How digital marketing will change in 2019
Artificial intelligence has already made a huge difference in how brands interact with consumers and how marketing strategies are managed. In such a rapidly changing environment, it’s difficult to predict what the future holds, but there are certainly some clues to what we might expect in the coming year.
As we near the end of the year and look forward into 2019, here are some of the biggest AI-related digital marketing trends to look out for.
Quick Takeaways:
- More companies will adopt chatbots for customer interaction.
- Businesses will need to enhance their SEO and content marketing strategies to account for voice search.
- Big data helps in better personalization of marketing messages.
- Retail brands are using AR and VR with great effect, especially in apps.
Chatbots Will Become Standard
We’ve already seen how chatbots can have all sorts of applications from dealing with basic customer service inquiries, to driving sales.
Consumers have already become used to chatbots and feel comfortable talking to them, thanks to the growing popularity of virtual assistants like Siri and Alexa.
What’s more, chatbots are now becoming so sophisticated that they can be difficult to distinguish from a real human. In fact, two-thirds of customers don’t know that they’re already interacting with AI tools.
AI tool customer survey
We’ve already seen how chatbots can have all sorts of applications from dealing with basic customer service inquiries, to driving sales.
Consumers have already become used to chatbots and feel comfortable talking to them, thanks to the growing popularity of virtual assistants like Siri and Alexa.
What’s more, chatbots are now becoming so sophisticated that they can be difficult to distinguish from a real human. In fact, two-thirds of customers don’t know that they’re already interacting with AI tools.
AI tool customer survey
.
Chatbots are becoming so sophisticated in fact that they may need reigning in a little – Facebook was forced to abandon an experimental chatbot project last year after the bots created their own language.
Many different companies are putting time and resources into developing chatbot technology at the moment and so we’ll continue to see advances into 2019 and beyond. It won’t be long before chatbots are standard and expected on every website and app. Companies who aren’t using them yet should take note so they don’t fall behind.
Voice Search on the Rise
Another spin-off effect of the increase in the use of AI-powered virtual assistants is the growing proportion of searches that are spoken instead of typed.
As the world is moving to mobile, it makes sense that they’re also switching to a hands-free way of data input while on the move.
Almost 60% of consumers have used voice search to find business information in the last year and almost half of those use voice search daily to find local businesses. It’s also predicted that half of all searches will be voice-based by 2020 (remember that’s only a little over a year away!)
The growth in voice search is partly due to the huge advances that have been made in understanding human speech with machine learning algorithms. Anyone who used Dragon NaturallySpeaking or another speech to text conversion program in the ‘90s will know that it was far from perfect!
Technology has now advanced to the point where Google’s algorithms can understand human speech with 95% accuracy – that’s the same level as an actual human.
As technology is improving, humans are also getting more comfortable about using voice commands. In today and tomorrow’s world where everyone is a vlogger and the selfie is king, seeing people talking to themselves is no longer a weird occurrence.
This trend will force businesses to adjust their SEO and content marketing strategy so that it aligns better with voice search. If you’ve not started thinking about this yet, now is the time.
More Data and Advanced Data Processing
We’re already in the era of Big Data, but it’s going to get really big. The amount of data we’re collecting is increasing at an exponential rate, and this just keeps growing as the Internet of Things means more devices are plugged into the internet every single day.
While we’re getting better about collecting data, we’re still not doing a lot with this data but this will start to change in 2019 and beyond.
As humans are unable to process massive amounts of data quickly, machine learning algorithms really come into their own here. AI technology is now starting to catch up with the volume of data produced, so we can start to make more use of the data we collect.
One of the most obvious uses of this data will be in the hyper-personalization of marketing messages. Marketing personalization has already come on leaps and bounds in the last few years, but we’re still relying on consumers to volunteer most of the data that makes that possible.
Many different companies are putting time and resources into developing chatbot technology at the moment and so we’ll continue to see advances into 2019 and beyond. It won’t be long before chatbots are standard and expected on every website and app. Companies who aren’t using them yet should take note so they don’t fall behind.
Voice Search on the Rise
Another spin-off effect of the increase in the use of AI-powered virtual assistants is the growing proportion of searches that are spoken instead of typed.
As the world is moving to mobile, it makes sense that they’re also switching to a hands-free way of data input while on the move.
Almost 60% of consumers have used voice search to find business information in the last year and almost half of those use voice search daily to find local businesses. It’s also predicted that half of all searches will be voice-based by 2020 (remember that’s only a little over a year away!)
The growth in voice search is partly due to the huge advances that have been made in understanding human speech with machine learning algorithms. Anyone who used Dragon NaturallySpeaking or another speech to text conversion program in the ‘90s will know that it was far from perfect!
Technology has now advanced to the point where Google’s algorithms can understand human speech with 95% accuracy – that’s the same level as an actual human.
As technology is improving, humans are also getting more comfortable about using voice commands. In today and tomorrow’s world where everyone is a vlogger and the selfie is king, seeing people talking to themselves is no longer a weird occurrence.
This trend will force businesses to adjust their SEO and content marketing strategy so that it aligns better with voice search. If you’ve not started thinking about this yet, now is the time.
More Data and Advanced Data Processing
We’re already in the era of Big Data, but it’s going to get really big. The amount of data we’re collecting is increasing at an exponential rate, and this just keeps growing as the Internet of Things means more devices are plugged into the internet every single day.
While we’re getting better about collecting data, we’re still not doing a lot with this data but this will start to change in 2019 and beyond.
As humans are unable to process massive amounts of data quickly, machine learning algorithms really come into their own here. AI technology is now starting to catch up with the volume of data produced, so we can start to make more use of the data we collect.
One of the most obvious uses of this data will be in the hyper-personalization of marketing messages. Marketing personalization has already come on leaps and bounds in the last few years, but we’re still relying on consumers to volunteer most of the data that makes that possible.
We’re now seeing more of a shift towards data collection in the background, and this will continue into 2019 as we also navigate the privacy and legal issues that come with it.
Social media will continue to be an important part of data collection and become even more vital to marketers in 2019 as emerging technologies such as face recognition and advanced customer targeting become more advanced.
More Augmented and Virtual Reality Applications
AR and VR have been around for a while but they’re still seen as somewhat of a novelty. While augmented reality is now commonplace in games like Pokémon Go, and virtual reality gaming headsets have been a popular Christmas gift for a few years now, these technologies are still rare in practical applications rather than for entertainment purposes.
This will all change in the coming year as more companies start to embrace AR and VR and realize how it can become a powerful part of their marketing strategy.
There are a few companies that are already using VR and AR to great success. Ikea’s Place app allows you to try furniture in your own home before you buy – a great example of how AR can be useful as well as fun.
Social media will continue to be an important part of data collection and become even more vital to marketers in 2019 as emerging technologies such as face recognition and advanced customer targeting become more advanced.
More Augmented and Virtual Reality Applications
AR and VR have been around for a while but they’re still seen as somewhat of a novelty. While augmented reality is now commonplace in games like Pokémon Go, and virtual reality gaming headsets have been a popular Christmas gift for a few years now, these technologies are still rare in practical applications rather than for entertainment purposes.
This will all change in the coming year as more companies start to embrace AR and VR and realize how it can become a powerful part of their marketing strategy.
There are a few companies that are already using VR and AR to great success. Ikea’s Place app allows you to try furniture in your own home before you buy – a great example of how AR can be useful as well as fun.
Several fashion brands are also jumping on the augmented reality bandwagon, creating apps that allow their customers to virtually try on different outfit combinations in the comfort of their own homes.
Expect to see more companies using the power of AR and VR to enhance customer experiences in 2019.
To Infinity and Beyond!
That’s just a taster of what the next 12 months have to offer, and if one thing’s for sure it’s that there are definitely exciting times ahead.
In this fast-paced industry, it’s important to keep your finger on the pulse and stay up to date with the latest trends. When it comes to digital marketing, those who embrace new technologies and spot opportunities at the start tend to be the ones who reap the biggest benefits later.
So make sure you keep reading in the coming year as we deliver more insights into the brave new world of online marketing.
Expect to see more companies using the power of AR and VR to enhance customer experiences in 2019.
To Infinity and Beyond!
That’s just a taster of what the next 12 months have to offer, and if one thing’s for sure it’s that there are definitely exciting times ahead.
In this fast-paced industry, it’s important to keep your finger on the pulse and stay up to date with the latest trends. When it comes to digital marketing, those who embrace new technologies and spot opportunities at the start tend to be the ones who reap the biggest benefits later.
So make sure you keep reading in the coming year as we deliver more insights into the brave new world of online marketing.
Source of article: https://marketinginsidergroup.com/artificial-intelligence/how-will-ai-change-the-face-of-digital-marketing-in-2019/
Definition of 5D Digital Marketing Plan
My recent blog post on digital marketing trends shows the latest innovations, but here we go back to basics to define digital marketing. This is important since for some in business, particularly more traditional marketers or business owners, 'digital' is simplistically taken to mean 'our website' or 'our Facebook page'. This thinking limits the scope and opportunity of what's managed and it means that activities that should be managed may be missed.
Types of digital marketing
We prefer to use the terminology "digital marketing channels" rather than "types" as each channel that can be used to reach potential customers can be complex depending on the level of integration and tactics you apply across your digital marketing strategy and campaigns.
Our RACE planning framework maps the online customer journey across all potential touchpoints, showing the scale and opportunity digital marketing provides - more than just "a website" or "a Facebook page".
The 5Ds of digital marketing
To understand the importance of digital marketing to the future of marketing in any business, it’s helpful to think about what audience interactions we need to understand and manage. Digital marketing today is about many more types of audience interaction than website or email... It involves managing and harnessing these ‘5Ds of Digital’ that I have defined in the introduction to the latest update to my Digital Marketing: Strategy, Planning and Implementation book. The 5Ds define the opportunities for consumers to interact with brands and for businesses to reach and learn from their audiences in different ways:
We prefer to use the terminology "digital marketing channels" rather than "types" as each channel that can be used to reach potential customers can be complex depending on the level of integration and tactics you apply across your digital marketing strategy and campaigns.
Our RACE planning framework maps the online customer journey across all potential touchpoints, showing the scale and opportunity digital marketing provides - more than just "a website" or "a Facebook page".
The 5Ds of digital marketing
To understand the importance of digital marketing to the future of marketing in any business, it’s helpful to think about what audience interactions we need to understand and manage. Digital marketing today is about many more types of audience interaction than website or email... It involves managing and harnessing these ‘5Ds of Digital’ that I have defined in the introduction to the latest update to my Digital Marketing: Strategy, Planning and Implementation book. The 5Ds define the opportunities for consumers to interact with brands and for businesses to reach and learn from their audiences in different ways:
Digital devices – audiences experience brands as they interact with business websites and mobile apps typically through a combination of connected devices including smartphones, tablets, desktop computers, TVs and gaming devices.
Digital platforms – most interactions on these devices are through a browser or apps from the major platforms or services, that’s Facebook (and Instagram), Google (and YouTube), Twitter and LinkedIn.
Digital media – different paid, owned and earned communications channels for reaching and engaging audiences including advertising, email and messaging, search engines and social networks.
Digital data – the insight businesses collect about their audience profiles and their interactions with businesses, which now needs to be protected by law in most countries.
Digital technology – the marketing technology or martech stack that businesses use to create interactive experiences from websites and mobile apps to in-store kiosks and email campaigns.
Defining digital marketing
The use of the Internet and other digital media and technology to support ‘modern marketing’ has given rise to a bewildering range of labels and jargon created by both academics and professionals. It has been called digital marketing, Internet marketing, e-marketing and web marketing and these alternative terms have varied through time...
The use of the Internet and other digital media and technology to support ‘modern marketing’ has given rise to a bewildering range of labels and jargon created by both academics and professionals. It has been called digital marketing, Internet marketing, e-marketing and web marketing and these alternative terms have varied through time...
Digital Marketing is the term most frequently used today, as we can see from these digital marketing definitions, so that is the term we focus on.
Because of the recent debate about the use of the term ‘digital marketing’, we thought it would be useful to pin down exactly what digital means through a definition. Do definitions matter? We think they do, since particularly within an organization or between a business and its clients we need clarity to support the goals and activities that support Digital Transformation. As we'll see, many of the other definitions are misleading.
Boiled down to its simplest form, digital marketing is defined in my book Digital Marketing: Strategy, Implementation and Practice as simply:
Because of the recent debate about the use of the term ‘digital marketing’, we thought it would be useful to pin down exactly what digital means through a definition. Do definitions matter? We think they do, since particularly within an organization or between a business and its clients we need clarity to support the goals and activities that support Digital Transformation. As we'll see, many of the other definitions are misleading.
Boiled down to its simplest form, digital marketing is defined in my book Digital Marketing: Strategy, Implementation and Practice as simply:
"Achieving marketing objectives through applying digital technologies and media."
I expand on this definition of digital marketing to explain that, in practice, digital marketing includes managing different forms of online company presence and presences such as company websites, mobile apps, and social media company pages. This is in conjunction with online communications techniques including the likes of search engine marketing, social media marketing, online advertising, e-mail marketing and partnership arrangements with other websites.
These techniques are used to support the objectives of acquiring new customers and providing services to existing customers that help develop the customer relationship through E-CRM and marketing automation. However, for digital marketing to be successful, there is still a necessity for integration of these techniques with traditional media such as print, TV and direct mail as part of multichannel marketing communications.
Source article here: https://www.smartinsights.com/digital-marketing-strategy/what-is-digital-marketing/
I expand on this definition of digital marketing to explain that, in practice, digital marketing includes managing different forms of online company presence and presences such as company websites, mobile apps, and social media company pages. This is in conjunction with online communications techniques including the likes of search engine marketing, social media marketing, online advertising, e-mail marketing and partnership arrangements with other websites.
These techniques are used to support the objectives of acquiring new customers and providing services to existing customers that help develop the customer relationship through E-CRM and marketing automation. However, for digital marketing to be successful, there is still a necessity for integration of these techniques with traditional media such as print, TV and direct mail as part of multichannel marketing communications.
Source article here: https://www.smartinsights.com/digital-marketing-strategy/what-is-digital-marketing/