With the new year being right around the corner, now is a good time to start thinking about your marketing strategy for 2019. Will you be undergoing a digital transformation during the coming year, or are you already well underway with the shift toward digital marketing? Do you intend to embrace technology more during the coming year, or are you content to use existing technology? Do you intend to commit more resources to social media marketing, or are you thinking of more traditional approaches? Whatever your plans may be for 2019, here are some of the trends which will be hotter than ever during the coming year.
Greater emphasis on content marketing
Content will become absolutely key to the success of a small business, so you will need to test out exactly which forms of content are most well-received by your target audience. Whether your blogs are more successful in getting across your message, or podcasts and video content appeal more to your audience, you’ll need to find out exactly what it is that drives your audience into acting, and then supply that kind of content to them.
Increased usage of distribution channels
The distribution channels that you use should be the ones which are favored by your target audience – in other words, you have to meet your audience wherever they happen to be. This will call for a thorough evaluation of the channels you’re already using, and whether or not these channels are the right ones for reaching your intended audience. If you aren’t reaching your audience through emails, don’t bother with emails, and if you aren’t reaching your audience via the social media, then you need to look somewhere else. Find out exactly where your audience is, and alter your channel usage to reach them in their preferred manner.
Creativity will dominate markets
Thinking of new ways to reach out to customers will become a primary focus of marketing strategies in 2019, with many small businesses seeking to find opportunities which their rivals may have overlooked. This does not mean dreaming up unusual strategies which are different just for the sake of being different, but instead it means that those companies which can integrate new tactics into their overall strategies will rise to the top. Customers appreciate creativity as much as marketing strategists do, and if you can appeal to potential customers in new and different ways, you can gain a step on your competition.
The marketing funnel will be altered
The current shape of the marketing funnel has all potential customers entering into the top side of the funnel where it’s broadest, and those customers who actually make a purchase, emerging from the narrower bottom side. The problem with that funnel shape is that when purchasing customers have bought something, they often feel ignored afterward, and largely forgotten. The new shape of the marketing funnel will be one which is more continuous in nature, more nurturing, and more sustainable. The focus on this new marketing funnel will be on lasting relationships, because those are the ones which are most highly prized by small businesses.
Having trouble standing out in your crowded market?
If so, you’re in the same position as many small businesses are these days, with competition making it difficult to separate from rivals. Contact DigitalBiz Agency today, and let our experts help you get a leg up on the competition. We’ll help you with brand recognition, and with reaching your target audience in the most cost-effective ways possible, so you can stand out from the crowd.
