14 Digital Marketing Trends to Watch Out for in 2019

Back in 2018, I made a similar prediction series on trends in Digital marketing for 2018 during the start of the year. As we reach the end of 2018, we can find most of the predictions turning true.

To continue this game, I am rolling out my Digital marketing predictions for 2019. These are the core areas where I would focus on in the upcoming year and invest into.

Without any delay, scroll more to go through the 14 Digital Marketing trends prediction for 2019. As I mentioned before, my investments in terms of both time and money would be on these 14 trends for 2019.

1.Instagram – the key channel

If there is one Social media channel which is soaring high in organic reach, it is Instagram. Year 2018 was about shifting businesses to Instagram. Businesses and individuals who shifted to Instagram where on the positive side of digital marketing.

Year 2019 it will be about Instagram Stories, Instagram Live, IGTV, Instagram Influencer Marketing, Instagram Content Marketing and Instagram Advertisements. If you haven’t taken this platform seriously, you MUST and start growing your followers here, as the number of followers is crucial for Brand Identity on this platform.

2. Facebook Messenger Marketing Will Dominate

In the 2nd half of 2018, a lot of marketers discovered the power of Messenger Marketing.The key reason for marketers to switch to Messenger marketing is due to the fact that Facebook’s organic reach is dead. Facebook doesn’t really want you to post a lot of content pieces on your pages. A Single Facebook Messenger Broadcast has at-least 50% opening rate, much larger opening rate than that of email and SMS marketing. Tools like Manychat, Mobile Monkey and Chatfuel can help you create a great Facebook Messenger Chatbot experience.

You can see how I send broadcasts on Facebook Messenger and it has at-least 50% opening rate. Also, my clients have seen better conversions on messenger advertisement campaigns as people are comfortable chatting than talking on the phone. You will see the adoption rate of the Messenger marketing channel grow high.

3. LinkedIn advertisements will be on a roll:  

Did you lately see LinkedIn Advertisements Dashboard? Well, it’s a complete replica of the Facebook Ads Dashboard. Almost same! Facebook ads dashboard is known for its ease of use, now that LinkedIn ads are getting cheaper and easy to establish. 2019 is about inMail marketing and LinkedIn Lead Generation advertisements. If you are in B2B domain or selling expensive stuff, 2019 is going to be the golden year for your Digital Marketing efforts on LinkedIn.

4. Whatsapp Marketing will be on the rise

It is anticipated that Facebook Ads will have ‘Whatsapp Us’ call to action button that will lead people to whatsapp for business in first half of 2019. This is the feature that would re-define the lead generation Industry.

Whatsapp Story Ads would be the next big game changer. All the 15-30 seconds video innovation here can help businesses get maximum visibility. I anticipate there could be a whatsapp chat bot too by the end of 2019.

5. Storytelling – Instantly on the go

Year 2019 is about quick stackable content. Instagram stories, Facebook stories and, Whatsapp stories, is what people like to produce and consume the most today. 2019 is about how quick can get your brand in telling stories then and there and not wait for the right template and the right moment.

Brands will have to invest in a storyteller with great mobile level editing skills to constantly engage their audience instantly.

6. Videos will continue to rise

Look back at what kind of content you consumed the most in 2018? Images? Blog posts? or Videos? The answer Is possibly videos.

From marketing perspective Videos will continue to dominate in 2019 too. For your Lead generation and audience engagement – video would be the most ideal go-to-digital marketing tool.

This year travel a step ahead and add Videos to your User Generated content bucket. Ask your followers to shoot videos for you, for these are usually high grossing in the market.

Invest your time and effort in making vernacular language based videos on YouTube as that will help you re-define your brand’s visibility on the internet.

7. Augmented and Virtual Reality Innovations on Facebook

We have been hearing about Augmented and Virtual Reality for the last 2 years but didn’t see much of them in action. In 2019, expect brands to create campaigns around camera based AR filters that could stand out in the crowd. Though the adoption rate  would not be in masses, you would still find a lot of initiatives around this area.

8. Voice Searches Will Increase

“By 2020, 50% of all searches will be carried out via voice.” – econsultancy

Have you observed a 4-year-old kid searching for his favorite video on YouTube? Since he does not know to type the kid commands and this exactly is the behavior on rise.

Over 2019, you can expect people to start using voice search more than the routine type in. Which means, long tail keywords will dominate.

Instead of searching for digital marketing trends in 2019, your voice search would probably be: What are the latest digital marketing trends for 2019. Start optimizing your blog for voice search with similar keyword structure.

9. Artificial Intelligence Based Chatbots

As per Gartner, 25% of customer service will use chatbot technology by 2020. Websites with chatbots will have higher conversion rates when compared to website without chatbots. These chatbot experiences will prevail around messenger, whatsapp and all forms of chat. AI based chatbots will also be deployed with the duty to increase user engagement with the brand.

“25% of customer service will use chatbot technology by 2020” – Gartner

10. Influencer Marketing on Instagram and YouTube

People trust people more than brands. Word of mouth helps reduce the decision making process and the time involved.

Especially when industry veterans make recommendations, the impact is much higher. Influencer Marketing will continue to attract the mass in 2019, these influencers can be anyone: celebrities, instagrammers, youtubers, bloggers or tweeters.

But Instagram and YouTube influencers would be most vouched for in 2019.

11. Visual Search Volume Will Increase

Heard of Pinterest and Google Lens? Once you click using these respective lens it will give you more information about the photo you have clicked.

For example: If you take a photo of a Business card: You can save the phone number or address to a contact, click a Book: You can get reviews and other details about it. a Landmark or building: You can get more details about it etc.

Marketers can get the edge on competitors by jumping on the visual search trend in 2019 by adding relevant alt keywords to draw customers and serve them the perfect product.

12. Google Lead Form Can Change The Game

2018 was about Facebook and LinkedIn Lead Generation form, this eliminated the whole idea of having great landing pages, by early 2019 we will see Google Lead Form fully active and this would be a game changer.

13. Marketing Automation Will Continue to Dominate

If you haven’t invested in smart marketing automations then you are going to miss on a larger chunk of business in 2019. Along with personalized communication, automation is the need of the hour. Creating behaviour based email triggers, SMSes, ads will help brands sustain their marketing efforts in 2019.

14. Three Tools That Could Be Game Changer

Tik-Tok, Telegram and Whatsapp for business.

While Tik Tok could help you take your brand to the millenials, the other two would play a vital role in Message broadcast. Ensure your business touch up on these tools to stay with on par with the innovations to come in these tools.

These are my 14 Digital Marketing trends predictions for the upcoming 2019. I would be investing my time around these tools and strategies to see how things turn around. Excited already to see how these predictions have come out by the end of 2019.

Do you believe there could be other game changers in 2019? Do let me know in the comments section.