Digital advertising in 2019: trends to watch
Digital advertising isn’t going anywhere in 2019, but it might become more difficult to achieve positive results. Consumers are savvier and the competition is fierce.
How can your business’s digital advertising stand out in 2019?
Digital advertising in 2019 is expected to surpass all other forms of advertising for the first time ever. If you aren't already utilizing digital ads in your marketing mix, you should be. But what's the best way to execute a digital advertising strategy?
First, you’ll need to understand how consumers are using digital ads nowadays. 77% of consumers now feel confident that they can identify paid advertisements, most likely since the labeling of paid and sponsored content has become more prominent on many platforms. If consumers are so confident in recognizing paid content, will that make they less likely to click on a digital ad?
Research shows that a vast majority of consumers who click on ads do so because they think these ads make it easier to find the information they’re looking for. About 1/3 of consumers say they recently clicked on an ad because it directly answered their search question. So, just because consumers are better at recognizing ads doesn’t mean they will neglect to click on yours as long as it is highly relevant to the questions they’re asking or the problem they are trying to solve. The key to producing relevant digital ads is understanding what your target audience is asking and answering those questions clearly.
The more specific you can be in these digital ads about what makes your business the solution to their problem, the better your ad will perform.
But where should you place your digital ads?
The best place to answer consumer questions is on the platform where they are most likely to ask them. This means advertising on the top search engine: Google.
It may come as no surprise that consumers are most likely to click on an ad on Google since the lion’s share of digital advertising flows through the platform. At the end of 2018, research found that the top three digital advertising platforms were:
- Google – 37% market share
- Facebook – 20% market share
- Amazon – 4% market share
Obviously, Google and Facebook are the heavy hitters in the industry, but analysts expect Amazon to make gains over the course of 2019. Investing in Amazon advertising in 2019 could pay off big for B2C businesses. Competition is less stiff in some industries, so you’ll have less difficulty standing out from the pack.
However, the best results for digital advertising are still being found when consumers are already familiar with a brand. This means that investing some of your digital advertising budget in awareness campaigns on Facebook might boost your efforts across all platforms.
Digital advertising in 2019 will be most successful when you understand what your audience is asking for and answering those questions. Invest in awareness campaigns to boost the efficacy of all digital ads and consider emerging platforms for a portion of your marketing budget.
For more marketing tips, check out our other blog posts here.