelligence (Chat Bots fall into this category)
  • Marketing Automation
  • Email Automation
  • Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO)
  • Community Marketing
  • NeuroMarketing

So… now that we’re done, let’s get back to the question I posed at the beginning of this post.

Which of these trends do you see as your BIGGEST OPPORTUNITY in 2019?  

I welcome your comments below.

About Lauren Kinghorn

Energy Healer, Transformation Life Coach, Founder of the Hey Shoo Wow Movement, and Author of 7 Natural Laws of Longevity.

18 Replies to “Digital Marketing Trends to Watch in 2019”

  1. Jill du Preez

    There is so much food for thought. I shall definitely be starting with YouTube videos. All the others will need to come in time. So much great information and necessary in this day and age.

    Reply
  2. Adyns68

    Hi dear

    Great post! I think the biggest trend is the voice search. All the search engines today are getting ready to for it. Allowing people to use their voice to accomplish different tasks on their computers. That is why Everytime we write a post we need to consider that option. Using long tail keywords as you said.

    I also like the voice search because it allows also people with some physical challenge to access information on any device, may it be a specialized computer or not. It’s a whole new audience for online marketer too. So, we need to make content which can be voice searched.

    Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
    • Lauren Kinghorn Post author

      Thanks for adding your voice to my post. I’m sure in the near future you’ll be able to do that verbally too. 🙂
      Thanks for bringing up such a brilliant point, yes – not everyone can read and write. Wonder if it’s going to make us all super lazy?

      Reply
  3. Tarun

    Hi Lauren,

    Thanks for this! This is really informative and definitely, a lot to consider.

    As a fellow blogger who’s been in the niche for just under a year, building a brand name and getting visitors is the hardest thing – even harder than writing a post!

    I agree with you, video and Instagram are going to be the biggest trendsetters! I just wished I had a face for the camera lol

    Reply
    • Lauren Kinghorn Post author

      Hi Tarun, Thanks for your input. Yes, I agree with you, building an authority brand and attracting an audience takes time.
      Looking forward to mastering YouTube and IGTV in the hopes that they speed up the process.

      Reply
  4. Shashwat .Prakash

    Hello

    I enjoyed reading your article about digital marketing. I was amazed to see that there are so many ways in which I can market my website.  I especially liked the idea of chatbots and AI. It really feels welcoming if you are on a website that offers 24×7 assistance. I am bookmarking this page and will surely go over the tips from time to time. 

    Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
    • Lauren Kinghorn Post author

      Hi Shashwat, Thanks for your comment. Yes, I’m with you on that. I’m keen to look into adding a Chatbot on my site, it’s one of my favourite new trends which is interesting because I’ve never been into pop-ups.

      Reply
  5. Marios Tofarides

    Hey Lauren,

    Great post! Very very informative and explanatory. For me, it’s Voice Search. Already, mobile search has surpassed desktop search. Voice search, with the help of all those digital assistants (Alexa, Siri, Bixby, etc) is gaining ground. I consider it to be the biggest trend in digital marketing for the next few years. 

    Marios

    Reply
  6. Alblue

    There are a lot of interesting digital marketing trend in this year. Chatbots are something that my company has been working, because we found out its effectiveness (cost and conversion). Influencer marketing is also a huge thing. There are many influencer marketing agency offering their service to my company. We have tried an influencer campaign before and it successfully make one of our product hit big in short amount of time span. I should keep in my for other trends here. Thanks.

    Reply
    • Lauren Kinghorn Post author

      Hi Alexander, Thanks so much for sharing your experience with Chatbots and Influencer Marketing. Sounds like you are taking advantage of the trends and it’s really working for you. Awesome! You’ve just given me a great idea…

      Reply
  7. Cath Anon

    I don’t know why it took so long for the lightbulb to come on for me but it was only until I read your article that I understood what content cluster was about.  Now I see the light!  Your graph brought it home for me and has given me a more focused idea of how to go about writing up my blog posts.

    I know it may be basic to you but this truly was a lightbulb moment for me.  Really appreciate your breaking it down like this.  I was disappointed to read what you had to say about Facebook ads coz that’s where I was contemplating advertising.  But I’m glad for the insights into the other platforms out there that I can try out.

    Thank you for sharing!

    Reply
    • Lauren Kinghorn Post author

      Aah, fabulous Cath! So happy to hear my content cluster graph helped you get the concept. I used Tony Buzan’s Mindmapping method to create the graph. It really helps me figure things out when I’m learning information so I thought I would pass on the tool.
      I’m sure Facebook Ads are still worth testing out. Personally, I would use LinkedIn but then, LinkedIn is my favourite platform. It also boils down to personal choice.

      Reply
  8. Paul

    Dear Lauren,

    Being a full-time blogger your article means a lot to me and I got great insights from your post.

    Very recently learned about the importance of video content marketing. I am amazed to know that Youtube is the second largest search engine. I was shocked and surprised when my mentor said that the video content marketing is going to be the future.

    Indeed, as you shared in the slideshare Google loves videos it’s true. Personally I noticed there is always an improvement in my rankings when I embed a video on my posts.

    Information on content clusters is an eye-opener for me. I am not focusing on the OmniChannel marketing after reading the information you shared I realized the importance of staying active on the social media platforms.

    I am also surprised, so far I am using WhatsApp just for forwarding funny messages and videos never ever thought about WhatsApp marketing. Gonna work on my story telling (Obviously true stories).

    I am a fan of Neil Patel and thanks for the embedded video on Voice search.

    I think just one read is not enough to grab all the valuable information you shared on this post so I am bookmarking your post for future reference. You have given a lot of value here.

    Much Success!

    Paul

    Reply
  9. MissusB

    I’d say Youtube can accommodate almost all platforms you can think of. You can generate money by simply uploading videos but of course it must have good if not great content. 

    I am interested in Omni Channel Marketing since I have four of the social media platforms you mentioned, plus It will be easy for affiliates to advertise with accounts having a lot of networks. We should also understand that it must be done with hardwork and patience. 

    Thanks for this very insightful article. It will give more option for people out there looking for these kind of opportunity.

    Reply
    • Lauren Kinghorn Post author

      Hi Missus B, great point about YouTube. I created a video of this presentation before I delivered and it was rubbish. Decided not to upload to YouTube and rather make a better one at a later stage. Wish someone had been videoing my presentation, I’m much better in front of a group of people.
      Appreciate your comments. All the best as you explore and reap the benefits of OmniChannel Marketing.

      Reply
  10. Lauren Kinghorn Post author

    Thanks for your detailed comment, Paul. So happy to hear you got so much value from my post.
    All the best to you as you continue to implement Video Content Marketing and start incorporating OmniChannel Marketing into your blogging strategy.
    Haha, I felt the same way about WhatsApp, interested to see how this trend unfolds. Thanks so much for bookmarking my post.

    Reply

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