2019 is the year of the digital marketer and with an endless stream of marketing concepts released on the daily from countless sources, gurus and experts, it can be difficult to make a decision what to double down on and focus your time to master.
We’ve narrowed down hundreds (if not thousands) of digital marketing techniques down to just 10 concepts for you to master in 2019. Sit tight, you’re in for a bumpy and knowledge-filled ride. And if you learn even more marketing terms, check out Digital Authority Partners’ Ultimate Guide to Marketing Terms.
1. Blogger outreach
When it comes to loyalty within a following, it doesn’t get much better than bloggers and with the ability to partner with your favorite relevant bloggers to your business, you too can capitalize from the loyalty of their fans and followers.
Most social media influencers are also bloggers and their posts often have a lasting impact on the actions on their followers. With more than half of online consumers saying that they have made purchases based on the recommendations of bloggers – it makes sense to get your products/services advertised and reviewed.
For example, I read Cool Things Chicago – a business and tourist magazine that works with local business owners to build local merchants’ online reputation. It’s companies like this, geared towards a very specific niche, that are best suited to help you reach new audiences at the right time in their buying cycle.
2. Buzz monitoring services
Want to know what consumers are saying about your company, your products or your people? Looks like you’re in need of buzz monitoring services.
Google Alerts, HowSociable, MonitorThis and Technorati are all great examples of services that monitor the social media accounts of customers to give you feedback on what real people think. This is not only great for marketing campaigns, but for the products themselves. Real-life feedback from real-life people. Super valuable.
3. Crowdsourced content
Crowdsourcing content is a fantastic way to maximise the amount of media pumped out into the digital space with an army of people (some of which can be organic and unpaid) creating content for your company or business. Content is amazing, whether you’re in the business of marketing a website or you’re focused on launching and marketing a mobile app.
Using tagged Instagram content is a great way to use other people media to represent your brand. Five Guys does a great job of this, commenting on pics and asking for permission to promote. It gives an honest insight into the product and increases loyalty to the brand for the individuals whose media gets posted. It’s a win-win in every sense.
4. Direct messaging (DM)
When it comes to creating loyalty and looking after customers on a 1-to-1 basis, there’s nothing more powerful than direct messaging.
Sending thank-you’s, resolving issues, informing about special deals and delivering virtual birthday cards is a wonderful way to up the engagement and generate a positive brand image. Chances are that you’ll get some indirect publicity too with customers sharing the DM’s – bonus points are received for including names, compliments and playing on a brands personality.
5. Employee amplification
If crowdsourcing your content doesn’t sound like something that you’d be interested in – why not rely on your employees social following for promotion.
With employees social posts generating 8 times the amount from CEOs, it makes sense for a push from the whole team, regardless of their social media size. If you really want to make the biggest impact possible, paid promotion can be utilised, but employee permission or opt-in is vital for the success of the campaign and retention of relationship.
6. Geotagging
Geotagging posts is a great way for physical, brick-and-mortar businesses to generate interest and showcase their business/products on social sites e.g. Instagram.
Using the location tags from both personal/business accounts as well as relevant Instagram influencers is a great idea for maximum exposure. Promoting these posts within the surrounding area is a surefire way to boost your following, generate interest and build a brand no matter the nature of the product.
7. Influencer outreach
If you’ve not already considered it, hopefully, this post is making the idea of influencer outreach a very real and effective possibility no matter the business. There’s an influencer for everyone, whether you own a large fitness company or sell custom broaches from your parent’s basement, paid promotion is out there.
The idea of using an influencer to promote your product is simply one of exposure. Using large followings (with a focus on loyalty) to promote your products via a figure relevant to your industry is a tactic that’s been used for as long as advertising has existed. With the explosion of Instagram means that your promoter doesn’t need to be a top Premier League footballer, but anyone with a decent following.
The challenge comes with finding relevant accounts and although this can be tricky, tools such as SocialBakers can make the process incredibly painless.
8. Live streaming
2019 has shown a huge push towards live streaming with tools such as TikTok, Facebook Live and Instagram Live makes it easier than ever to stream any and everything.
Giving an insight into your business, streaming chats, creating live shows and everything in-between can be great for the business. Putting effort and finding footing in the world of live streaming can be super valuable – it’s just a case of experimenting and finding what works best.
9. Lookalike Audiences
Lookalike Audiences is a Facebook segmentation tool which finds audiences similar to existing customers – identifying those most likely to be interested in your business.
Naturally, this is of tremendous value and can completely transform how your business operates and how customers are discovered. It may take a little tweaking and the more customers available the better, but get it right and you won’t regret it!
10. Podcasting
If any media outlet has grown faster than podcasting over the last couple of years, I’ll eat my hat. With huge stars such as Joe Rogan, Gary Vaynerchuk, Logan Paul and David Dobrik all using podcasts to both boost following and disperse their messages, it’s no surprise that platforms such as Anchor have taken off. Even renowned medical personalities like Simon Stertzer, the father of modern medicine in the US, and self-made billionaire, was recently interviewed on a podcast. That’s how popular podcasts have become in 2019.
Using voice to discuss business and let listeners get a snapshot into your personality is a great way to humanize your products and create connections with customers. Some of my favorite podcasts are Marketing over Coffee, Healthcare Weekly and Business Wars – all business podcasts focused on the future. Building your personal brand will build your companies brand, building sales, performance and reputation – what else could you want?
This guest post comes from JGBilling, a medical coding outsourcing company