Getting the attention your business deserves isn’t always easy.
There are some things you can do in 2019, however, to make your brand stand out.
Here are 10 different strategies that have been curated from various blog posts leading up to 2019 that speak to the ways that businesses, both big and small, can gain more traction through their social media and content marketing efforts.
See which ones your business can implement this year.
Forbes – 5 Social Media Strategies that will Grow Your Business in 2019
Approximately 88 percent of U.S. businesses maintain social media profiles. And while that’s a lot of competition, this Forbes contributor suggests that small businesses can outnumber their competitors by utilizing a number of social media strategies.
They include social media listening tools like SentiOne, which helps business owners find out what their current and prospective clients are saying on various social media platforms by monitoring certain keywords and then developing marketing strategies to help get their products or services into the hands of those very people.
This post suggests that a social media listening tool is a good way to control the reputation of one’s brand, to catch any mentions of that brand that might otherwise be missed, to monitor competitors, and to more fully understand an audience.
Forbes – 4 Sales Trends That You Need to Know About in 2019
In this post, writer Lilach Bullock talks about the sales trends that companies should be aware of as they move into the New Year.
But before implementing any of these trends, she says business owners should be aware of the different audiences they can target. One of those is a new generation of buyers called Generation Z.
Born in the mid-1990s through the mid-2000s, Gen Z accounts for approximately $29 – $143 billion in spending per year. Bullock contends that this generation, in particular, the older ones who are now in their mid-20s, are set to become the biggest generation of consumers by 2020.
Businesses would do well to learn as much as possible about this generation of buyers who have grown up using social media and are accustomed to a myriad of online technologies, she adds.
Many brand experts say that businesses need to be where the Gen Z crowd hangs out, with many believing that Instagram is the place to focus on with this generation. The platform is a natural fit for brands that Gen Z is attracted to, such as clothing, makeup, travel and the like.
Entrepreneur – Eye on the Future: Top Five Digital Marketing Strategies of 2019
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/323509
In this post from Entrepreneur, Hafiz Muhammad Ali, founder of the Omnicore Group, says that video marketing will continue to be popular in 2019. Approximately 81 percent of businesses conducted in a recent survey said they would be using video in their marketing efforts.
Live streams will be particularly popular on social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook. The social media giant will be placing more attention on Facebook Watch, its video-on-demand service, evidence that video is not going away any time soon.
Rise Fuel – Top 5 Internet Strategies for 2019
https://www.risefuel.com/blog/internet-marketing-strategies-2019
In this blog post, author Tony Shannon talks about the emergence of chatbot marketing, which burst on the scene in 2018. Digital marketers believe the strategy has a lot of potential for today’s brands.
One such marketing tool is Chatbot, an AI strategy that is being used on the Facebook Messenger platform. This post explains that it is being used to specifically receive feedback from customers, deliver important information on a brand and generally guide users through the buying journey.
KLM has done a good job of utilizing chatbot technology with BB, its smart assistant, streamlining everything from a traveler’s booking to check-in and flight status updates. All of the information is supplied quickly without having to use up its customer service personnel.
Uber is also using the technology to communicate with customers, making it easier to book a cab via Facebook Messenger, Google Maps or Slack. While not every Facebook user is active on Facebook Messenger, experts believe it is a trend to watch in 2019.
Check out this Business Insider article on the emergence of chatbots in business.
Search Engine Watch – Content Marketing 2019: Seven Tips to Improve Your Strategy
https://searchenginewatch.com/2018/11/26/content-marketing-2019-strategy-tips/
In this post, author Tereza Litsa suggests that content marketing will continue to evolve in 2019. Some of the things you should be doing include the creation of a content marketing strategy and ensuring it is delivered to the right audience.
Determining what social media channels are the best ones for your brand is also important, she notes, in addition to knowing the devices your customers are using and the best time to reach them.
Keep a close eye on how your website and social media networks are performing through Google Analytics, Facebook Analytics and other tools that measure performance on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and more.
Narrowing down one’s audience will be key, Litsa adds. There’s no need to cast a wide net. Niche it down as much as possible.
Forbes – 5 Marketing Trends to Pay Attention to in 2019
In this Forbes blog post, contributor John Hall says that consumers are putting more trust and value into the people they know rather than consuming ads on a website. Be mindful of this as you create content on your blog or elsewhere that is truly valuable to your customers.
Don’t just rush to sign up for Google Ads thinking it will suddenly increase your sales. Gaining the trust of customers takes time. You must be patient.
5 Marketing Trends to Pay Attention to in 2019 Continued
Hall also mentions the growing number of search formats that are being used by customers. Text-based searches are still popular, but now other trends are emerging, including voice and image-based searches.
In this September 2018 post, Google said that video and imagery searches first became apparent to them when they noticed the large volume of Google searches for Jennifer Lopez’s green dress following the Oscars in 2000.
More and more people are searching for images and videos than ever before. Keep that in mind when creating content.
As we move into 2019, Hall says that prioritizing multimedia content and alternative ways to search will be important.
Entrepreneur – 10 Social Media Trends to Watch in 2019
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/324901
In this post, Entrepreneur contributor Deep Patel tells us that storytelling is still one of the most important ways we can deliver content.
Since social media users are telling the stories of their own lives, why not to do the same with one’s brand?
Patel says that storytelling feels immediate and personal to consumers and is a surefire way for brands to genuinely tell their story. Doing it through videos, images and graphics is a good idea. It takes more work on the part of a business, but worth it if you can convey your product or service in a way that seems real to a prospective client, he explains.
Single Grain – 11 Digital Marketing Trends You Can No Longer Ignore in 2019
Content/Brand Strategist Nidhi Dave of Single Grain says that personalization is a must when communicating with one’s clients.
Netflix is particularly good at this. Each account page, when loaded, is personalized toward the member’s interests in movies, from the banner on the site to the carousels, artwork, text and more.
The efforts of other brands that are doing a good job of personalizing products are detailed in this blog post.
5 Ways to Redefine Your Marketing Strategy in 2019
https://blog.thomasnet.com/5-ways-to-redefine-your-marketing-strategy-in-2019
In this blog post from Team Thomas, the importance of creating a buyer persona is crucial to gaining customers and making sales. The author contends that instead of meeting company goals, meeting the goals of potential buyers is more important.
Understanding buyers’ challenges, habits and buying processes can help businesses create better content and fuel their advertising campaigns, the article says.
Creating a customer avatar (one’s ideal customer) is crucial. Exploring an avatar’s goals and values, as well as the sources he or she gets information from, along with the challenges and pains, must be researched so that business owners have a good idea of their ideal customer and how to target that person.