5 Digital Marketing Trends for 2019
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Transcript:
Welcome and Happy New Year!
I'm going to discuss five digital marketing trends for 2019. Things in this space change really fast and every year you will hear about new trends.
The one big thing that has happened in the last few years is that the digital world has become very crowded.
There are a lot of companies on the web. There is about one website for every four people on the entire planet!
It's a bit crazy. So, to stay competitive I have five tips for you today about what you should focus on in 2019, not just to stay competitive but to jump ahead of your competition.
1- Focus on your brand
The first tip is to focus on your brand. If you haven't yet, this year is the time to do it because as the web is becoming more competitive, people will make decisions either based on brand or on price. And you don't want to be competing on price because that is a race to the bottom.
If you have been neglecting your brand or not really focusing on it, this is really the time to do it.
You need to assess your brand values, your unique selling position, why you are different. You don't need to be better, you just need to be different and you need to be clear on how you are different.
2- Videos and Podcasts
The web is shifting from written content to videos and podcasts. You may have noticed this yourself.
There is lots of content out there, lots of blogs. Nearly every website has a written blog and I’ve just mentioned that there is one website for every four people in the entire world.
The other thing is that people are very busy nowadays. Videos are easier to watch, you can watch on the couch, you can even listen to a video, you don't need necessarily to watch it.
And podcasts are the same. You can see a lot of people in your community with headphones.
Videos and podcasts are easy to consume and there are not as many companies producing this type of content. It's much easier to compete in this space.
3- Use Facebook Live for ads
Facebook ads are becoming more and more expensive so you should be looking to increase brand awareness, not just focus on selling. As I mentioned above, you should focus on your brand and get people to know you, like you, trust you and connect with you.
Facebook is still favouring live videos, not just videos but live videos. If you publish live videos, then you can use those videos to promote your business by transforming them into paid advertising and using Facebook to expand your reach.
4- Sales Funnels are shorter
Sales funnels are also changing. They're becoming shorter, more to the point and you need to be a little bit smarter about them. Just including a free download and an email sequence doesn't really work very well anymore because there are many people using those techniques.
You need to start looking at how to convert a prospect into a customer much faster. One way to do this is by making an offer to them right on your Thank you page, known as a "trip wire". Think about promoting your freebies and immediately trying to convert those prospects.
The other things to look at in your sales funnels are upsells and downsells. So again, making the most out of each prospect, each client or customer that you get because it will become more and more expensive and harder to acquire each customer.
You need to look at your whole value ladder, every product and service that you offer and really drive you customer through a journey and offer them upsells and downsells.
5- Focus on customer experience
My last tip today is to review your customer experience. The way you treat your customers and what their experience with you is at every single touch point is crucial.
From the moment that they find you online, when they land on your website or your social channels.
Think about their experience when they subscribe to your emails, and especially your customer service.
It is becoming harder and more expensive to acquire each and every customer, so you really want to treat those customers as if they are your golden pot.
You want to keep them with you for as long as possible and you want them to be so thrilled and so happy with you that they will not only keep buying from you, but they will also refer other customers to you, which costs you very little.
If you receive referrals, they really don't cost you nearly as much money as advertising or other marketing techniques.
Next time
In my next blog post I'm going to be talking about how to plan for 2019, how to plan your marketing, set your goals and break them down in a way that you can actually achieve them and not just create a ton of to-do lists that drive you crazy and you end up nowhere.
If you had great results in 2018 think about doubling them or tripling them in 2019 and if there were things in 2018 which you are not happy about, you want to change it for this year.
I'll see you next time.
