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10 Digital Marketing Trends and Innovations For 2019

Some years ago, Bill Gates wrote the book Business @ the Speed of Thought. In the book, He explained how technology and digital infrastructures can put businesses ahead of their competition.

However, the book already seems outdated…the internet in its early stages and the technologies integral to business operations back then are now obsolete.

But the basic premise of the book still stands- due to evolving technology, business moves fast. And so do their marketing efforts.

In 2013, 76% of those asked in Adobe’s Digital Distress survey felt that marketing had changed the most in the past 2 years than the previous 50. Well, this is Q4 of 2018, 5 years later. And digital marketing is still going strong.

The basic tenets of marketing like crafting powerful messages to attract your ideal customers still remain. However, the channel or method of delivery of your message now include a full gamut of SEO optimization, customer acquisition, retention, engagement, pay-per-click, social media, search advertising, and more.

Businesses that move fast continue to gain more customers and profits as slow movers get left behind.

And if you’re reading this guide, you are probably ready to take your company’s marketing to the next level. So here are some trends and innovations to pay attention to or start applying going into the new year:

1. Artificial Intelligence Will Get a Little Too Good at Profiling Buyers

Artificial intelligence will definitely be pulling its weight in the marketing world this year as AI is now powering customer segmentation, retargeting, push notifications, click tracking, you name it – in a limitless combination of possibilities. It’s even creating content now!

How you put AI to work for your digital marketing portfolio depends on your goals and your channels. But if you’re not already working with digital marketing teams and partners who know and leverage AI in their marketing intelligence and delivery systems, you’re falling behind.

According to a study by Blueshift, 28% of marketers are using AI for product recommendations and 26% are using it for campaign optimization.

Apart from this leading to more sales, using AI can also help you improve your customer service.

According to a Forrester’s Global State of Artificial Intelligence Online Survey, 57% of businesses are using AI to improve their customer experience and support while 44% are using AI as a means to provide the ability to improve upon existing products and services.

But how does artificial intelligence help businesses to achieve growth goals? One of the main ways is through personalization.

Businesses can now personalize their marketing to each lead to turn them from a marketing qualified lead (MQL) to a sales qualified lead (SQL).

In an online marketing survey by IDC in collaboration with Criteo, 67% of marketers believe that AI is currently delivering personalized headlines and advertising copy while 66% believe its delivering personalized advertising design formats and initiating personalized advertising creative.

Even 64% believe it will deliver real-time personalized advertising insertions and optimized message targeting by 2020.

Despite the obvious benefits of AI to businesses, very few businesses are currently using it.

For instance, in the same survey by IDC, 83% of marketers are aware of AI but only 14% have implemented it into their marketing strategies.

What are some ways you can become more comfortable with AI? One quick tip to prep for future AI-powered image-search shopping features is by using ample, high-quality images of as many of your own products as possible and make sure they’re labeled with appropriate alt-text.This will give the online robots more to work with as AI and machine learning gets more popular.

2. Chatbots

Human beings are social animals. And part of that is interacting with other humans, having a voice and being heard. This is why social media networks like Facebook and LinkedIn are so popular.

However, constantly engaging in social media is not the end-all answer to becoming closer to your customers- you can install a chatbot on your website to interact with website visitors on their terms.

With the improvement in artificial intelligence over the years, chatbots have improved by having the ability to hold a basic conversation with visitors and answer most-asked questions like a live human customer support representative would.

Even though many websites have been offering live chat support systems with live representatives on the other end for years, the system has still not been robust as people still experience long wait times.

A chatbot is cheaper than a customer support person because it doesn’t have to be staffed and it can answer visitors’ questions almost immediately.

Leadpages installed a chatbot by Drift on its website with the goal to immediately answer questions without using a real person.

After a period of time, the chatbot was set to greet visitors which alone increased the number of monthly conversations from 310 to 1,168- a 267% increase. Leadpagesalso saw a 36% overall increase in their conversions from the use of chatbots.

Leadpages also uses chatbots to start a conversation based on the page the visitor is viewing.

For instance, they used it on the product comparison page of their company Drip which led to a 30% chatbot open rate and a 21% click-through rate.

Amtrakuses its “Ask Julie” bot to help travelers book tickets on their website and book their tickets for those trips.

Using Ask Julie helped Amtrak save $1 million in customer service costs in a single year and they generated 30% more revenue per booking and got 25% more bookings with Julie.

With the continuous improvement in artificial intelligence, chatbots will improve as well.

3. Omnichannel Marketing

Consumers are now more sophisticated than ever and find their information through many channels.Initially, multichannel marketing was introduced to allow prospects to communicate with businesses through various channels.

For instance, prospects can be introduced to your business through Twitter, Facebook ads, or stopping into your brick and mortar store. Email subscribers can communicate through email and website visitors can communicate through chat or comments.

But even though multichannel marketing was a step up from single channel marketing, it didn’t solve consumers’ problems.

That’s why omnichannel marketing provides a better experience for your prospects because it provides a seamless and consistent communication process to prospects and customers across all channels.

For instance, you may start interacting with a customer on a social media network and then it continues through your SEO rankings and eventually through email. Eventually, you get the prospect on the phone which turns into a sales qualified lead.

The main aim of omnichannel marketing is for you to be able to keep track of the prospect’s interactions even though they’re interacting with you through different channels. In turn, your customers will be impressed that you’re paying attention to the details about your previous interactions and that you really care.

Research by Invesp shows that companies with omnichannel customer engagement strategies retain on average 89% of their customers compared to 33% customer retention rate for companies with weak omnichannel strategies.

To implement omnichannel marketing for your business, find a customer relationship management (CRM) program that helps you to keep track of your interactions with customers on different platforms.

This helps you move your prospects effectively through the sales funnel even when your prospects are communicating on many channels. With the use of omnichannel marketing, Net-a-Porter achieved a 16.9% year-over-year growth to create revenues in excess of $3 billion in 2017.

4. Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) and PWA

Search engines drive a huge amount of traffic, especially on Google. And about 60% of search traffic on Google comes from mobile devices. As a website’s load time increases, its bounce rate increases which could negatively lead to a lower Google ranking.

This need for speed led to the AMP project initiated by Google. AMP pages load in less than 0.5 secondscreating a lower bounce rate for your page.

Even though Google has not listed AMP as a ranking factor, the lower bounce rate as a result of using AMP is a positive sign. Currently, there are more than 4 billion AMP pages on the web.

Progressive Web Apps (PWA) exist as a middle ground between your normal responsive website and a native app.

More so, PWA offers the benefits of a mobile site and a native app without their downfalls. Advantages of PWA on your website include:

Faster loading time: Website visitors want a fast website and PWA loads faster than your average mobile site. And faster than a traditional mobile native app. Faster load times are something Google loves to see, thus improving your SEO visibility.

Better website experience: A PWA gives users a better experience than through a simplistic mobile site that may not have all of the features they’re looking for.

No need for user download: Users can have all the features of your native app without having to download your app in the app store or competing with other apps.

Eliminates app development costs: Building an app requires a lot of money and time. By building a single PWA, users on any kind of operating system can have the same view without you having to go through all the time and hassle of app development.

Users can create a shortcut on their smartphone: Without downloading an app, users can create a shortcut through their mobile browser that allows them to access your website easily and efficiently. It also supports push notifications* to keep visitors updated.

Flipkart gets one-third of its total visits and 60% of its mobile internet purchases from rural areas with poor internet service. These visitors find it difficult to use their mobile app. But with a PWA, Flipkart got 60% of userswho had uninstalled their app to come back through their mobile site.

AMP allows your website to render fast and could improve your website rank on Google searches while PWA eliminates the high cost of building a mobile app and provides the same great experience to visitors on your mobile site.

Speaking of increased mobile use…it’s a steady power house that is not going anywhere anytime soon. Revenue for social media ads is expected to rise from $67B to $93B in 2019, and most of that growth is powered by mobile spending.

In this upcoming year, we’ll see more spending, optimized mobile video and graphic experiences, and great social media ad campaign management. Because like search ads, social media spending requires engagement and a lot of experimentation to become profitable. But once you get the mix right, it will become one of your most reliable growth channels.

* An additional note about push notifications, expect to see it as the new remarketing tool in 2019. GDPR may have shaken email out of its hot seat, but push notifications were waiting in the wings to pick up the slack for remarketing. In fact, push has been rising in the ranks of marketing power tools since 2014 and in recent months, due to a new burst of AI-based push platforms, push has become an unbeatable way to engage, re-engage, and retain customers.

But uses this comes with a huge caveat – your push notifications MUST add value for the user, otherwise push becomes a negative force in your marketing efforts by prompting unsubscribes.

You need the right number of notifications, yes, but more importantly you need to be sending them at the right time, with the right content, for the right user. AI is making that easier and easier to achieve. And the click-through rates are irresistible.

5. Email and Marketing Automation

Email has been a popular tool for a long time, but email 15 years ago is different from what it is now.

What’s the main difference? Personalization – the key in making customers spend more. According to Jainbrain:

Now, businesses can send different emails to different subscribers based on their interests, which is usually determined by the content they engage with.

Personalization makes email more effective. However, personalization is not only applicable to email- it’s applicable to all your marketing efforts.

Plus, the new GDPR consumer protection ordinance that recently took effect ensures that the people receiving your emails want to receive them by clearly opting into your marketing communication. Although it adds a few extra layers to reaching people, it means you’re now emailing the people closest to closing – the warm leads and happy consumers, the people most likely to buy and buy again.

To improve your email communications, start repurposing it as a lead nurture and customer engagement tool. Use it to encourage learning and behaviors most closely associated with the big buyers in your database.

Marketing automation has been a trend for a few years now. But it’s a trend that will continue to grow in 2019 because of its many benefits including:

It eliminates time wastage: If your marketing representatives have to manually copy lead information, then they’re spending precious time they could have used to contact more leads- wasting man hours and money.

It minimizes error: Your marketing reps are humans that can forget to copy a lead’s contact details or call them. Marketing automation software has all the records and can send alerts to help your people stay on track.

Marketing automation increases collaboration: One of the main issues with businesses today is a lack of collaboration between the marketing and sales department. Lack of collaboration means the sales department don’t get all the details they need about a lead from marketing and vice versa. Marketing automation software makes all the information about a lead or customer available to any department that needs it, eliminating silos.

6. Video

With platforms like Netflix, YouTube, Amazon Prime Video, Facebook Live, video is a big trend online that will continue to grow. Traditional content that people had to watch on their TV in the past is now available through their smartphones at the touch of their fingertips. According to Cisco, 82% of internet traffic will be through video by 2021 but you don’t have to wait till 2021, you can start taking advantage of the trend now.

As consumers spend more time on their smartphones watching videos, advertisers are expected to spend $20 billion on mobile video in 2019, up from $2 billion in 2015.

In a 2017 Facebook earnings call, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said, “I see video as a megatrend. That’s why I’m going to keep putting video first across our family of apps.” One of the main drivers of the mobile internet video market is creating live, in-the-moment videos. Cisco reports that by 2021, live video is going to make up 13% of total video traffic compared to 3% in 2016.

Here are some reasons why live video so attractive and expected to grow:

i). It’s authentic: In some cases, editing may take the originality out of it and smart consumers know that they are only being shown what the business wants you to see. But with live video, viewers can see events as they occur and there’s no feeling of a “doctored” video.

ii). It’s cheaper: Editing videos and other production costs can eat into your marketing budget through time and labor. With a live video, your only need is a camera and internet connection.

iii). It activates FOMO: With an uploaded video, social media users can always come back to view it. For a live video though, there’s some thrill in watching it live.

There are many ways you can apply live videos for your business. Some are:

i). Hosting an industry event: When your business hosts an industry event, it can be an opportunity to establish your reputation in your industry to prospects and customers by recording it as it happens.

ii). Product launch: This is one way to add glamour to your product launch. You can create more awareness for your product and viewers can see the demonstration of how to use it.

Apart from live videos, there are many other ways to use video for your business. Many website visitors today prefer watching videos to reading a text because it’s easier to visualize the concepts.

Having video versions of your written content gives you an opportunity to reach a wider audience and when you consider that YouTube is the second largest search engine, then it creates a lot of opportunity you can generate for your business.

7. Voice Search

With the improvement in voice recognition, voice searches have been increasingly getting more popular. Smart speakers can be used to order items and control smart devices your home solely through verbal command.

According to a study by OC&C Strategy Consultants, voice commerce was a $1.8 billion retail segment in the U.S. and $200 million in the U.K. in 2017. This value is expected to rise to $40 billion in the U.S. and $5 billion in the U.K. by 2022.

There are many reasons why voice command leads to profits. Some of them are:

i). Voice search is easier: It’s easier and safer for people who are on the move to talk to their phone rather than type. With voice command,you can still type while walking without breaking your stride.

ii). Voice search is faster: People can talk faster than they can type, which means they can also perform a voice search faster.

Now, you may be wondering how these affect your business. Here are a few reasons why you should optimize your website for voice searches:

1) Voice search usage is increasing on mobile: in 2016, voice searches accounted for 20% of searches on Android devices and it’s only getting higher. 2) Smart Speakers are becoming more popular: with the introduction of Amazon Echo a few years ago, followed by the Google Assistant and Apple Home pod, smart speakers are becoming popular household items. According to research by NPR and Edison Research, 39 million Americans currently own a smart speaker.

The same study found that 31% of smart speaker owners have added an item to their cart to review it later to purchase and 29% have researched an item they are interested in.

3) Majority of people using voice search are performing a local search: When people perform a voice search, they’re usually looking to buy from a local business.

To optimize your website for local SEO rankings and voice search, you need to note the following:

– Voice searches are usually longer than typed searches: Since they’re way easier, voice searches tend to be longer than typed searches. Therefore, optimizing your content for long-tail keywords* is important if you’re targeting voice search.

– Voice searches are conversational: Most people perform voice searches like they’re talking to someone else so it’s important to make your website content conversational.

* More about creating voice-command friendly content: Some experts think voice could comprise 50% of 2019 searches. Therefore, this makes long-tail SEO strategy more vital than ever. Why? People tend to voice search with full sentences and questions, not a specific domain name or a few keywords. Factors like loading time and site organization are also becoming more important in an age of quick, on-the-go mobile and voice search.

Think about your own website and its loading time. Is it worth investing in a professional audit and a capable web designer experienced in optimizing for mobile and voice search to stay up with the trends of 2019?

Also, as search engines grow more and more sensitive to user intent, it becomes increasingly vital that every image, video, and piece of content is appropriately tagged with meta descriptions and alt-text. Search engines use these bits of information to promptly categorize and serve up your content to users. Without them, you lose traffic – more so in 2019.

8. Augmented Reality or Virtual Reality

How powerful will your marketing be if your prospects can test your product right now before making any commitment? You can eliminate most of the risk that prospects take when they decide to buy your product for the first time.

Using augmented/virtual reality to release your product ensures that there’s no risk on your prospect’s part and shows that you are ahead of the game. Here’s a breakdown between the two:

Augmented reality inserts objects into a real-life setting. This allows people to add an item to an environment and see how it will look like when the object is included in it.

Virtual reality creates a completely new environment that an individual can experience and besides using it in games, businesses can also use it for marketing purposes.

Both technologies have been increasing in usage over the years. According to eMarketer, 48.1 million Americans will experience augmented reality at least once per month in 2018. That figure is expected to rise to 54.4 million in 2019.

Likewise, 36.7 million Americans are expected to experience virtual reality in 2018. That figure will probably rise to 49.2 million in 2019. And Business Innovation Center predicts that the AR/VR technology will reach a market volume of $150 billion by 2020.

One of the most popular applications of augmented reality is from IKEA.

With IKEA’s augmented reality app, individuals about to buy a piece of furniture can see how it will fit into space they want to put it in. The app got 8.5 million downloads and many potential buyers.

To give people a glimpse of what driving in its new SUV is like, Volvo used the Google Cardboard to take users through a mountain drive in the Volvo XC90 luxury SUV using virtual reality. How nice is it to virtually drive a car before you have to drive it?

9. Native Advertising

People are exposed to many ads on a daily basis. Here’s an example of a native ad on The New York Times website.

But most prospects don’t want blatant selling or feel like a product is pushed down their throats. In some cases, website visitors get pop up ads that interfere with their user experience.

It frustrates the user when ads make it difficult to view a web page in peace which is one of the reasons the number of installed ad blockers have been increasing over the years. In 2016, 24.4% of U.S. internet users blocked ads. That figure is expected to rise to 30.1% in 2018.

Since prospects are already using ad blockers, one way to get your message across is through native advertising.

The main essence of native ads is that they’re not supposed to look like ads. And in most cases, a native ad would be mistaken as normal content on a page if it’s not labeled as an ad.

The most popular way that native ads are used is on social media where users are most receptive. Apart from social media, Amazon is also playing a major role in the growth of native ads.

eMarketer expects native ads to grow faster than the total U.S. display market. The amount spent on native ads in 2018 is expected to reach $32.9 billion, 58.3% of the total display ad spending. In 2019, this is even expected to rise to $41.14 billion, 61.4% of the total ad spending.

They further explained in the report that 77% of all mobile display ad dollars will be spent on native ads and 96% on native social advertising.

Below is an example of a native ad on apartment therapy by the Mindy Project show on Hulu. One thing you’ll notice is that the ad suits the website’s content about apartments:

With the use of native advertising, Toshiba got a 0.78% engagement rate on its ads compared to 0.14% that it got through traditional mobile ads.

10. User-Generated Content

One of the best ways to market your product is to show your prospects how your current customers are using it.

There are 2 advantages that user-generated content has over most of the other marketing channels available to a business:

i). It convinces prospects: With user-generated content, your current customers are marketing your products for you. It’s like a word-of-mouth campaign. Your customers have nothing to gain, but a sense of belonging.

According to Bazaarvoice, user-generated content has an impact on the buying decision of 84% of millennialsand 70% of baby boomers.

ii). It’s free: You don’t have to spend on this type of marketing. And it’s more effective than most of the marketing channels you use. In fact, its biggest appeal is that it’s free.

Prospects are persuaded because a consumer who understands their needs is marketing your product.

Tourism Queensland wanted to build more awareness for its brand. It told people to apply for the best job in the world. And it went viral as 35,000 people created video applications. This led to an estimated $368m in media coverage, 8.4 million unique website visits, and 55 million page views.

11. Events and Experiences

They might seem like one-off blips on your marketing radar, but real-life events where people can network, celebrate, and hang out together are actually fuel for your digital marketing efforts.

Millennials, who now own big-time Fortune 500 buying power, have resurrected record players creating 12 times the growth in sales. This generation grew up in a virtual world, yet as adults they spend their dollars inordinately on physical objects and real-life experiences.

So when brands decide to appeal to a younger, cooler market, they branch out into the real world, not just the virtual one. Pop-up brand experiences, festival appearances, local events small and large – any unique, colorful, tangible, memorable way customers can interact with your people and your products is the wave of the future.

12. A Rise in Adwords

If you’re like everybody else in the digital marketing universe, you’ll be spending more marketing dollars on Adwords in 2019 than you did in 2018. Search advertising revenue has been marching up and to the right since 2016, and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

Why? To put it plainly, search ads work when you manage them well. If that surprises you, it’s time to get a PPC agency to reevaluate your Adwords strategy. A mismanaged suite of PPC ads can drain your budget, but with the right planning, oversight, and optimization, your Adwords spend will become an ROI machine, and investing even more in 2019 will be a given.

Conclusion

2019 is a digital marketing year to look forward to. With these new trends, there are enough ways to attract more customers to your business and satisfy them. However, there’s a lot of work to be done to stay ahead of the marketing curve in 2019. Lots of content work to stay afloat amid Google’s algorithm changes, planning and setup to make great use of AI for marketing, reimagining and repurposing email as a nurture tool, thoughtful positioning to take advantage of the potential in push notifications…the list goes on and on.

Even with great teams in place, it’s good to have an expert SEO company in your corner keeping an eye on the big picture. If you need a trusted crew of experts to help you audit your 2019 marketing plans, Cardinal Digital Marketing can help.

So knowing what’s to come in 2019, which strategies are you planning to implement in the coming year?

____________________________

YES WEB DESIGN STUDIO BANGKOK THAILAND

We are strategically led and performance driven creative,content and digital agency in Bangkok, Thailand.

Website Design, Bangkok style

CONTACT

Bangkok: 096–879–5445 Sydney: 045–654–5556 Hong Kong: +852 5361 9177

EMAIL US yeswebdesignstudio@gmail.com

VISIT US 17th Floor, Wittayakit Building, Phayathai Rd, Wang Mai, Pathum Wan, Bangkok 10330 (BTS SIAM STATION)

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5 Text Request Features to Help You Convert Website Visitors into Customers

You can also schedule group messages. You might use this to text all those leads you gathered from a trade show a few months back, reminding them you should still work together. Or you might even send them a helpful link.

There are over 4 billion internet users worldwide, which means there is a huge opportunity for you to convert website visitors into paying customers

How do you bring people to your website?

What are people looking for when they’re online? They’re looking for information. They’re looking for answers to their questions and solutions to their problems. And they want this information provided quickly.

70% of U.S. internet traffic comes from mobile phones, so if you’re going to convert more website visitors, you have to pay attention to mobile.

Text Request will help you maximize conversions on both desktop and mobile phones. In fact, here are 5 Text Request features that help you convert more website visitors into customers.

1. Connect with your visitors quickly and easily using SMS Chat.

Most websites use live chat, which makes the visitor wait for a representative to log on so they can start the conversation, and forces them to stay on the same webpage so they can continue the conversation.

SMS Chat lets viewer text in and gets on with their day while still staying connected. In other words, someone can text you from either your desktop or mobile website.

Those messages come into your Text Request account, and your replies go straight to their cell phones, which increases their engagement and their conversion rates.

You can also customize the copy and colors of your SMS Chat widget to match your website’s branding.

2. Have mobile visitors text you with Click-to-Text buttons.

Most website viewers come from mobile phones. These viewers would also rather text you than call, email, or fill out a form. Click-to-Text lets viewers text your business directly with the click of a button (or link), and brings you more leads than you’d otherwise have.

The easiest way to do this is to hyperlink “SMS:14232180111 to text or a button - like this. If you’re on a mobile device, clicking that link will open a text to Text Request.

Add this to your website, and you’re one step closer to converting more website visitors into customers.

3. Use autoresponder to improve customer service.

Our autoresponder is mostly used when you (or your team) are out of the office or otherwise unavailable. Here’s an example:

“Hey, thank you for texting in! We are closed today, but will contact you tomorrow morning.”

You can also use autoresponses to instantly share (or ask for) information with people who text in. Let’s say your business deals with estimates, you can use this feature to get details from a potential customer so that your next text can get right to the point.

For example, you could have a Click-to-Text button on your website that says, “Text us for an estimate.” And you can have an autoresponse asking for specific details.

“Hi! Please make sure we have your name, the service you need, and your availability for appointment. We'll get you an estimate ASAP - Home Service Business”

This helps you get and give information faster, which creates a better experience for everyone. Good experiences help convert visitors to buyers.

4. Schedule messages to follow up with cold leads.

Sometimes you need to remind leads that your service or product can help them. Use scheduled messages to send reminders or check-ins to those leads, and more effectively move them through your funnel.

Scheduled messages are great for sending individual texts, like when a lead says “Maybe in a month or so.” Schedule that follow-up text for a month away, and continue focusing on other work.

You can also schedule group messages. You might use this to text all those leads you gathered from a trade show a few months back, reminding them you should still work together. Or you might even send them a helpful link.

Text Request is set up perfectly to be able to see which messages you have scheduled, and when they’re scheduled to send. It’s a hassle-free way to increase your sales productivity.

5. Save time with saved responses (templates).

Do you often type the same or similar messages to contacts? Then saved responses are perfect for you.

Saved responses let you type your message once, save it, and then use it over and over again as many times as you need. Often, companies will turn their answers to FAQs into saved responses. Other great options are sales follow-up texts and responses to requests for estimates.

Text Request offers unlimited saved responses, so you can continue to create more and more as you see fit. Saved responses are also unique to the individual user, so each user can have their own set of saved responses.

These will make following up with leads and customers much easier, helping you to convert more of them with less effort.

Last Few Ways to Convert More Website Visitors

A lot goes into creating a website that converts website viewers into customers. Text Request will certainly help, but there are several other things you want to do, too.

Optimize your website for search (SEO)

Use clear messaging to give viewers the info they’re looking for

Make sure your website is fast

Make sure your website is mobile Optimized

When you combine that with Text Request’s SMS Chat and Click-to-Text buttons, you’re going to convert more website viewers into leads. And when you follow up with those leads via text, you’re going to convert more of them into customers. It’s that simple.

We want you to use Text Request most effectively to grow your business. If you’re already using Text Request, contact us for any help or training (support is free).

If you are not using Text Request yet, grab a time for a quick call or demo to learn more about how it works, and how it will help you increase revenue.

_________________________________________

YES WEB DESIGN STUDIO BANGKOK THAILAND

We are strategically led and performance driven creative,content and digital agency in Bangkok, Thailand.

Website Design, Bangkok style

CONTACT

Bangkok: 096–879–5445 Sydney: 045–654–5556 Hong Kong: +852 5361 9177

EMAIL US yeswebdesignstudio@gmail.com

VISIT US 17th Floor, Wittayakit Building, Phayathai Rd, Wang Mai, Pathum Wan, Bangkok 10330 (BTS SIAM STATION)

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[yeswebdesignbkk]

How to Generate More Website Leads Immediately

Our websites play such a critical role in our overall marketing efforts (I view a website as the central hub of any solid marketing plan), and it’s almost unfair what we expect of them.

The way I see it, our websites must do the following six things to be effective:

Help our businesses get found

Build trust with current clients and potential clients

Educate our audience about how things work

Inform our audience about what’s going on

Nurture potential clients until they are ready to buy, and

Convert visitors into clients (aka generate leads)

I’m going to focus on the lead generation aspect for this article, because I haven’t come across a single business that doesn’t want to generate more leads.

Let’s dig in.

5 Must-Have Website Elements to Generate More Leads

1. Gear your messaging toward your ideal clients.

The number one reason businesses aren’t generating more leads from their websites is that their messaging is all about their business. Your messaging needs to be about your customers.

I hate to break it to you, but your customers don’t care about you. All they care about is “what’s in it for them.”

In order to convert a website visitor into a lead, the messaging on your website must “speak” to them. Viewers must be able to understand three things very quickly:

What you offer

How you can help them

How can they purchase

Ideally, you have this information front and center when a visitor comes to your website.

Here’s an example from a landscape company. This is the main message you see when visiting their website, and it addresses each of the three items above.

Here’s another example from the popular note-taking software, Evernote. They are clearly identifying what they do, how you can benefit, and how to easily get started.

2. Use calls-to-action to get viewers to take the next step.

Viewers will rarely convert into leads and customers unless you tell them what to do. You must call people to action, and make it very clear what you want them to do.

There are two types of calls-to-action you should have on your website:

Direct calls-to-action

Transitional calls-to-action

Direct Calls-to-Action

In the image above, you see a direct call-to-action - “Start your free trial.” A direct call-to-action is a command to work with you, and is geared toward visitors who are ready to buy. Examples of direct calls to action include:

Buy now

Get a free consultation

Purchase today

Get a quote

Transitional Calls-to-Action

A transitional call-to-action (as in the example above) is a command to take advantage of a free offer, and is geared towards visitors who are interested in your company or product, but are not quite ready to buy. It’s a great way to generate more website leads that you can nurture over time and convert in sales.

These people are typically in the beginning stages of the buying process, gathering information before making a decision. For these types of folks, you need to offer something they find valuable to capture their interest and information.

Great examples of transitional calls-to-action are:

Cheatsheets

eBooks

Whitepapers

Checklists

Here’s another example. If you were an accountant, you might consider offering one of the following transitional calls-to-action:

View: 10 Questions You Must Ask Before Hiring an Accountant

Read: 5 Common Mistakes You Might Be Making With Your Tax Returns

Download: The Ultimate Tax Return Checklist

Offers like these provide free information that people in the early stages of searching for an accountant find helpful and interesting. They grab viewers’ attention while helping you stand out from competitors.

You can string a few of these together over time to turn a semi-interested viewer into a hot lead, and then into a paying client.

You need both direct and transitional calls-to-action on your website to capture the most leads. Each viewer you get will likely be in a different stage of the buying journey, and displaying both prominently across your website helps you provide value to all of them.

3. Make it super easy to contact and engage you.

Have you ever visited a website and discovered that trying to contact the company is like finding a needle in a haystack? Isn’t it frustrating?

If you want to get more leads from your website, you’ve got to make it easy for visitors to engage your company. Your calls-to-action will help, but you need to take engagement even further.

Having multiple ways for people to easily contact your company is key. This helps you accommodate more preferences. The more ways you offer the better.

The most important thing to remember is that response time matters! Responding faster = more leads.

There’s no better way to kill a lead than poor response time. In fact, up to 50% of sales simply go to the first vendor to respond to a lead.

Here are some great ways to engage visitors and make it easy for them to contact you.

Display your phone number, email, and address prominently.

For most businesses, you should have your phone number, an email address, and your physical address displayed in the footer of your website (at the very least). You might also want your phone number displayed prominently in your website header, too.

Adding both of these ensures your pertinent contact information is readily available on every page of your site. I also recommend that you have a separate contact page on your site that is easy to find and that has all of your company’s contact information in one place. You might even include a contact form.

Use contact forms.

This isn’t cutting edge, but some people prefer to complete contact forms. Anyway, it’s an easy and straightforward way for people to reach you.

The other benefit to contact forms is you can cater them based on the type of inquiry, which enables you to gather any essential information you need in order to respond to the request. Based on the type of request, you can also have it forwarded to the appropriate department or person. Offer live chat.

Live chat enables you to respond very quickly to customer inquiries, and to engage prospects while the iron is hot.

If you decide to implement live chat, make sure you can respond immediately. Have you ever started a live chat on a website and seen a message similar to this:

“Thank you for your inquiry. We typically respond to live chat within 1 hour.”

Please don’t do this! You will lose that lead. Live chat has the potential to be an amazing tool for your business, but you must be able to respond promptly for it to be effective. People expect instant responses, and do not want to wait around on your website for a representative to help them.

There are a lot of options for live chat software. Compare providers and find the one that meets most of your needs. You’ll also find most providers have other features for live chat outside of just your website.

Related: Text Request SMS Live Chat User Guide

Add Click-to-Text buttons.

Mobile usage continues to increase, so it’s important to have an engagement tool catered to mobile website visitors. Click-to-Text can do just that.

Click-to-Text is a button on your website that starts a text message to your business whenever clicked. These can fit anywhere on your website, and can also be added elsewhere, like to your Google My Business listing, social media profiles, and Google ads.

Many mobile users are searching because they want to take action, and adding Click-to-Text makes it easy for them to reach out to your business through their preferred channel.

4. Include trust and credibility elements.

People buy from businesses they know, like, and trust. They want to make sure they’re going to have a good experience before paying for anything.

Because of this, it’s crucial you have content on your homepage (and elsewhere on your site) that builds trust and credibility. It’s best if you use a combination of the following five types of content.

Online Reviews

Did you know that 86% of consumers read reviews for local businesses?

If you aren’t focusing on getting more online reviews, then you are missing out on leads! I like to call online reviews “word of mouth 2.0”.

Not only are consumers reading reviews, but reviews are influencing their buying decisions, too! That’s why it’s important to display your online reviews on your website. It shows viewers they can trust you, because other customers have had good experiences.

Testimonials

Client testimonials are similar to online reviews, but you can take testimonials a few steps further if you’re deliberate about it. The most influential testimonials focus on the problem the client had and how they benefited by working with your business.

Related: LGC Hospitality - Text Request Featured Company

If you want to really knock it out of the park, then take the time to get video testimonials from clients. Video is incredibly engaging and brings a face to the testimonial that you can’t get otherwise.

Video testimonials, in particular, are a great way to make you stand out from the competition. Prospects will watch these videos and think customers must have had a really good experience working with you to go through the effort of getting on film.

Customer Logos

If your company works with larger or more well-known clients, this is a great way to build credibility. By featuring reputable companies that work with you, you get to share a little of their reputation, which strengthens your credibility in the eyes of prospects.

Certifications & Accreditations

Do you have special certifications or accreditations? Sometimes potential clients will have no idea what exactly these are, but they still build trust by showing you are invested in being as knowledgeable in your field as possible.

Once they see your qualifications, don’t you think they’ll be looking for the same on your competitors' sites? Who are they more likely to choose, your company with certifications or your competitor without any? That’s right - you!

Association Affiliations

Every industry and market has several associations. Highlighting the associations you belong to shows your dedication and commitment to your field, and can differentiate you from your competitors.

Including association logos on your website will also make prospects in that same industry (or industries) feel right at home working with you. Clearly you have a lot of experience with other companies just like them.

5. Use short videos instead of large blocks of text.

Did you know marketers who use video grow revenues 49% faster than non-video users? In other words, video gives you an incredible edge in generating more website leads.

Video is incredibly engaging, and is a fantastic tool that a lot of businesses are still not incorporating into their websites. But how can you use it?

I think the best way to get started with video is by including one on your homepage. Create a short (1-3 minutes), professional video that addresses these topics:

The problems you solve for customers

How their lives will be better by working with you

Common questions or objections you hear during the sales process

Having the owner or face of the company in this video will also help bring a personal touch to the business that can help you build additional rapport with potential clients.

Don’t forget about step #2 above (calls-to-action). Including calls-to-action in your videos to encourage people to take the next step with your business is always a good idea.

Are you hesitant to start creating videos? You’re not alone, but please don’t be afraid. This video gives you some great tips for how to get started.

How to Start Generating Leads Right Now

I hope you found these must-have website elements helpful. I know you will start seeing better results from your website once you implement these, but you’ve got to take action!

Here’s what I recommend you do:

Step1: Create your above-the-fold website messaging to clearly answer what you offer, how you can help, and how visitors can purchase or take the next step.

Step 2: Make sure your website has a direct call-to-action prominently placed across your website.

Step 3: Ensure your phone number, email address, and physical address are in the footer of your website.

Step 4: Feature at least three customer testimonials on your website’s homepage.

Once you’ve completed these steps, you can work in the other recommendations in this article to incrementally improve your website (video, transitional calls-to-action, additional contact/engagement options, and more trust/credibility elements).

______________________________

YES WEB DESIGN STUDIO BANGKOK THAILAND

We are strategically led and performance driven creative,content and digital agency in Bangkok, Thailand.

Website Design, Bangkok style

CONTACT

Bangkok: 096–879–5445 Sydney: 045–654–5556 Hong Kong: +852 5361 9177

EMAIL US yeswebdesignstudio@gmail.com

VISIT US 17th Floor, Wittayakit Building, Phayathai Rd, Wang Mai, Pathum Wan, Bangkok 10330 (BTS SIAM STATION)

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9 Powerful Digital Marketing Tools to Increase Sales (2019)

Are you struggling to keep hold of your marketing strategy? Whether you’re managing a team or flying solo, it’s tricky to keep up - especially when there are hundreds of strategies, trends, and things to test out.

Luckily, you don’t have to do it all yourself.

There are plenty of products and services to help your marketing and sales while also making it easier for you to keep up with everything. In fact, there are so many options that companies spend about $100 billion worldwide on various marketing activities.

So which should you use? We sifted through hundreds of great options and talked to dozens of business leaders to find out for you.

Here are 9 of the best digital marketing tools you can use to increase sales, monitor your results, and boost your overall ROI in 2019 and beyond!

1. Google Analytics

Search for any website tracking tool, and I’ll bet Google Analytics shows up - and rightly so.

Google Analytics is a free service offered by Google, that helps marketers track and report on what’s happening on their website. You can keep a close eye on key metrics such as:

Pageviews

Unique visitors

Average time on site

Bounce rate

Top referring channels

Conversion rate

You’re also able to create custom reports, and view detailed statistics about your audience - including where they’re being referred from, where they’re located, and what devices they’re using to access your website.

(There’s also paid version, named Google Analytics 360, where marketers can gain access to even more data. But if you’re a small to midsize business, the free version will suit you perfectly.)

Brennan Flentge, SEO Analyst at Investis Digital, is a huge Google Analytics fan. He says:

“Hands down, my favorite tool is Google Analytics. When properly set up, Google Analytics allows me to work in tandem with our other teams to make sure we are uniting performance marketing initiatives and amplifying meaningful communications with audiences across all digital channels.

We can track goal conversions, shopping behavior, Google Ads performance insights, and page performance, to name a few of the many use cases. Plus, the ability to create custom dashboards and reports means that our clients get crucial insights whenever they need them.

The bottom line: Without GA, I wouldn’t be able to create data-driven digital strategies and marketing recommendations that work harmoniously across all marketing channels.”

Free trial?: Yes

Pricing: Free.

2. Hotjar

Looking for a digital marketing tool that gives you a better understanding of how people are engaging with your website? How about one that helps you identify ways to improve user experience (which is a huge ranking factor in search)?

Look no further than Hotjar - an analysis and feedback tool that visualizes user engagement with heatmaps, and records how real people are interacting with your site.

It also:

Displays conversion funnels, showing what routes people make to purchase

Analyzes the performance of your web forms

Surveys your audience for instant feedback you can use for web design improvements

Free trial?: Yes

Plans and pricing: Varies between $29 - $989 per month depending on daily pageviews

3. Buzzsumo

How much does your company spend on content marketing? Slash that time expense (and actually generate content that resonates with your audience) by using Buzzsumo for content research.

Buzzsumo helps you identify top-performing content in your industry based on social shares, and can be used to:

Identify influencers you’d like to collaborate with

Measure the success of your competitor’s content marketing strategy

Set alerts to keep up with content from your industry

Stacy Caprio, Founder of Growth Marketing, told me how she uses Buzzsumo in her agency:

“One of my favorite tools for SEO is the content marketing tool Buzzsumo. It allows me to quickly find the most shared and linked to articles in the niche I'm writing for so I know what type of articles and headlines already work. This gives me a head start when writing my own articles to get viral shares and links.”

Free trial?: Yes.

Plans and pricing: $99 - $299 per month to access all features.

4. Grammarly

Whether you’re typing an email to customers, drafting a quick social media post, or writing an entire ebook, don’t start without installing the Grammarly extension on your browser.

Grammarly is well-loved by marketers because it:

Checks your grammar

Offers accurate suggestions that fit within the context of your text

Works on most places you write - like social media, WordPress, and Gmail

Free trial?: Yes.

Plans and pricing: Free, but $29.95 per month for the Premium version.

5. Campaign Monitor

Email marketing is a fantastic way to drive more sales for your business, and has an average ROI of 3,800%. Fancy getting in on the action?

Sign up for Campaign Monitor - an email software that helps marketers design, write, and deliver emails and newsletters. It also:

Offers several email templates proven to get results

Uses a drag-and-drop editor for those with limited coding knowledge

Helps marketers send emails automatically based on a subscriber’s activity

Includes sign-up forms as part of their service

Free trial?: Yes.

Plans and pricing: Between $9-$989 per month, depending on list size and features required.

6. ConvertKit

Similar to Campaign Monitor, ConvertKit is also an email marketing service provider. The only difference? It’s built by creators, for creators - making it a fantastic option for smaller, service-based businesses.

ConvertKit’s software:

Has several customizable landing page and opt-in form templates

Offers visual automations to easily view and understand your automation sequences

Easily integrates with other digital marketing tools, including Teachable and Squarespace

Has the option to tag and segment subscribers based on their behavior

Free trial?: Yes, 14 days.

Pricing: $29-$79 per month, depending on the number of subscribers you’ve got on your list.

7. MailChimp

If you’ve been searching high and low for cheap email marketing software, MailChimp is the perfect option. It’s similar to the other two tools we’ve mentioned (in the sense it manages email marketing campaigns), but it’s worth starting out on MailChimp’s free plan if you’re just dipping your toes into the water.

MailChimp allows marketers to:

Create email advertisements, landing pages and newsletters to grow their business

Retarget customers with information collected by Google and Facebook ads, via email

Publish quick and easy automations--such as welcome series, cart abandonment emails, and birthday messages

Nate Masterson, CMO of Maple Holistics, recommends it to all businesses:

“MailChimp is a great tool that’ll help you build and maintain a subscriber list to be proud of. MailChimp allows you to create unique email campaigns, assess the analytics, and make adjustments accordingly. MailChimp is also a robust platform for Facebook ads, Instagram ads, Google ads, landing pages, and even sign up forms. If you’re looking for a way to take your marketing to the next level, MailChimp could be it.”

Free trial?: Yes.

Pricing: MailChimp is free for up to 2,000 subscribers (or 12,000 emails per month). If you have more subscribers, fees range between $10-$199 per month.

8. ClickFunnels

A sales funnel is the process you’ve got for taking someone from stranger to customer. In other words, they’re an essential part of any marketing strategy.

But if you need help managing your funnels, turn to ClickFunnels - a digital marketing tool that will help you market, sell and deliver your products online.

Their software:

Has a simple drag-and-drop website editor to make design a breeze

Enables marketers to upsell products with smart shopping carts

Offers the ability to run and manage a successful affiliate program

Runs email and Facebook marketing automations

Free trial?: Yes, 14 days.

Plans and pricing: $97-$297 per month thereafter.

9. LeadPages

Looking to design stunning landing pages that actually result in sign-ups to your email list? LeadPages does both of these things for you - no extensive coding knowledge needed.

LeadPages is a landing page design software that:

Displays attractive, non-intrusive pop-ups on your website to encourage sales

Uses checkout page templates proven to work

Offers easy A/B testing to determine which landing page elements perform best

Hosts landing pages on their server. You don’t need a website, or to take up too much space on your own servers

Free trial?: Yes, 14 days.

Plans and pricing: Monthly plans starting from $37-$321 per month.

_____________________________

YES WEB DESIGN STUDIO BANGKOK THAILAND

We are strategically led and performance driven creative,content and digital agency in Bangkok, Thailand.

Website Design, Bangkok style

CONTACT

Bangkok: 096–879–5445 Sydney: 045–654–5556 Hong Kong: +852 5361 9177

EMAIL US yeswebdesignstudio@gmail.com

VISIT US 17th Floor, Wittayakit Building, Phayathai Rd, Wang Mai, Pathum Wan, Bangkok 10330 (BTS SIAM STATION)

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6 OF THE HOTTEST MARKETING TOOLS FOR 2019 REVIEWED RELENTLESSLY FOR YOU

There’s no one size fits all marketing tool. They all focus on making marketing easier for your business, but in many different ways. It’s important that you find a tool that is designed for the specific marketing channels and tactics that you use. The summaries below will help you quickly identify tools that have the main features that will benefit your small business, startup, or nonprofit.

HUBSPOT

HubSpot is a set of essential software tools that help businesses grow through inbound marketing. It can help your small business get organized, capture qualified leads, identify which prospects are likely to buy, and increase sales.

HOOTSUITE

Hootsuite is a complete social media management tools. You can connect accounts from all the major social media platforms. Features include scheduling posts, content curation, analytics, and team management.

SENDIBLE

Sendible was designed for agencies needing to manage multiple clients as a team from one dashboard. It lets you schedule posts, monitor results, and generate professional looking reports.

SOCIAL OOMPH

Social Oomph is primarily designed to schedule posts on Twitter. However, it can also be used to schedule posts on other networks like Facebook, Pinterest, and LinkedIn.

SOCIALPILOT

SocialPilot is an all-in-one social media management tool on a budget. It’s built for social media marketers and agencies to manage their accounts. You can work as a team to schedule posts in bulk, curate content, and analyze the results.

SPROUT SOCIAL

Sprout Social is best known for its visual user interface. It’s easy to see engagement or tracking results at a glance through charts and tables. You can schedule posts and reply to them from within the tool.

__________________________________________

YES WEB DESIGN STUDIO BANGKOK THAILAND

We are strategically led and performance driven creative,content and digital agency in Bangkok, Thailand.

Website Design, Bangkok style

CONTACT

Bangkok: 096–879–5445 Sydney: 045–654–5556 Hong Kong: +852 5361 9177

EMAIL US yeswebdesignstudio@gmail.com

VISIT US 17th Floor, Wittayakit Building, Phayathai Rd, Wang Mai, Pathum Wan, Bangkok 10330 (BTS SIAM STATION)

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[yeswebdesignbkk]

Best Digital Marketing Tools for Small Businesses

One of the most exciting aspects of the world of digital marketing is how it levels the playing field for smaller businesses and solopreneurs. These are entities who are offering fantastic products and services which will be of huge benefit, but who may be short on the resources and budget required to market them.

Gone are the days when a multimillion-dollar marketing budget is necessary to get ahead of your competitors. Digital marketing offers a high ROI whether you’re actually investing cash or you’re bootstrapping and investing your time.

As well as offering great returns for small budgets, there are numerous marketing tools out there that can take some of the workload off of your shoulders. These tools are especially valuable for small businesses that don’t have the resources to dedicate a team to in-house marketing, or the budget to outsource the work to a marketing agency.

These tools can help you to get the biggest bang for your buck and ensure your precious time is invested wisely. By automating repetitive tasks, collecting data for you to analyze and optimize your campaigns, and helping you to organize and plan your marketing activities, they’ll soon prove invaluable to your business success.

1. GOOGLE ANALYTICS

Google Analytics is completely free software which provides valuable insights into who is visiting your website and what they get up to once they arrive.

It’s best paired with Google Search Console – another free tool that helps you to identify any problems on your site and optimize it for traffic.

Some of the datapoints that Google Analytics makes available to you include:

The number of visitors to your site by day, week, month, or any time period you choose

Where these visitors are coming from – referrals from other website, organic search, ads, social, or direct

The keywords people are using in Google to find your site

The demographics and interests of your users

How long each user spends on your site and which pages they visit

All this information is very interesting, but it’s also vital knowledge that can help you to optimize your website and marketing campaigns.

Notice you’re getting a lot of searches for a keyword that you don’t currently have a lot of information on? Write a blog post optimized for that keyword and watch your traffic and engagement levels rocket. Getting loads of visitors from Facebook but none from Twitter? Maybe this is a sign you should concentrate your marketing efforts on your main channel.

2. MAILCHIMP

No matter how large or small your business, email marketing should definitely be a part of your overall strategy.

When a customer signs up to your mailing list they are basically inviting you straight into their inbox so you can market directly to them, and this is why email marketing on average offers a higher ROIthan any other marketing activity.

To get started with email marketing you need a service that will enable you to capture emails, manage your lists, send out email automatically or on a schedule, and analyze engagement.

There are many software tools available that offer these services, but Mailchimp is an ideal choice if you’re just starting out or if you are running a small business. This is because the solution remains free until your list hits 2,000 subscribers, and it offers the main functionality you need without making managing your email marketing too complex.

3. HOOTSUITE

You know that these days it’s important to maintain a presence on social media if you are to remain competitive in the marketplace. You also probably already know that social media can be a huge time sink, even if you’re using it purely for marketing purposes rather than just to socialize.

Luckily there are tools available to cut down on this time inefficiency, and Hootsuite is one of them.

Hootsuite provides a central management platform for all your social media channels and allows you to schedule posts in advance so you can get all your social media content for the coming weeks or months ready in one session.

It also provides advance reporting tools, so you can see which of your social media campaigns are working most effectively, and use this data to calculate ROI.

In addition, you will be able to track mentions of your brand and manage responses, all in one place.

4. BUZZSUMO

Your content strategy shouldn’t consist of wild stabs in the dark as you write about topics that you think your audience will engage with. In order to be successful in content marketing you need to do your research properly, and this is where BuzzSumo comes in.

BuzzSumo shows content that is trending across social media based on searched topics. Following your search, you can analyze the results that are returned to see what’s so appealing about them and to get ideas of subjects to write about.

You can also search your own domain to see which of your content pieces is performing best, and see who is linking to and sharing it.

5. KWFINDER

SEO is one of the fundamentals of online marketing and it’s important to get right. Not only should you make sure your site is structured properly and optimized for mobile, but it’s also vital that the content you produce contains the keywords that your audience is searching for, and that you have a good chance of ranking for.

It’s not always obvious what these keywords are and this is why you need a keyword research tool. There are many options available from the free Google Keyword Planner to more complex suites of tools like SECockpit.

These more advanced tools can be very expensive, with monthly subscription fees starting at $100 or more, but they’re certainly not essential for small businesses.

Instead, a keyword research tool like KWFinder offers more functionality than the free tools in an easy-to-use format, for an affordable monthly fee.

Just put in a seed keyword and the tool will come back with hundreds of suggestions, search volume data, trends, and a ranking difficulty score for each word or phrase.

6. HUBSPOT

If you’re running multiple campaigns across numerous different marketing channels, it can not only be challenging to manage them all, but also to figure out exactly what’s working and where you need to make improvements.

Hubspot is an all-in-one marketing software solution that enables you to bring all your different marketing channels together, and optimize for more traffic, a higher conversion rate, and better ROI.

The tool includes optimized templates that are ideal for creating landing pages, and features like live chat and user action events which ramp up your engagement and convert more visitors into customers.

Other features of Hubspot include:

Content optimization tools

Optimized landing pages

Email templates

Marketing automation

Lead management

Analytics

Social media management

The full version of Hupspot has a hefty price tag but small businesses on lower budgets can get started with their free or basic package.

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Digital marketing strategy 2019: How to take advantage of the latest trends

Here are the key trends to keep in mind as you work on your digital marketing strategy for 2019. Video, Stories, conversational content, and more.

A digital marketing strategy needs to be frequently revised to stay successful. Here are the latest trends to keep an eye on for 2019.

Technology keeps evolving and we all need to keep up with the latest trends to make sure that we develop successful marketing tactics. It’s the perfect time to reflect on what worked the past year and how the latest trends will affect our marketing strategies in 2019.

Here are the key trends you need to know and how to include them in your current digital marketing strategy.

Video

Video consumption is not expected to slow down. As more social platforms invest in video content, marketers are investing in video to engage their audience.

However, it’s not enough to create videos with no clear objectives.

Start spending more time on analyzing the best types of video that work for your audience. Bite-sized videos may work on social media, but what if your audience is still interested in watching longer videos?

For example, Instagram will invest more on IGTV to establish it as a new platform to consume longer videos. Although it’s still at an early stage, there is a great opportunity to beat the competition before it gets more popular.

Video ads are also another trend to try out, either to increase awareness or even to drive conversions.

According to Animoto, video ads are the primary way that consumers find out about a brand or product before making a purchase.

Marketers need to optimize videos for mobile users, while the call-to-action needs to be clear but not off-putting. Focus on creating appealing videos that engage the viewers to keep watching.

For more tips on how to create successful video content, check out:

5 ways to increase engagement and generate more leads with video

Best practices to ensure your video starts and plays well on mobile

Personalized video and the future of marketing

Video and search: YouTube, Google, the alternatives and the future

Three ways to up your video marketing game

5 YouTube optimization tips to improve your video rankings

AI and AR to improve marketing

Artificial Intelligence can revolutionize our marketing tactics. We’re already seeing its application in customer experience, personalization, analytics and it can turn out to be the secret weapon of your marketing strategy in 2019.

Personalization will be more important than ever and customers are expecting a great shopping experience from brands. It’s interesting that 74% of consumers are willing to give up data for a more personalized ad experience. Thus, AI can be the link between the brand and the customer. In fact, the AI industry is expected to grow to $7.3 billion per year by 2022.

Similarly, augmented reality is reaching the stage that it’s taken more seriously in terms of practical application. As we’ve left Pokemon Go behind, more brands realize that AR can help them create an experience that can boost their messaging. It is already used across many different industries and consumers are ready to use it even more.

Brands can introduce AR to their marketing strategies to:

Raise awareness

Tell a story

Improve customer experience

Promote their products through gamification

Build engagement through a new way to reach your consumers

According to Gartner, 100 million people will be shopping with Augmented Reality by 2020 so this year is the perfect opportunity to explore how AR can fit into your own marketing plans.

For more creative ideas on how to use AI and AR in your marketing strategy, check out:

4 ways to use immersive technology to change the face of your marketing

AI’s role in mobile app monetization

AI is better than ever, so why is our messaging so far behind?

10 industries utilizing augmented reality

Augmented reality ads are here. Is your brand ready?

Data-driven marketing

Many successful marketing strategies rely on data to justify their tactics. The more channels and platforms we are using, the bigger the access to data.

This brings out the challenge of bringing it all together with the use of the right tools. Martech can be the solution to this challenge to improve the measurement of your campaigns and the attribution of your best-performing touchpoints.

A data-driven marketing strategy can help you learn more about your audience to improve your tactics and your future campaigns. More specifically, it can help you improve your customer experience with the use of personalization or it can even help you create more effective ads to reach the right audience.

For further reading, check out:

Data in martech: How to better measure, attribute, and manage it

Research: Actionable insights from data still marketing’s biggest challenge

3 ways using data can solve actual customer problems

How brands like TGI Fridays leverage data to build loyalty

Social media Stories

Stories make the next big trend in social media marketing. They are already engaging enough to encourage more marketers to try them out and they will become even more popular in 2019.

Vertical content is more appealing for mobile devices and Stories take over most social networks, with Instagram being the most popular platform to use them.

There are more than 400 million active Stories users every month and they seem to be more engaged in Stories comparing to the social feeds.

Brands are using Stories to prove their authenticity with behind the scenes content, fun polls, countdowns or engaging videos that can also involve their followers. Stories don’t necessarily require the help of a creative professional, but they still need a strategy on how to make the most of them,

2019 will be the year that more marketers will integrate Stories into their digital marketing strategies as an effective method of reaching their followers.

To read more about social media Stories, check out:

Seven ways brands can leverage Instagram Stories

Social media Stories on the rise in 2018 holiday ads

New research: Marketers focused on Stories, mobile, and Amazon ads for 2018 holiday push

The rise of Stories and the changing face of social marketing

Voice technology and the need for conversational content

Voice technology sees an increased adoption rate year over year and it will become even more popular in 2019. As consumers are ready to spend more time on voice technology, marketers need to understand how to benefit from the growing trend.

There is a new type of conversational content and promotion that they need to involve in their digital marketing strategy. As it differs from other promotional methods, we need to start exploring how to create more conversational content. It’s not enough anymore to think of keywords and marketing jargon. Voice search is about knowing what consumers want and how they would use a voice assistant.

It’s interesting to consider that according to IAB, 18% of American consumers already own smart devices and 65% admit that they couldn’t imagine not using them anymore.

This can bring a big opportunity for the brands that are ready to invest in this trend.

If you want to learn more about marketing and voice technology, check out:

Your customers are already using voice search. Is your business ready?

Voice engine optimization: It’s easier than you realize

What does voice search mean for your local SEO strategy?

How Alexa and Siri are changing SEO: AI and Voice Search

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เกิดอะไรขึ้นบ้างกับ Digital Marketing ในปี 2018 แล้วหลังจากนี้ปี 2019 จะเดินไปทิศทางไหนดี?

บทความนี้ถอดความมาจากงาน CREATIVE TALK CONFERENCE 2019 โดยมีคุณสุธีรพันธุ์ สักรวัตร (ตูน) EVP Head of Marketing ธนาคารไทยพาณิชย์ และคุณสโรจ เลาหศิริ (บี) Chief Marketing Officer Rabbit’s Tale ร่วมเสวนาในหัวข้อ Digital Marketing Trends

คำถามแรก เกิดอะไรขึ้นบ้างสำหรับ Digital Marketing ในปี 2018

โลกกำลังหมุนไปสู่ยุคเอา Data มาประยุกต์ใช้กับแคมเปญการตลาด

คุณตูน-สุธีรพันธ์ บอกว่า ในฐานะที่เป็น Head of Marketing (หัวหน้าฝ่ายการตลาด) ของ SCB มีโอกาสได้ดูแลการตลาดทุกส่วน จึงมองอย่างคนที่เห็นภาพรวมทั้งหมด โดยสิ่งที่เกิดขึ้นแล้วในปี 2018 และชัดเจนมากสำหรับการทำ Digital Marketing คือการนำเอา Data มาประยุกต์ใช้การกับแคมเปญการตลาด

การนำเอา Data มาประยุกต์ใช้กับแคมเปญการตลาด (Data Utilization) เป็นเทรนด์ที่มาแน่นอน และที่สำคัญมาในหลายอุตสาหกรรม ไม่ใช่เพียงแค่ธนาคารเท่านั้น อย่างเช่น Agency รายใหญ่ๆ ก็น��เอา Data มาใข้แล้ว เช่น โอกิลวี่, เลเบอเนต-รายนี้มีบริษัทลูกที่เชี่ยวชาญเรื่อง Data มาก รวมถึงเจ. วอลเตอร์ ธอมสัน ก็กำลังจะรวมตัวกับ Wunderman ที่เป็นบริษัท CRM ใหญ่ของโลก

สรุปคือ Agency ยักษ์ใหญ่ของโลกจะประกาศตัวเอา Data มาใช้งานในทางความคิดสร้างสรรค์ เรียกได้ว่ามันจะเป็นหลักการของการทำงานในอนาคต

แต่ทั้งนี้การนำเอา Data มาใช้กับการแคมเปญการตลาด ไม่ใช่การมานั่งพูดว่า Data หรือ Big Data สำคัญอย่างไร เพราะมันสำคัญอยู่แล้ว แต่สิ่งที่ควรพูดคือ ตอนนี้เรามีเทคโนโลยีรองรับแล้วหรือยัง รวมถึง Mindset ของบุคลากรในองค์กรพร้อมแล้วหรือยังมากกว่า

คุณตูนยกตัวอย่างของ SCB ที่นำเอา Data มาใช้ โดยบอกว่า โดยปกติคนทั่วไปจะมองเห็นผ่านสื่อโซเชียลมีเดีย เช่น Facebook, YouTube แต่เบื้องหลังของมันคือการนำเอา Data มาใช้งาน บางโปรเจกต์ลงสื่อไป 3-5 ล้านบาท แต่เราได้เงินกลับคืนมา 3,000 ล้าน นั่นเป็นเพราะเรานำเอา Data มาใช้งาน เราเอา Data มาทำให้เรามองเห็นว่ามี sale signal อยู่ตรงไหน และเอาจุดนั้นมาใช้ทางการตลาด

นอกจากนั้น อีกสิ่งหนึ่งที่สอดคล้องกันคือ DMP หรือ Data Management Platform (ระบบที่ช่วยนักการตลาดจัดการข้อมูลที่เข้ามามากมายในแต่ละวัน) เมื่อประมาณ 4-5 ปีที่ผ่านมาจะมีแต่เรื่อง social media conference แต่นับจากนี้ไปจะมีแต่ DMP conference

DMP คือการเอา Data จากหน้าร้านและในโซเชี่ยลมีเดียมากองรวมกัน และพยายามทำให้เรามองเห็นสัญญาณอะไรบางอย่างจาก Data กองนั้น โดยเครื่องมือโซลูชั่นในปีนี้อาจจะมีราคาแพง ต้องเป็นระดับใหญ่แบบธนาคารหรือผู้ให้บริการโทรคมนาคมถึงจะใช้ได้ แต่พอถึงจุดหนึ่ง  DMP จะกลายเป็นโซลูชั่นที่ใครๆ ก็สามารถใช้งานได้ จะเหลือเดือนละประมาณ 2-3 พันบาท คือสุดท้ายแล้ว DMP จะเริ่มราคาตก คนเข้าถึงง่ายขึ้น ดังนั้นใครเรียนรู้ก่อน ทำความเข้าใจได้ก่อน ก็ย่อมได้เปรียบ

หมดยุคทำหนังซึ้ง-กินใจ ยุคถัดไปคือสร้างแบรนด์ร่วมกับผู้บริโภค

คุณบี-สโรจ มองว่า หนึ่งในปรากฏการณ์ของปี 2018 คือการที่ลูกค้าหรือนักการตลาดก้าวหน้ามากขึ้น เพราะจากประสบการณ์คนที่เข้ามาแล้วหวังไวรัลหรือเพจไลค์แทบไม่มีแล้ว ดังนั้นถ้าใครยังบรีฟแบบนี้อยู่คือล้าหลังไปแล้ว

สิ่งที่เกิดขึ้นคือ ลูกค้าไม่ได้มองดิจิทัลเป็นการสื่อสาร แต่มองว่าเป็นโอกาส ลูกค้ามองหาความสร้างสรรค์ การสร้างประสบการณ์ของผู้บริโภคในมุมดิจิทัล ยกตัวอย่างเช่น ลูกค้าเริ่มมองหาการสร้าง CRM (การทำให้ลูกค้ารู้สึกผูกพันธ์กับสินค้า บริการ หรือองค์กรนั้นๆ), การสร้างแพลตฟอร์ม, การทำระบบตอบโต้ลูกค้า, การเก็บข้อมูลอย่างเป็นระบบ, เส้นทางของผู้บริโภคตั้งแต่เห็นโฆษณาที่ปล่อยออกไป แล้วไปที่ไหนต่อ กล่าวคือเป็นการลงทุนเพื่อสร้างระบบตอนนี้เริ่มเห็นหลายแบรนด์ที่ทำ CRM แล้ว เช่น ลงไปทำแคมเปญจริงจังผ่าน LINE, ไปทำแอพพลิเคชั่น หรือเริ่มทำแชทบ็อต นี่คือเทรนด์ของปี 2018 ที่เริ่มเห็นบรีฟมาในแนวทางนี้

โดยสรุปคือ มันหมดยุคของการสร้าง emotional สร้างหนังยาวๆ จบแล้วซึ้ง นั่นเป็นการสร้างแบรนด์ที่แบรนด์เป็นคนสร้างฝ่ายเดียว แต่เทรนด์ต่อไปคือ การสร้างแบรนด์ที่แบรนด์สร้างร่วมกันกับผู้บริโภค ไม่ใช่เอาคอนเทนต์มา emotional นำอย่างเดียว เพราะมันจะกลับไปจุดที่คุณภาพสินค้าและบริการแล้ว ถ้าสินค้าไม่ดี ต่อให้ทำหนังซึ้งแค่ไหน สร้างสรรค์แค่ไหน แต่ประสบการณ์ลูกค้าไม่ดี การสร้างแบรนด์ก็ไม่เกิด

ดังนั้น เมื่อสินค้าดี การสื่อสารก็ต้องดี มีความเป็นมนุษย์มากขึ้น ดูอย่างแอดมินตามเพจต่างๆ สังเกตดูว่าจะไม่ค่อยเป็นบ็อท แต่เป็นคนจริงๆ มาตอบ แอดมินหยอกล้อเล่นกัน ทำผิดก็ยอมรับ ถือเป็นส่วนหนึ่งของการสร้างแบรนด์

เทรนด์ Digital Marketing ปี 2019 เดินไปทิศทางไหนดี?

Conversion is a King!

คุณตูน บอกว่าในปี 2019 Digital Marketing จะเป็นกระแสหลัก (mainstream)

จากประสบการณ์ของตนเองกับการทำแคมเปญของ SCB จะเห็นได้ว่าตอนนี้การทำการตลาดเป็นดิจิทัลทั้งหมดแล้ว มีเพียง 3% เท่านั้นที่เป็นออฟไลน์ ยุคนี้สื่อออฟไลน์ได้เป็น niche (เฉพาะกลุ่ม) ไปแล้ว ��กตัวอย่างเช่น ถ้าจะซื้อรายการวิทยุ ก็ต้องแน่ใจว่าแคมเปญนั้นจะเจาะไปถึงกลุ่มคนฟังวิทยุจริงๆ

Digital Maketing ในปีนี้จะมีกษัตริย์องค์ใหม่คือ conversion ปีนี้การทำการตลาดดิจทัล แบรนด์จะต้องมองไปที่ประสบการณ์ลูกค้าเป็นอันดับแรก ถือเป็นเรื่องที่สำคัญที่สุด เครื่องไม้เครื่องมือสำหรับการตลาดไม่ว่าจะเป็นของ Adobe ที่เคยจำกัดวงแคบๆ อย่าง perfomance marketing สุดท้ายมันจะกลายเป็นเมนสตรีม เราจะไม่มีการพูดคุยเรื่องสตอรี่บอร์ด ร้องไห้ที่วินาทีไหน อีกต่อไป

ผสมออนไลน์-ออฟไลน์ ใช้ Data ให้เป็น มองให้ขาด เพื่อออกแบบการตลาด

ด้านของคุณบี มองว่า จะมี 3 สิ่งที่เกิดขึ้นสำหรับ Digital Marleting ในปี 2019

ออฟไลน์-ออนไลน์ ต้องใช้ด้วยกัน: นับตั้งแต่นี้สื่อออนไลน์ยิ่ง “แพง” ขึ้น ดังนั้นอย่าไปทุ่มออนไลน์อย่างเดียว ต้องทำออฟไลน์ด้วย ทิ้งไม่ได้ เพราะเป็นสื่อช่วยย้ำภาพจำให้กับผู้บริโภค ที่สำคัญจะทำให้ loop ของประสบการณ์ลูกค้าครบวงจร ยกตัวอย่างเช่น Netflix ที่เป็นบริการออนไลน์ แต่ทุ่มงบโฆษณาออฟไลน์เยอะมาก (ดูได้จากแคมเปญปีใหม่ 2019 #ไม่ไปไหนไปNetflix) ก็ไม่แน่ว่าปี 2019 นี้ อาจพลิกกลับกลายเป็นว่าสื่อออฟไลน์คือกุญแจสำคัญของการตลาดดิจิทัล นั่นอาจหมายความว่าใครที่แตะผู้คนในโลกความเป็นจริงได้มากกว่ากัน คนั้นก็ชนะ

บรีฟงานต้องเริ่มจาก Data: อย่าทิ้ง Data ไว้ปลายน้ำ ถ้าบรีฟงานต้องนำเอา Data ขยับมาอยู่ที่ต้นน้ำ มาอยู่ที่การเริ่มต้นของการบรีฟ เพราะค่าโฆษณาราคาแพงขึ้น ในขณะที่งบประมาณที่ใช้ยังเท่าเดิม ดังนั้นนักการตลาดต้องหาคนที่จะเป็นกลุ่มเป้าหมายจริงๆ ให้เจอ ต้องนำ Data มาใช้ในการแบ่งสัดส่วน ตั้งแต่การสร้างบรีฟ สร้างโปรดักต์ และหาความต้องการของผู้บริโภค

นักการตลาดต้องใช้หลักวิศวะในการออกแบบแคมเปญ: ปีนี้นักการตลาดจะต้องทำ Engineering Marketing คือการออกแบบการตลาดโดยใช้หลักวิศวะ เพราะวันนี้นักการตลาดต้องมองข้อมูลให้ขาด แล้วนำไปคิดต่อยอดจากข้อมูลประสบการณ์ลูกค้าที่มีอยู่

อะไรคือสิ่งที่ห้ามทำในปี 2019

สำหรับคุณตูนมี 3 สิ่งที่นักการตลาดดิจิทัลห้ามทำเด็ดขาดในปี 2019 ได้แก่

ห้ามเอาสตอรี่บอร์ดไปขายเจ้านาย: เพราะเจ้านายไม่ได้มีหน้าที่ตัดสินใจเรื่องเนื้อหาที่จะใช้ในการทำการตลาด หน้าที่ของเจ้านายคือการปลดล็อคอุปสรรคให้ลูกน้อง โดยต้องปล่อยให้ลูกน้องทดลอง และหากเกิดความผิดพลาด เจ้านายคือคนที่จะช่วยฟื้นฟูความเสียหาย

อย่าขายงานแค่แบบเดียว จงทำให้ไว้เผื่อเลือก: ยุคนี้ห้ามทำคอนเทนต์แบบเดียว ต้องสร้างทางเลือก���สมอ เพราะแต่ละแพลตฟอร์มมีจริตที่ต่างกัน

อย่าเป็นฝนเทียม แต่จงเป็นกรมชลประทาน: ข้อนี้สำคัญมาก เพราะนี่ความแตกต่างของการตลาดยุคใหม่กับยุคก่อน แน่นอนว่าแคมเปญการตลาดคือการสร้างคุณค่า (value) ให้กับแบรนด์ แต่ถ้าเราเปรียบคุณค่าของการตลาดเป็น “น้ำ” แคมเปญการตลาดก็คือ การบังคับให้น้ำไหลไปยังทิศทางที่ตรงกับกลุ่มเป้าหมาย พืชผลก็งอกงาม สินค้าขายดี แต่ถ้าไม่มีฝนตก นักการตลาดก็ทำฝนเทียม และคาดหวังว่าฝนจะไปตกในไร่นาที่ขาดแคลนน้ำ แต่ความจริงไม่ใช่ เพราะฝนอาจไปตกผิดที่ผิดทาง พื้นที่ที่แล้งก็ยังไม่หายแล้ง พื้นที่ที่ไม่แล้งดันน้ำท่วม ดังนั้น นักการตลาดยุคใหม่ต้องทำตัวเป็นกรมชลประทาน ออกแบบเส้นทางน้ำให้น้ำไหลไปยังทิศที่ถูกต้องไปสู่ผู้บริโภค ไปยังที่ที่ขาดน้ำจริงๆ เพราะฉะนั้นหลักคิดคือ จงเป็นกรมชลประทาน อย่าเป็นฝนเทียม

สำหรับคุณบีมี 2 สิ่งที่นักการตลาดดิจิทัลห้ามทำเด็ดขาดในปี 2019 ได้แก่

หยุดทำแผนการตลาดดิจิทัลแบบเดิมๆ ซ้ำซาก: การทำแผนแบบการตลาดดิจิทัลแบบเดิม (traditional digital marketing) คือแผนการตลาดที่เปิดตัวสินค้า จากนั้นทำหนังฮีโร่ ส่งให้เหล่า Influencer ช่วยแชร์ ติดแฮชแท็ก เสร็จแล้วก็ทำคอนเทนต์ตามมา อาจจะซื้อบทความ-วิเคราะห์เพื่อบอกว่าแผนการตลาดนี้เจ๋งมาก อันนี้เป็นสูตรแบบเก่ามาก ไม่ได้ผลแล้วเพราะอันที่จริง ผู้บริโภคเปลี่ยนไปมาก เด็กสมัยนี้ไม่ค่อยเล่น Facebook กันแล้ว แต่นักการตลาดยังอินกับ Facebook อยู่ นักการตลาดยุคใหม่จึงต้องคิดใหม่ได้แล้ว

หยุดทำหนังซึ้งกินใจ ยอดวิวสิบล้าน แต่ขายไม่ได้ก็ไร้ผล: นักการตลาดยุคนี้ต้องคิดให้มากขึ้น ต้องเอา Data มาประยุกต์ใช้จริงจัง เลิกทำการสื่อสารผ่านหนังโฆษณาที่หวังว่าจะกินใจผู้บริโภค คือต่อให้มียอดวิวสิบล้านแต่ไม่ได้เอาคอมเม้นท์ผู้บริโภคมาปรับปรุงสินค้าและบริการ หรือปล่อยปละละเลย Data ที่เกิดขึ้นหลังบ้าน ตรงนี้ควรต้องเปลี่ยนให้หมดได้แล้ว

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YES WEB DESIGN STUDIO BANGKOK THAILAND

We are strategically led and performance driven creative,content and digital agency in Bangkok, Thailand.

Website Design, Bangkok style

CONTACT

Bangkok: 096–879–5445 Sydney: 045–654–5556 Hong Kong: +852 5361 9177

EMAIL US yeswebdesignstudio@gmail.com

VISIT US 17th Floor, Wittayakit Building, Phayathai Rd, Wang Mai, Pathum Wan, Bangkok 10330 (BTS SIAM STATION)

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3 of the Most Creative Marketing Campaigns of 2018 (so far)

2018 has only begun, but there are already some fantastic ad campaigns out there to learn from. Great ad campaigns evoke strong emotions, staying in our minds for days, weeks, or even months, influencing consumers to make purchasing decisions.

They’re a first step in introducing a company to its intended audience - or reminding them of its existence. Here are three of the most creative marketing campaigns of 2018 so far.

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1. ESSC- “Change the Way You See Disability”

A thought-provoking new advertising campaign from Easterseals Southern California (ESSC), an organization which assists more than 10,000 people with disabilities in several parts of California, launched a new ad campaign February first that features its own program recipients. The title of the campaign is “Changing the Way to See Disability,” and its goal is to create inclusion and encourage social change. The campaign’s slogan is ‘Celebrate. Don't Separate.'

Mark Whitley, president & CEO of ESSC, comments:

“When we unite as one, we can create social change and break down barriers. Every day, people make generalizations about people with disabilities—and many may not even realize they're doing it. We're launching a movement that helps people look beyond what they see at first glance to build a more inclusive world.”

The campaign will encompass many different channels as it rolls out throughout 2018, including print, internet, and outdoor ads, as well as a “Make the Promise” grassroots social media campaign, which will ask people to promote the message of inclusion and will use the hashtag #CelebrateDontSeparate.

Based on inclusion, the campaign challenges people to “Be Supportive. Not Sorry” and “Don’t Exclude. Include,” among other advertising slogans. The first phase of the campaign features six California residents, ranging in age from 4 to 64, including two ESSC recipients who meet through the program and are now engaged.

Easterseals has been providing services for individuals and families with special needs for over 100 years. The services provided help recipients address challenges and achieve personal goals. ESSC aids over 10,000 people each year with services such as development/early education, employment aid, veteran employment support, independent living options, and more.

2. Intuit: “A Giant Story”

Intuit, a software company that develops and sells accounting, financial, and tax preparation software for individuals and small businesses, recently launched its new brand campaign. We’ll see the first part of the campaign, an animated short about two business owners, during the SuperBowl.

The goal of the campaign is to bring all of Inuit’s brands together, including Mint, TurboTax, and Quickbooks. While millions of people use the brand’s products (46 million combined, to be exact), only four out of every thousand individuals use two or more of them. The brand wants to show that its products are best when used as a group.

Phase one of the campaign includes a four-minute animated short in Pixar style. The company’s agency, Phenomenon, created a giant robot to represent the power of the brand’s services, deciding that animation was the best way to get the brand’s idea across. The ad will run during Super Bowl LII as a 15-second teaser and drive users back to the full film online.

In terms of social media, the campaign will feature a Snapchat filter starring the Intuit Giant. The robot in the campaign is a metaphor for the way the brand’s services harness technology to make financial processes simple for its customers. It focuses on a flower shop owner named Pete, who is too busy running his business to enjoy his outside passions, and Pari, an entrepreneur and engineer who is inspired to help him by creating the Intuit Giant.

Chief marketing officer Lucas Watson, explains the target audience for the campaign in a statement, saying:

“There are 750 million people who work for themselves around the world who juggle managing their finances while pursuing their passions. With today’s economy, and the pressures of managing time and money, sometimes it can seem like the odds are stacked against them. But Intuit exists to work for them.”

The brand promises to continue the campaign throughout the year and work on additional digital channels and executions.

3. LinkedIn: “In It Together”

Powerhouse social media network LinkedIn is out to crush its current “white collar” stereotype. The brand recently launched a TV spot titled “In it Together” during the Golden Globes award show, an advertising move uncharacteristic of the brand in the past. But that makes sense since LinkedIn is trying to break away from its current perception. The “In It Together” campaign features a diverse range of peoples and businesses.

The campaign represents LinkedIn’s first real integrated marketing effort and also includes online video, digital display, paid social media, outdoor ads, podcasts, radio spots, partnerships, and search engine marketing.

Overall, the campaign will last twelve weeks and will be targeted at four core markets - San Francisco, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and Atlanta. The company will compare LinkedIn activity in these markets with markets that have not been targeted to better understand the results of the campaign. The videos use black-and-white, documentary-style shots to showcase LinkedIn users’ success stories in their unique environments.

The campaign represents LinkedIn’s first real integrated marketing effort and also includes online video, digital display, paid social media, outdoor ads, podcasts, radio spots, partnerships, and search engine marketing.

Overall, the campaign will last twelve weeks and will be targeted at four core markets - San Francisco, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and Atlanta. The company will compare LinkedIn activity in these markets with markets that have not been targeted to better understand the results of the campaign. The videos use black-and-white, documentary-style shots to showcase LinkedIn users’ success stories in their unique environments.

In an email to Adweek, Campaign Director Stacy Peralta (of Dogtown and Z-Boys) explained the impact of the campaign, stating:

“I knew from the first reading of the boards that this was one of those rare opportunities. They asked us to tell real stories about real people, they wanted it shot in black and white, and they wanted energy, enthusiasm and candor from the people involved. We found and documented many of the unique people who use the platform. We found avant-garde musicians, MMA fighters, physics teachers, animators, chefs and real-life cowboys, all of whom not only use LinkedIn but rave about its effect on their careers.”

All of the above campaigns use elements that humanize the brand, producing emotions and encouraging empathy.

The tried-and-true elements of advertising remain the same, but the digital world offers us more avenues than ever before to get content in front of our target audience. Explore which avenues are the best fit for your brand.

[yeswebdesignbkk]

7 Key Ingredients of a Successful Digital Marketing Strategy

Are you looking to understand how to create a digital marketing strategy for a client, or even for yourself? If you’re just starting out in the industry practicing on your own is a great way to get experience.

The way you approach a digital marketing plan will vary based on an individual business’ goals, but there are definitely a few things to bear in mind that will keep you on the path to success. If you’re involved in digital marketing and you’re looking to a strategy, follow this guide to keep you on track!

1. Create a Realistic Framework

Before you do anything, you’ll want to map out your plan. You can do this in a number of ways, including content mapping, timelines and editorial calendars. There are plenty of tools to help with this level of content management and planning.

The important thing is to establish several ideal (realistic) outcomes while leaving some room for uncertainty. And you want to do this based on a set of chosen key performance indicators (KPIs) that are related to your strategy and goals.

If you don’t choose a subset of metrics to base your strategy on, it’s likely that you’ll veer off track and not make it to your end goal. Keep the process as simplified as possible when communicating and delegating, and establish a clear timeframe so that everyone on the team stays focused.  

2. Identify Appropriate KPIs at the Outset

How are you setting goals? You’ll have to find the right metrics to focus on in order to understand how you got your end results. Choosing the right KPIs – the ones that most closely represent your key target areas – will help you to stay on target and understand which of your marketing actions are actually working and which need improvement.

Here are some points to ponder as you figure out what KPIs are best to use:

How is a given KPI related to your goal?

What exactly are you measuring?

Is what you are measuring related to actual user experience and if so, how?

How much do you need to monitor/report on certain metrics and have you included this in your plan?

The trick with setting these up appropriately is to remember that it’s data, but it’s also human experience. This is the key to setting up a decent sales and marketing strategy on the whole – you are viewing your traffic as numbers, but also humans. You’re going to want to home in on numbers that truly tell a story about what your customers are doing, and using this data to shift things around in the future.

The bottom line is that human behaviour is really what’s affecting your ROI, so remember to approach it from a UX (User Experience) point of view, always.

3. Know How to Build an Effective Funnel

Those of you who have experience in the traditional marketing field (or any business background) should already be familiar with the concept of a sales funnel, which is a step-by-step outline of each phase of the buyers’ journey. It breaks down into something like this:

Outreach: Facebook ads, landing page, explainer videos, infographics, content marketing

Conversion: Social media, informational blog posts, case studies, quizzes

Closing: Email series, reviews, questionnaires

Retention: Exclusive offers, whitepapers, e-mails, contests, surveys

The widest part or top of the funnel is where outreach, engagement and brand awareness happen. This is key to capturing new traffic as well as re-engaging repeat traffic. The top of your funnel is where the marketing happens and you’ll want to ensure that this is highly engaging – it’s not so much about the sale as much as it is about relationship-building.

A great content strategist or digital marketing specialist will know what it takes to bring customers through every phase of the funnel and have a high percentage rate with conversions – but in most cases, this takes practice, so if it doesn’t happen right away, don’t panic!

4. Understand What Makes for Effective Content

Content is so much more than great blogs, Tweets and Facebook ads! There’s a lot you can do to get creative with it and to that end, you’re going to want to be up-to-date on technology and the latest methods of getting to your audience.

What makes for truly effective outreach and engagement is your ability to tell a story, and to that end, your strategy should centre around an effective advertising campaign that is high quality and of value.

What do we mean by this? Build your core ads and service offerings first, and then write content with CTAs that lead users towards a purchase. But make sure that it’s relatable, relevant and useful to your audience.

You’ll also want to have a clear understanding of how your content is working with regards to SEO and analytics patterns. Everything that you put out into the world ends up being “data,” so tracking it in the right way is crucial. This also means understanding the user experience.

5. Plan Strategically but Flexibly

Whatever your overall plan is, it should leave room for flexibility. Just like giving “fake” deadlines as you delegate tasks or direct clients, you should leave ample room not only for time fluctuations, but unexpected events that can affect your core workload, as well as the business as a whole.

This means leaving some “blank” spots on your timeline to fill in as you go. It also means leaving some room to incorporate things like relevant current events, viral articles from competitors, or unexpected investments in new technology that could sway your plan in a certain direction.

As you work through your plan, you should be continually monitoring and checking in, asking questions like:

Where is there room for improvement?

What KPIs are truly relevant at this phase?

Where is the majority of traffic flowing?

What tools are working better than others to keep everything organized?

6. Create a Library of Evergreen Content

Different types of content have different purposes and to that end you’ll need to incorporate various ideas as you work on your content marketing strategy. While this may sound complicated, it’s actually not if you can gather the bulk of your content together ahead of time and keep it organized according to keywords and tags.

Evergreen content is a term for content that you only have to create once and is valuable for multiple purposes and even across multiple channels. It is typically not time- or event-relevant but it is a key part of your brand storyline, core message and key offerings.

Here are some ways that content can be developed to last through different uses:

A PDF e-book can be developed out of old blogs

An in-depth article can be turned into a whitepaper

Slideshows can be incorporated into simple explainer videos

The idea here is not to bore your audience with repeat content or plagiarize (even “plagiarizing” from your own content can cost you regarding SEO), but to build a library of core pieces that you can develop alongside your business message and goals.

7. Visualize a Clear Direction

Is your content is going in a specific direction in accordance with traffic and overall engagement? This is what you’ll have to put into place at the outset and as you progress through each phase of your strategy. You’ll have to keep an eye on how well each phase of your funnel is working, and look to re-engagement activities if your conversions are fluctuating.

The whole point is to make a flexible plan to have a clear understanding of how the process will follow through from the ground up, starting with SEO-friendly and highly shareable content. At the end, you’ll want to compare your expected results with the actual results, so that when you create a new strategy you’ll understand better, what works and what doesn’t.

Final thoughts

In order to build an effective content marketing strategy, you need to have a solid understanding of project management, which includes a solid vision of the plan as well as each step, and the bits and pieces involved in having each step be successful. To this end, a content marketing strategy is a good representation of the art and science of what goes on behind the scenes.

Successful digital marketing strategies are never cut and dry, but with a little practice, you can make them work to your advantage. Just remember that the idea is to step away from profit and conversions and focus on the human element – the buyer’s journey, your brand story and engagement. When you can authentically engage a broad audience, you’ll no doubt impress your clients and colleagues.

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YES WEB DESIGN STUDIO BANGKOK THAILAND

We are strategically led and performance driven creative,content and digital agency in Bangkok, Thailand.

Website Design, Bangkok style

CONTACT

Bangkok: 096–879–5445 Sydney: 045–654–5556 Hong Kong: +852 5361 9177

EMAIL US yeswebdesignstudio@gmail.com

VISIT US 17th Floor, Wittayakit Building, Phayathai Rd, Wang Mai, Pathum Wan, Bangkok 10330 (BTS SIAM STATION)

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[yeswebdesignbkk]

8 Digital Marketing Trends to Watch Out for in 2019

source: digitalmarketinginstitute

Digital marketing, simply put, cannot be ignored. No one is disputing the power of effective marketing. An effectively executed marketing and advertising campaign can serve the needs of any business and increase the demand for the product or service that they offer. But times have changed, and while the need for marketing is still essential, where that marketing is most effective has changed a lot.

If you want to go where the people are, you need to be active online. The influence of the digital landscape, or 'cyberspace,' has been steadily growing since the 1990s, and now, just a few decades later, it is a major virtual environment for the vast majority of people on the planet.

Social media, streaming content, and the ease of creating or consuming digital content have made the internet the place to be. So if you want to market to your audience online, how should you do it? In this article, we explore the top trends digital marketers should know or prepare to master.

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1. Facebook May Be Peaking

The good news is that Facebook is still currently the #1 social media platform in the United States, with an impressive 41% of its users being over the age of 65. So for marketing that targets a senior demographic, there simply isn’t a better platform. On the other hand, Facebook had a difficult 2018, with a data breach that affected 14 million users, gaining a reputation for being the platform of choice for weaponized, political propaganda, and a continuing drop in popularity with younger demographics, so much so that many people feel the relationship between the public and Facebook may be changing.

It's important for future digital marketers to really look at who their target market may be, because Facebook may be very unsuitable for some campaigns, especially as it continues to trend downwards with younger demographics. Make no mistake, Facebook is still massive, and many Americans continue to check in on it, but be more judicious with who you're marketing to, and make sure they're still on Facebook, or you're targeting the wrong social media platform.

2. Instagram is a Hit with the Kids

Fortunately for Facebook, their greatest threat is no threat at all since they bought Instagram. The image and video-based social media platform are optimized to make it very easy for users to share photos and videos from their phone, which is now the most ubiquitous computing device on the planet and rapidly growing as the computer of choice for the general public.

Instagram’s meteoric rise has already passed one billion users, an impressive achievement. That means it's one of the most rapidly growing social media platforms and, perhaps more importantly, much of its user-base is the coveted younger demographic, especially under 30, that Facebook is losing, due to its reputation as the social media platform for “old people.”

3. Chatbot Use Will Increase

Chatbots are just a specialized form of software that acts as a virtual "concierge," communicating with users and assisting them in completing their goals. Chatbots interact with humans in a natural way, primarily through the use of text chat windows, but verbal interactions are also possible.

Chatbots are already used extensively on Facebook, by the tens of thousands for different tasks. Everything from providing weather reports to automating some basic customer support functions can be easily handled by sophisticated software. Bots allow users to get personalized, focused interactions without pulling too much from limited human resources. Their effectiveness in 2018 is already showing a significant increase in usage, and that use is likely to continue growing for digital marketing in 2019.

4. Video Is a Must

A total of 73% of all Americans engage with YouTube. That means more than half of all Americans are watching videos, and a lot of those videos are created in the service of digital marketing. While YouTube may be the most popular way to consume videos, even more, popular than Facebook, that doesn't mean that you shouldn't be putting videos on Facebook or any of the other social media platform for that matter.

Video digital marketing, in some ways, offers the best of both worlds. The actual budgeting and mechanics of video production are well understood and documented, since video itself is a 20th-century medium. However, now the video is paired with the incredibly accurate and valuable user metrics of digital media to provide much more useful data on how specific efforts are performing. Whether you're creating videos for Instagram, Facebook, YouTube or even your own website, it is a top-tier, incredibly effective digital marketing tool. You can capture and convey a lot of information and your brand's personality with video. As long as you stick to the fundamentals of good video production, you can make impressive gains.

5. Live Video Is a Separate Yet Important Thing

While the video is a valuable tool, one of the fastest rising stars in digital marketing is the use of live video. Part of this is due to the massive spike in streaming services, thanks to popular channels such as "Twitch," which allows people to easily stream video gameplay or even devices like Sony’s PS4 game console that come with live streaming abilities built right into the box.

Live streaming, as it is called, is especially big for digital marketing when combined with influencer marketing. Whether it's the new generation of social media influencers or traditional sources, such as celebrities, athletes, and musicians, having a live stream with an influencer who is interacting directly with comments is a huge draw for an audience. An influencer live stream is an incredibly useful, high profile form of digital marketing right now. The spontaneity and interactivity of live streaming can undoubtedly be a big draw when done right, with a well-chosen personality.

6. Good Content Still Matters

Content marketing continues to be an essential component of digital marketing, although there’s an increasing emphasis on nuance in content. The quality is always going to matter a lot, but now there’s a renewed interested in looking more deeply into who the intended recipients are. Having a deeper, more sophisticated understanding of a targeted market and being able to target that market more precisely is a rising trend in more effective marketing.

So while general audience content was, is, and always will be important, specialized material for specific industries or experts can also yield impressive results. That, combined with improving techniques in measuring content effectiveness, keep content marketing relevant and moving forward.

7. Email Is Getting More Personalized

Email continues to be a major channel of communication, with billions still using it for personal, commercial, industrial, legal, scientific, and academic purposes. In other words, email is here to stay, and email marketing itself continues to be important.

However, email marketing is evolving, and generic marketing emails aren't as effective as they once were. It is now a combination of automation and, more importantly, personalization that makes email marketing important for 2019. When you can trigger your email marketing to something specific, such as a user browsing a particular product, and then follow up with a promotional price or demo video in a personalized email, this can be very effective. Email is often the final "trigger" to motivate action, especially when combined with your remarketing techniques.

8. Voice Interaction Is Going Up

Thanks to Siri, Google, Alexa, and a host of other “smart” devices, verbal interaction with devices is continuing to rise. The real takeaway is that talking is simply a preferred way of interacting. And now the machines are finally catching up to the way people want to search, shop, and discover new things.

However, this presents some interesting challenges. Conducting a voice search, for example, is very different from typing a query, particularly in the results. When a person performs a text-based search, the screen displays one page at a time the results. But when someone asks a device to conduct a search and the device replies verbally, it may only give a few choices at most, and frequently, they supply just one choice.

That means that preparing for voice searches is going to require a different approach, but it's one area of digital marketing that can't be ignored because people are relying on it now more than ever. For example, writing meta-descriptions of websites might need to be optimized for speech so that it "reads better" out loud, when being spoken, rather than the drier style used for a strictly text-based search approach.

If you want to hone and sharpen your digital marketing skills, enroll at the Digital Marketing Institute and become a digital marketing professional! Contact DMI now and start your journey.

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YES WEB DESIGN STUDIO BANGKOK THAILAND

We are strategically led and performance driven creative,content and digital agency in Bangkok, Thailand.

Website Design, Bangkok style

CONTACT

Bangkok: 096–879–5445 Sydney: 045–654–5556 Hong Kong: +852 5361 9177

EMAIL US yeswebdesignstudio@gmail.com

VISIT US 17th Floor, Wittayakit Building, Phayathai Rd, Wang Mai, Pathum Wan, Bangkok 10330 (BTS SIAM STATION)

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