Where to Shift Your Marketing Budget for 2019
Marketing objectives in 2019 need to ensure advertising models do not become obsolete. This can be the case with the introduction of ad blocking technology. Be proactive and adapt, adjust your marketing budget for 2019 to encompass new SEO standards, content sharing, and algorithm changes.
Adapt SEO to New Standards
Adaptation to new SEO standards is a must, so is changing the way we optimize for mobile and voice search. A goal to set is to branch content out, increase reputation and the cooperation of employees in marketing efforts. Your 2019 marketing budget should be planned and executed according to current environmental standards in the marketing biz.
Structure Markup is Key
If you don’t know, Structure Markup is basically telling search engines how the information on your website is structured so they can easily find what they’re looking for. It uses this information to display rich snippets and knowledge cards.
You definitely want to make sure that whoever is doing your SEO is using the latest Structure Markup standards from Schema.org.
Network for Authority Links
This just means quality over quantity in your link portfolio. You want to be developing backlinks from sites that have already built a high degree of trust and authority with Google.
Authority links can be difficult to get. But to start, look for big industry blogs where you can contribute content and try to create visual content like infographics and video that is easily shareable. That increases the chance that an authoritative site will pick up your content.
Review Competitor Metadata
Reviewing competitor metadata helps you identify what keywords your competitors are trying to rank for.
There are tools you can use to get a detailed analysis of the backend of a website. But you can do some basic research on your own by just viewing the source code through your browser.
When you know what you’re competitors are ranking for, you can adjust your strategy. This way, you’re not competing for the exact same search terms. Unless you have an unlimited budget and can outspend them, this is a must.
Establish On-Page Optimization
Basically, just make sure that each page of your website is fully optimized for search engines. It includes things like:
- Using H1 and H2 headers correctly
- Boosting your site speed
- Putting keywords in the right places
- Using alt tags on images.
This is fairly routine SEO stuff. However, it’s still very important. You need to be reviewing your on-page SEO regularly.
Optimize for Voice Search
The term voice search is starting to creep further into the SEO discussion. It’s surfacing much like mobile optimization was a few years ago.
It makes sense because voice search is becoming faster and easier than typing. A couple of easy ways to start optimizing for voice search are shifting your keyword strategies to long tail keywords that are closer to what a spoken search would be. Also, make sure your content matches the right user intent.
You should also ensure you have a Google My Business Listing and that the info like address, phone number, and hours of operation are accurate.
Optimize for Mobile
Continue to optimize for mobile, Google has a cloud out around the algorithm changes to come in regards to page speed for mobile-supported sites. Faster mobile pages are going to be more likely to rank higher.
Test your mobile speeds regularly. Increase speeds where possible. The goal for Google is to rank faster mobile sites to accommodate for their focus on AI tech. Their users will get the faster version of whatever they are looking for.
Content Sharing
As always, 2019 will not change when it comes to staying on top of trends. But, you’ll want to network with relevant content providers in your niche.
The trend in 2019 will be focused around marketing partnerships. People are starting to realize that surviving with each others’ help is more profitable. So make you make allies early and work on content-sharing strategies that work for everyone. Build a network of at least 5-10 outlets that includes higher and lower-traffic outlets, influencers and video channels.
You’ll be marketing to your user base as well as theirs. Choose partners not based on whether they offer the exact same services, but where you all differ.
Content distribution outlets will still be a thing. So, services like Taboola and Outbrain are still going to be a good option. But, look for new services that focus more on quality content distribution rather than clickbait. Users are less likely to click on anything surrounded by clickbait. OneSpot is a newer contender.
Account for Changes in Algorithms
Google released an update in September 2018, with more to come in 2019 that will either encompass one of their Ps or smaller core updates. Right now Google is focusing on trending rankings, so keyword relevancy is going to have to focus on trends they are actively providing results for.
We talked about making certain elements of your site easily understood by AI. But Google is still very interested in content written for humans, not bots. So, whatever you do, make sure the content is quality-oriented and engaging.
Increase Brand Reputation With Reviews
Reviews matter because they are the current method of recommendation used by your customers to tell other customers if they should trust you. It is the new word-of-mouth.
Focus your review efforts on the most popular outlets. These include Google Reviews, Yelp, Facebook and Yahoo. The presence here will determine a large portion of prospective customers turned into conversions.
Use reviews to your advantage in marketing. Today, platforms want to see if you are proactive in providing customer service and satisfaction. Interact with reviews to solve problems and let customers know you care about their complains and concerns. This serves two purposes:
- It shows your customers you are a responsible company that is in the business of customer satisfaction.
- Platforms are now ranking based on company interaction with their reviews. Those who try to reply to the bulk of their negative reviews, whether they are solving a problem or not, are being rated higher and placed in front of users more readily. The frequency and promptness with which companies reply are also monitored and used. Even just an “I’m sorry to hear about this, please DM us for more assistance” is considered a positive interaction.
Increase Employee Advocacy
Employees should take part in the company’s marketing success. Start employee retweet and sharing campaigns.
Have employees leave good reviews for the company on authority review sites.
Also, participate in cross-platform commenting. Find threads about topics you service and comment on them with company marketing in mind. Leave an imprint (breadcrumbs) on the threat for others to follow back to the site. Include links if possible.
Your Marketing Budget for 2019
To recap, your marketing budget for 2019 should include:
- Adapting for new SEO standards
- Optimizing for mobile and faster page speeds
- Continue networking for content sharing
- Accounting for changes in algorithms
- Using reviews to increase your brand reputation
- Increasing employee advocacy and cross-platform breadcrumbs
- Keeping your Google my business page updated
Follow these steps and your marketing budget will see returns in no time.
