It’s 2019. Is Your Digital Marketing Still Relevant?

Marketing strategies tend to come and go, but inbound marketing continues to demonstrate incredible staying power. Why? Two reasons.

First, it just plain works. Establishing a symbiotic relationship with prospects through the sharing of valuable content is so much more effective than inundating them with features and benefits. The second reason that inbound marketing still delivers excellent results after more than a decade (HubSpot coined the phrase back in 2006) is that it recognizes that your audience’s wants and needs evolve, as do the ways you connect with them, and consequently your tactics need to evolve.

This naturally leads to the question: Are your tactics evolving? You can pause to assess whether you're still on the right track with your marketing efforts at any point in the year, of course. But, the natural reset in everything from budgets to business objectives that comes at the start of a new year makes it an especially good time to take a fresh look at your digital marketing plan.

“The natural reset in everything from budgets to business objectives that comes at the start of a new year makes it an especially good time to take a fresh look at your #digitalmarketing plan.” TWEET THIS

Is it Time to Tweak Your Digital Marketing Tactics?

So, is your digital marketing strategy still relevant in 2019? It may NOT be if it involves any of the following:

Not personalizing your content

Relying on organic reach on Facebook

Many companies who say they “use Facebook” in their marketing are really just hoping that their presence on the platform produces a little organic boost in brand recognition and maybe a small lift in sales. If that’s your organization, we can tell you that you’re in the right place but using the wrong approach. The truth is, Facebook’s algorithm is not on your side. Facebook Ads, on the other hand, capitalize on the platform’s enormous user community but in a micro-targeted way that delivers measurable results.

Putting too much emphasis on expensive, professionally produced videos

Everyone knows that people in general and consumers in particular love video. What comes as news to many marketers, however, is that most viewers don’t expect a video to be perfectly polished as long as it delivers valuable information or entertainment. That’s why live video is seeing a huge upswing in popularity: it’s helpful and it’s human. In fact, technology provider Cisco says live video will grow 15-fold from 2016 to 2021. Get on board, and watch your business grow.

Manually responding to each inquiry

Alright… we pointed out above that customers like a company that seems “human,” so saying that you shouldn’t be responding to inquiries individually sounds like we’re contradicting ourselves. But, there are times when true human interaction is critical, and times when a human-like interaction will suffice. Chatbots and artificial intelligence apps should definitely be doing some of the legwork for you. Renowned marketing guru Neil Patel even goes so far as to say that chatbots will be replacing landing page conversion forms in the near future (gasp!).

Only producing static content

Don’t get us wrong, blogs, ebooks, and other static content certainly serve a critical purpose. But people today are looking for ways to engage more deeply with the brands they follow. You can deliver that engagement with interactive content like animations, calculators, surveys, quizzes and strategic gamification.

Maybe You’re Knocking it Out of the Park Already?

The key to ensuring that your digital marketing remains relevant in 2019 and beyond is to 1.) review your tactics on a regular basis, and 2.) revise them as needed. It may be that your marketing strategy is already as effective as it can be. If that’s the case, we surely don’t advocate change for change’s sake. But, if it’s not, the sooner you fine-tune it, the better your results will be this year.

From the assessment of your current digital marketing strategy to the implementation of new tactics and campaigns, we can help. Contact us to learn more about our services.