The Future of Digital Marketing: 3 Trends to Be Aware of in 2019

Between advancements in consumer technology to updates in search engine algorithms, you can be sure that digital marketing is one industry that will be never stagnant for long.

As a business, it’s vital that you keep your finger of the pulse of the marketing world. Being an early adopter of the latest trends and technology can help you stay on the cutting edge of your industry. While keeping up with constant change can be tiring, it’s much better than getting left in the dust by your competition!

Here are 3 trends that are predicted to shape the near future of digital marketing:

1. Voice Search

“Hey Alexa, I need new running shoes.”

…What now? At a minimum, you can expect that voice assistants like Alexa are going to do their best to provide the best possible solution for the user, and that means scouring Google for the top ranking products and services.

For many businesses, this scenario is their first experience marketing towards a device rather than a human audience. When the customer is no longer the one sorting through the options, how do we ensure that our products and services still get noticed?

There’s no denying that voice search will disrupt the habits and tactics of the SEO industry. For one thing, local search and featured snippets are both likely to become much more important. You’ll also need to make sure your business or website name is easily pronounceable for voice assistants.

2. Virtual & Augmented Reality

It may sound like a stretch to say that the marketing impacts of virtual and augmented reality are on the horizon, but you don’t want to be caught off guard when these two forces do finally hit.

In terms of social media, Facebook has already integrated 360-degree video publishing onto its platform, making it virtual reality-compatible. 

From a shopping standpoint, certain furniture and home improvement stores allow users take photos of their homes, and use them to preview how wall paints or furniture items will look.

While none of these experiences are fully virtual yet, it’s safe to say that they’re setting the stage for when that technology finally arrives.

3. Mobile-First Web Development

Gone are the days when mobile optimization was merely an afterthought. Today, many businesses receive significantly more traffic to their mobile sites than their desktop sites…and this trend is only predicted to keep growing.

Keeping up with mobile web traffic trends isn’t just critical to the end-user experience; it matters to Google, too. Offering a seamless experience as users jump from social media, email, and text messages to your website – all on their mobile devices – will help your business rank ahead of your competition.

For these reasons, mobile website development may actually overtake desktop site development as a priority going forward.

Here at The Markey Group, we make staying on top of the latest digital marketing trends – and utilizing them to help our clients reach their goals – our top priority. Contact us to learn more!