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Top Marketing Trends 2019

It is important for small businesses to keep on top of trends, especially in Digital Marketing. Here are the top things you should be doing in 2019 to get the most out of your budget and beat your competition.

Instagram

Social media is a rapidly growing industry. With over one billion active users worldwide, Instagram is an essential tool to connect with your customers. 64 percent of US adults aged 18 to 29 claim to be using the platform. Being an exclusively visual platform, users can post videos and pictures. Posting regularly on Instagram- at least twice a week – is a great way to connect with your customers. You can also use paid advertising options if you are looking to target a wider audience.

Live Video

In a survey conducted by Livestream in New York Magazine, 80% of the 1000 people surveyed said they would rather watch a live video that read a blog. In 2019, there are many live video platforms you can use, including Facebook Live, Youtube and Instagram. You are able to reach a more engaged audience as they have opted to tune into your live stream. This great tool for new product reveals, staff intros, how to videos and advertisements, is also cost effective and doesn’t take time to produce.

Chatbots

While only 15% of Americans currently claim to have used a chatbot, this is something that is predicted to grow rapidly within the next 2 years. Chat boxes pop up on web pages and answer customer’s questions, usually outside of business hours. It’s a great way to engage with your customers 24/7 and gain a better understanding of their needs. Plus once chatbots have been set up, the cost of maintaining and updating them is low.

Strong Content

The purpose of online content is to provide accurate relevant information to your customers. This will not only educate them but help to drive sales. Good content doesn’t have to be keyword heavy. It needs to help solve a problem and be useful to your customers. Make sure to add relevant, well-written content to your company’s blog and keep your website up to date.

Ever-Evolving Marketing Strategy

Staying on top of ever-changing digital marketing strategies is essential for your business to move forward. Something that is relevant now, may only be an effective strategy for half a year. Understanding Google’s rapidly changing algorithms, will help you to meet their criteria and better place your ads. Here at Cloud9 we stay up to date with fast-changing digital strategies so we can help with what will work best for you. Contact us by calling 604- 938- 4016 or email clientcare@cloud9marketing.ca.

marketing-resolutions

Did you nail it with your marketing in 2017, or did you leave a lot to be desired with your online presence? In a world where marketing is changing as quickly as Trump’s latest piece of bad press its important to prioritize your marketing while being strategic in your approach. Although it’s hard for us to understand, not all business owners love marketing, some find it frivolous or  down-right cringe-worthy.  Whatever your blocks, fears or distractions with marketing may be, it is in your best interest to prioritize your marketing in 2018, here are some marketing resolutions to stick to.

Thou shall engage in live video

It’s all about live video in 2018, whether that be Facebook Live, Instagram Live for live streaming on Youtube, the story-telling and engagement possibilities with live video is beyond any other form of messaging at the moment. You may be hearing a lot of virtual reality and machine learning, these things are coming too but for now, the most interactive experience you can give your current and potential customers is the experience of live video.

Thou shall delegate my marketing if I’m unable to prioritize

Many businesses start the year gung-ho with marketing which slowly takes a back seat as the year goes on while other, more pressing business matters take priority. Just because marketing doesn’t scream and wave for your attention, doesn’t mean it isn’t important. If you find you’re constantly being called to other areas of your business, or are too busy to give marketing the creativity and attention it deserves, it’s time to delegate your marketing to someone else who can give it all the love it needs.

Thou shall understand my web analytics

So many businesses have a website and an online presence but have no idea how effective either are. Understanding your web analytics will be hugely insightful as to how your online marketing efforts are performing and ways to tweak and optimize current performance to be even more effective. Being able to navigate Google Analytics should be the very basic step of understanding web analytics. Having a clear picture of your online position, including a solid grasp of search engine optimization (SEO) will help your business immensely in 2018.

Thou shall invest in digital marketing

In the new year make sure to prioritize digital marketing, and by prioritizing it we mean, allocating money to this very valuable aspect of your business. In a world where social media dominates content and engagement you must pay to play to really reap the benefits. If you’re not ranking well on search engines for important key words you may want to consider Google Adwords pay-per-click advertising to get those coveted click throughs to your website. You can’t ignore the return on investment with digital marketing, it’s measurable, tangible and undeniable in 2018.

Thou shall be clear about my 2018 marketing strategy

A clear marketing strategy is the starting point for a successful year of marketing in 2018. Define your marketing budget, outline your marketing goals and create a strategy to help you achieve these. Your goals may want to consider revenue, customer acquisition, engagement and/ or brand awareness. The beginning of the year is the perfect time to get crystal clear on your marketing goals, schedule time to do this in the next few weeks right now.

As mentioned, marketing isn’t everyone’s jam however almost everyone understands the importance of a solid online presence backed by a goals-driven marketing strategy. If you’re ready to up-level your marketing game in 2018 and need help, contact the team at Cloud9 Marketing, we’ve got your back.