Eric Ritter

Digital marketing is a dynamic field that’s quickly gaining importance for businesses. It’s changing so much, in fact, that a lot of businesses aren’t able to keep up.

While many marketers have digital strategies, most don’t account for the rapid changes in user preferences. This is huge, and it’s essential to follow the data to know how your efforts are faring compared to those on the cutting edge.

We’ve compiled a few digital marketing statistics for you to browse and get ready to take on 2019.

Digital Marketing Statistics to Keep in Mind

We’ll give the numbers and unpack each statistic a little bit before moving on. Take these stats as guideposts for your marketing strategy this year.

A lot of the information has to do with user trends. Users are changing and you should too if you want your digital marketing to benefit your business this year.

1. Instagram Influencer Marketing is Now Worth $1 Billion

If you’re not aware of influencer marketing by now, it’s time to get acquainted. It involves partnering with an individual with a good deal of followers and having them integrate your product into their content.

Influencer marketing allows you to reach niche markets through reliable sources. Some companies use celebrities as their endorsers, but it might be wiser to work with a group of smaller influencers from different niches.

Instagram is the way to go here, too. YouTube is a good medium to enter, but Instagram is showing results that other sites can’t match.

2. Consumers Will Hold Attention for 8 Seconds

Time Magazine has noted that the average consumer attention span lasts for about 8 seconds. This is likely a response to fast-paced, ready-made media that fills the web.

This means that your content should load quickly and get straight to the point. Getting straight to it is especially important in video, which will cover next.

3. Internet Media is Predicted to Be 82% Video in 2021

The video is the new wave. Whether we’re talking about watching shows or consuming ads, people are leaning toward getting their content online via video.

The cable industry, for example, lost over 400,000 followers in just the first quarter of 2017. This is due to the presence of streaming sites like Netflix. But taking a peek at your social feed will reveal how this relates to marketing.

Short, bite-sized content is flooding the internet. Note how quickly convincing ads get to the point and give a call to action.

4. Half of Small Businesses Don’t Invest in SEO

You read it right. Half of all small businesses don’t see the value of search engine optimization. Depending on your competition and your area, that could mean that more than half of the small businesses you’re competing with aren’t putting any effort into getting seen online.

SEO is crucial. Even minimal effort could send you to the top of local searches, which we’ll cover next.

5. 82% of Consumers Conduct ‘Near Me’ Searches

That is, those who shop with their smartphones. We’ve all done it.

You want a specific good or service so you pull out your phone and search “Chinese food near me,” or whatever it is that you’re looking for. The ‘near me’ search is where small businesses can really shine.

That’s because local competition typically doesn’t employ any SEO. If your site is hitting the most important marks of SEO, you are likely to skyrocket in local searches, which, *cough*, 82% of consumers are making.

6. Tablets Have Declined for Over 4 Years

Tablets aren’t faring extremely well these days. Their sales have been going down for 11 straight quarters. This means that you don’t necessarily need to optimize for them as much.

Sure, accommodating all platforms and devices is a positive thing. That said, choose to cater to smartphones if you have to make a decision.

7. Smartphone Users Make Purchases

We mentioned that over 80% of smartphone users conduct ‘near me’ searches. Well, a good deal of those searches led to in-store purchases according to a recent Google study.

Just a little more incentive to optimize for local searches and make sure you’re tailoring your site to the needs of smartphones.

8. Email Should Still Be in Your Arsenal

According to Experian, email is still a viable marketing tactic. It’s easy to get lost in all of the craziness of social media and optimizing your site.

Every single user with a social media account needs to have an email address to create the account. Additionally, most people have to check their email if they do any amount of work online.

Even if your niche is geared toward younger people, modern students in high school and beyond regularly check their email for classes. Homework assignments, teacher correspondence, and registration are all conducted via email.

Try to cultivate a mailing list of users. This could mean signing up in-store or using your social media as a force for gathering a list. You can also provide an incentive for your customers by offering a discount for anyone who signs up for your email list.

In any case, reaching out directly to your customers is a great way to go. Experian also notes that the time between 4 pm and 8 pm are the best time to reach your users.

9. Most of Modern Marketing Budgets Go to Digital Marketing

A recent study from Salesforce found that modern marketing professionals are predicted to spend 75% of their budget on digital in the next few years.

Brands are starting to reduce their spending on traditional marketing methods and start to accommodate consumer habits. People may still be exposed to traditional marketing, but they are generally more persuaded by ads the experience online.

10. Facebook and Twitter Are Down

The results are showing that Facebook and Twitter don’t have great conversion rates in comparison to Instagram and YouTube.

It’s not that users aren’t exposed to material on Facebook and Twitter, it’s just that the mindset of consumers is different when using Instagram or YouTube. More research needs to be done to understand exactly why this is, but the results are in.

Need Help?

Hopefully, these digital marketing statistics gave you some good insight into where to put your marketing dollar. At the same time, it may be difficult to understand how to put the knowledge into action.

If you’re interested in getting help with you’re digital marketing, contact us to learn more.

As social media experts will tell you, the best place to hide a body is the second page of search results on Google. For any law firm, SEO is the number one tool for ensuring that you make the kind of impact that you’re looking for when your potential clients search for you. Search engines are your best friend when you’re looking to make an impact on the local market but they’ll bury you if you don’t use them correctly.

Here are four tips for ensuring you make the kind of impact you’re looking for to boost your online presence.

1. Start A Blog

When people use a search engine to look for something, they’re either looking for a specific service or they’re looking for the answer to a question. Your law blog is your secret weapon to ensure that you capture both types of searches. Start by giving responses to common legal concerns and end each article with your services as the solution to those problems.

A blog is also a great way to connect with your local audience. You give readers the opportunity to learn about your law firm and your specialty. Every firm has either a specialty or a set of lawyers with their own specialties.

Let everyone know who your partners and staff are. Have your lawyers write anonymized accounts of people who they’ve served or helped in the past. Armed with these stories and the positive results you’ve seen, potential clients make more informed decisions about whether to work with you.

Search engines also reward URLs that have a blog with higher search engine rankings. Search engines promote sites that are frequently updated. Your blog gives you the opportunity to update your URL often with useful content relevant to searches.

2. Seize Business Directories

In the absence of the yellow pages, there’s no way to find out about companies the way that we used to. Lucky for all of us, it’s actually easier and more informative.

Those old thick directories required us to thumb through them and make cold calls for hours. With business directories as they stand now, we find out about businesses, their hours, locations, and even reviews of them all with a quick search.

Business directories are the ket yo success for your business, as they’re often the first impression that people see when searching for firms like yours.

Since business directories have star ratings attached to them, its vital that you seize those listings as soon as possible. If one bad client goes out and decides to write a bad review and it’s the only one out there, they’ll wreak havoc on your ranking and ability to get clients.

Stary by getting control of all of the business directories from Google My Business to Yelp and Avvo. Then reach out to some of your best and most important clients requesting a review on these sites. Based on your specialty, you’ll have a clue as to what sites your clients use the most, so focus on them.

3. Promote On Social Media

Social media is more than just a place to get into political arguments with your in-laws or to see videos of cats playing air guitar. Social media is a marketing tool for savvy entrepreneurs and law firms around the country.

Firms have realized that social media is a powerful way to target their market very directly. By using the tools that social media sites provide, companies can target their audience carefully and directly. Instead of sending out a huge mail blast or buying a billboard that will leave wasted impressions, social media an filter people down to age and location carefully.

Don’t put all of your ad dollars into social media, but look at it as a tool for getting your name out to the people who need to see it the most. Social media is your best bet for letting people know who you are, what you specialize in, and what your firm’s name is.

Given that it takes about seven instances of seeing your firm’s name before people remember it, social media gives you the tools for expediting this process. Promoting your brand on social media gives you the chance to get the impact you’re looking for at a low cost and with low effort.

4. Use The Right Keywords

If you’re not using the keywords that your clients need, you’ll miss out on lots of search results and struggle to have the reach that you’re looking for. While keywords aren’t everything to SEO anymore, they still make a big impact.

If you don’t know where to begin with keywords, start off with a few test searches on your own. Try using a search engine to find your law firm without using the name of your firm. Search based on location and specialty and find out how high you rank.

If you’re not ranking as highly as you’d like, change the way that you’re using your keywords. You need to use your location, neighborhood, and city name as often as is reasonable. Be aware that Google searches for intent, so don’t spam your own page by adding nonsensical sentences or phrasing.

Make a list of the keywords that you rank highly for. Make a second list of keywords that your competitors rank more highly than you do on. Incorporate more of these keywords into your page and your blog posts.

Law Firm SEO is the Law of the Marketing Land

If you’re not prioritizing your law firm SEO marketing plan, you’re spending dollars in the wrong place. Your law firm needs a strong SEO plan to make the impact you’re looking to make on the market. Focus your marketing efforts here and you’re sure to get the kind of response you’re looking for.

For more tips in online marketing, check out our latest guide.

There are more than 25 million small businesses in the United States. As a business owner or marketer, what does this mean for you?

It’s simple. You’re up against a ton of competition.

How in the world can you stand out? Digital marketing is one great place you should start.

Check out these internet marketing strategies that will work in 2019.

1. Prioritize Blogging

Blogging has been picking up steam over the last few years, and in 2019 it will be bigger than ever. Content marketing is a huge part of SEO, which means that by blogging, you’ll be able to greatly increase the amount of traffic to your site.

In fact, B2B marketers that use blogs receive 67% more leads than those that do not. So not only is it a great way to generate more traffic, you can also generate more leads and sales through blogging as well.

As you continue to blog, you’ll spread your website’s reach. Be sure to pick different subjects so you’re not always writing about the same thing.

Then in your blog posts, in addition to providing valuable content, you can include information about your products and services as well.

2. Host Webinars and Live Events

Another big trend for digital marketing in 2019 is hosting webinars and live events. These are great for multiple reasons.

First, people love watching video. Multiple studies have found that videos are super engaging and catch people’s attention more than text or images alone.

Second, live video is growing in popularity. Through hosting a webinar or live stream, you’re giving your audience a direct way to engage with your brand.

They can ask questions in real time and get an answer right away. Webinars are also great ways to explain your products or services in greater depth.

In other words, they’re an awesome sales tool! Consider adding this to your digital marketing strategy in 2019.

3. One of 2019’s Biggest Internet Marketing Strategies: Artificial Intelligence

Another huge trend in digital marketing is the increase of artificial intelligence (otherwise known as AI). Basically, artificial intelligence is technology that can think in a human-like way to help you identify customer needs.

As machine learning continues to grow in capability and scope, it will be a bigger and bigger part of internet marketing.

In other words, we will soon have technology that takes care of lots of marketing’s day to day tasks. This will allow marketers to spend more time on strategy.

4. Catering to Millennials

As Millennials continue to get older and have increased spending power, it will be important to consider their influence as you market your business. Companies who do this in 2019 will find great success.

Here are some ways to attract Millennials to your brand:

• Engage with your audience on social media. Respond to comments. Post exciting and interesting content on the platforms they use most (Instagram, we’re looking at you).
• Consider creating an app. If it makes sense for your business model, an app is a great way to have a direct means of communication with Millennials.
• Prioritize convenience. Millennials are known for wanting quick information. They’ve grown up with the internet and are used to being able to find what they need super quickly. Provide content on your site that fulfills this need and you’ll be successful with this demographic.

In all you do, try to think of your marketing in terms of Millennials. They’re the future of the economy.

For help targeting your digital marketing, set up a free

5. Utilize Chatbots

The robots are here. Okay, not really…but chatbots are here and in 2019 will be more important than ever!

What are chatbots? They are a computer program designed to simulate conversation with human visitors. They can be implemented on your website or be set up through messaging applications like Facebook messenger.

Chatbots are a great way to automate customer interaction but still do it in a natural, engaging way. They can also save your team a lot of time and help you decrease the size of your customer support team.

Many businesses use them as a screening tool. Here is a common scenario.

A new visitor comes to your site to learn more about your products. A chat window pops up and asks them if they’re a new visitor.

They answer yes and then the chatbot asks them what products they’re interested in. They can choose from a drop-down, and then the chatbot can ask them if they’d like to schedule a free demo with a sales rep.

With no human interaction, you now have a qualified lead that you know wants to talk about a specific product with a sales rep. Talk about a great lead!

This is just one way to utilize chatbots. There are so many possibilities!

For more tips and tricks, check out my marketing blog.

6. Social Media Influencers

Over the past few years, social media influencers have grown in popularity and impact, and they’ll continue to do so in 2019.

These days, there are all types of influencers out there. No matter your target audience, you’ll be able to find one that reaches your market.

Another trend with influencers is the rise of micro-influencers. There are lots of influencers out there with millions of followers, but in many cases they’re super expensive to work with and out of reach for small companies.

That’s where micro-influencers come in handy. They have a smaller reach but are much more affordable, and often have a more specific targeted audience anyway.

Closing Thoughts

Now that you’ve learned about these internet marketing strategies that will work in 2019, it’s time to make a plan for your company. Where do you want to focus?

If you have questions or want to learn more, contact me today. I’m here to help!

Gone are the days when a billboard or a radio spot were the most effective marketing tools. Now, advertisers need to be craftier and more creative than ever, as the Internet has more or less leveled the playing field for every business.

If you’ve never crafted a digital marketing campaign before (or even if you have, really) it’s understandable that you might feel a little intimidated by the process.

So how can you reach your audience and ensure a successful campaign without spending a fortune in the process?

It may be difficult, but it’s entirely possible. Here are nine things you’ll need to run a successful digital marketing campaign.

1. A Realistic Mindset

It’s understandable that you want to be the best company in your industry. That’s an admirable goal!

But climbing the ladder of success is going to take quite some time. So in the meantime, make sure you’re realistic about your marketing efforts.

Don’t expect one great campaign to change the landscape of your company forever and catapult you to success overnight. As you begin planning your digital marketing strategy, think about what you want to get out of this campaign.

Let’s say your company’s Facebook page has about 100 likes or so. A reasonable goal for a six-month campaign would be to double or triple those figures.

Having lofty goals is fine. But if you’re thinking big, you’ll still need to start small.

2. Effective Planning

A digital marketing campaign without proper planning is like traveling to a new destination without a map or GPS — you’re going to get lost, and it won’t end well.

Just like you wouldn’t head to that new area without knowing what you’re getting yourself into, you shouldn’t begin a new digital campaign without a complete plan.

Think of yourself and your team as a group of cartographers mapping out the path to success. Your map needs a starting destination, landmarks and paths along the way, and a clear destination.

3. A Variety Of Tools

While we’re having fun with metaphors, here’s another one for you.

Let’s say you’re rebuilding a car. You’ve got the body, a fresh coat of paint, a brand new engine, and some great new wheels. You should be road-ready in no time!

Not so fast.

You quickly realize that you’ve forgotten key elements like a carburetor, spark plugs, a steering wheel, and seats. Yikes.

It takes a lot to make a marketing strategy work. You’re going to need tools like metrics, content strategies, market research, and more to meet your expectations.

Even just one missing element can have a tremendous impact on your campaign’s success, so make sure you have the specifics of each before beginning your campaign.

4. Clearly-Defined Goals

As you begin to create a list of goals you want to accomplish with your campaign, it’s important that you get as specific with your goals as possible.

The more specific your information, the easier it’ll be to determine whether you hit or missed the mark.

5. An Understanding Of Your Audience

Every marketing campaign needs to serve its audience in some capacity. Yes, even if the bottom line is to get more sales for your company or increase your exposure, your audience is still the driving factor in your success or lack thereof.

Therefore, your team needs to prioritize coming up with a clearly defined audience.
One great thing that digital marketing consultants use to accomplish this is to create what’s known as a customer avatar.

In this process, you and your team interpret the data you have on your audience and come up with a fictional representation that encompasses your findings.

So maybe your avatar is a 35-year-old mom with a college degree and dreams of becoming a blogger.

It may seem silly to make your avatar that personified, but it can really help you when you determine your brand’s voice.

6. Brand-Building Potential

A business needs to be so much more than a business these days. Customers are tired of calculated, corporate advertising. Instead, they prefer to give their business to companies who take the time to work on their branding.

If you’re unfamiliar with the concept of branding, it’s more or less how your company is perceived by the public.

There’s a ton that goes into establishing your company’s branding, such as:

• The tone of voice in your marketing.
• Colors and styles used in your designs.
• Your logo.
• How you interact with your customers.

Like establishing the next Fortune-500 company, establishing branding isn’t done overnight. But the good news is that you can dictate your branding for the most part as long as your marketing meshes with your branding goals.

7. Great Content

The cornerstone of any great campaign is content. Be it blogs, video content, or even social media posts, consistently creating content is a must for any campaign.

Make sure that you’re regularly putting out engaging content that your audience actually wants.

Let’s reiterate that last part — your audience should actually want to interact with your content. So as you begin developing your content strategy, design your content with a customer-first mindset.

8. Cohesive Implementation

Whether you’re sharing content on your social media feeds, posting to your blog, or updating your website’s copy, it’s important that your tone of voice remains consistent.

If you take a conversational tone with your blog, the rest of your content should reflect that.

Failing to stick to your brand’s tone not only ruins any potential to strengthen your branding, but it takes your customers out of the experience. It’s like watching a movie where the lead actor changes in every other scene.

9. Adaptability

Finally, make sure that you have a plan in case your initial marketing strategy isn’t as effective as you’d hoped.

There’s nothing wrong with this, and it happens all the time. But that’s why it’s so important to check in with your metrics on a regular basis.

If you catch a dip in performance quick enough, you can course correct and turn things around.

Use These Tips To Smash Your Digital Marketing Campaign Goals

As you can see, there isn’t one defining element needed for a great digital marketing campaign, but several smaller, yet equally important elements.

Make sure that your next digital marketing strategy includes each of these elements and you’ll have a fast pass to success.

Need some help coming up with your next campaign? Be sure to get in touch. I’d love to meet with you to discuss your company’s marketing needs.