2019predictions - Local Search AssociationAds & Paid Search ... new features like Google My Business...

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2019predictions THE INDUSTRY WEIGHS IN ON WHAT WILL HAPPEN THIS YEAR IN LOCATION-BASED MARKETING, ADVERTISING & COMMERCE

Transcript of 2019predictions - Local Search AssociationAds & Paid Search ... new features like Google My Business...

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2019predictions

THE INDUSTRY WEIGHS IN ON WHAT WILL HAPPEN THIS YEAR IN LOCATION-BASED MARKETING, ADVERTISING & COMMERCE

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This past year saw a repeat of many of the themes that defined 2017: mobile first, virtual assistants, voice search and AI. There were major acquisitions and consolidation, even the martech universe continued to expand.

The article of faith that tech would continue to make the world a better place took a big hit in 2018. It was a year in which privacy and data security claimed center stage. Trust, integrity and transparency emerged as major challenges with the implementation of Europe’s GDPR and the passage of the California Consumer Privacy Act in the U.S.

The value of location data and location intelligence were powerfully demonstrated throughout the year. But critical coverage repeatedly raised privacy concerns.

Retailers grew sales but many also struggled, as Amazon continued to push deeper into real-world selling and new store experiences (e.g., AmazonGo). More “direct-to-consumer” brands moved into the physical world by opening stores or expanding their store locations.

The small business market saw an expansion of competition as non-traditional providers entered the arena of marketing services and many traditional marketing providers looked toward the SaaS market for inspiration and better valuations.

Google My Business added an array of new capabilities and functionality, looming ever larger in local search.

All of this is captured in our 2019 predictions, which follow. We’ve sought to include as many entries as possible in this document. To make it easier to navigate, we’ve grouped the more than 70 predictions into categories:

Most of these topics will also be on the LSA19 agenda, February 25 - 27 in Dana Point, California.

INTRODUCTION

• Google My Business

• Local & Mobile Search

• Local & Small Business

• Social & Reviews

• Ads & Paid Search

• E-commerce & Retail

• Data & Location Intelligence

• Speech & Voice Search

• Personal Data & Privacy

• Digital Strategy

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Introduction ........................................................................................................... 2Google My Business ........................................................................................ 4Bernadette Coleman ....................Advice Local ................................................. 5Tim Mechling .................................BizIQ .............................................................. 6Colleen Harris ................................CDK Global ................................................... 7Kyle Harris ......................................DAC ............................................................... 8David Mihm ...................................ThriveHive .................................................... 9Niki Mosier.....................................Two Octobers ............................................... 10Local & Mobile Search .................................................................................... 11Bernadette Coleman ....................Advice Local ................................................. 12Florian Hubner ..............................Uberall ........................................................... 13Matt Lacuesta ................................Location3 ...................................................... 14Michael Hodgdon .........................Infront Webworks ........................................ 15Tim Mechling .................................BizIQ .............................................................. 16Jara Moser ......................................Nuvolum ....................................................... 17Local & Small Business.................................................................................... 18Gyi Tsakalakis ................................AttorneySync ................................................ 19Sarah Griffith .................................BubbleLife ..................................................... 20Svenn Andersen ..............................Mono Solutions ............................................ 21Jillian Als .........................................Mono Solutions ............................................ 22Paul Plant .......................................Radicle Consulting Ltd ................................ 23 Miriam Ellis ....................................Moz ................................................................ 24Social & Reviews ............................................................................................... 25Shashi Bellamkonda .....................Surefire Local ................................................ 26Jack Roldan ....................................See Deep Consulting ................................... 27Jeffrey Dungen ..............................reelyActive .................................................... 28Tim Mechling .................................BizIQ .............................................................. 29Ads & Paid Search ............................................................................................. 30Alex Porter .....................................Location3 ...................................................... 31Venkat Kolluri ................................Cidewalk.com ............................................... 32Mike Peters ....................................J Miller Marketing ........................................ 33Marc Poirier ...................................Acquisio ......................................................... 34Paul Dughi ......................................WAAY-TV / Pulse Local Digital .................. 35Marlene McTigue ..........................Downtown Digital ....................................... 36Kurt Krejny .....................................Linkmedia 360 ............................................. 37E-commerce & Retail ....................................................................................... 38Tim Mechling .................................BizIQ .............................................................. 39Brian Deignan ................................FastSpring ..................................................... 40Chris Lueck.....................................FastSpring ..................................................... 41

Ocean Fine .....................................Factual .......................................................... 42Brett Barney...................................Infront Webworks ........................................ 43Nicole Leinbach Reyhle...............Retail Minded .............................................. 44Tehsin Daya ....................................Uberall ........................................................... 45Data & Location Intelligence ........................................................................ 46Louise Lachmann ..........................Mono Solutions ............................................ 47Avni Agrawal..................................MatchCraft ................................................... 48Nick Knellinger .............................Skyhook ......................................................... 49Rob Friedman ................................Digital Element ............................................ 50Jeff White .......................................Gravy Analytics ............................................ 51Meghan Trapp ...............................Hurrdat ......................................................... 52Frost Prioleau ................................Simpli.fi ......................................................... 53Kipp Jones ......................................Skyhook ......................................................... 54Speech & Voice Search ................................................................................... 55Svenn Andersen ............................Mono Solutions ............................................ 56Paul Dughi ......................................WAAY-TV/Pulse Local Digital .................... 57Carolyn Hajnasiewicz ..................SpartanNash Company ............................... 58Tim Mechling .................................BizIQ .............................................................. 59Collin Holmes ................................Chatmeter ..................................................... 60Collin Holmes ................................Chatmeter ..................................................... 61Blair Symes .....................................DialogTech .................................................... 62Chis Marentis ................................Surefire Local ................................................ 63David (Davey) Duyk .....................Judy’s Book ................................................... 64Personal Data & Privacy ................................................................................ 65Jeff White .......................................Gravy Analytics ............................................ 66Stephanie Hooper ........................Infront Webworks ........................................ 67Josh Allen .........................................Location3 ...................................................... 68Menno Kolkert ..............................Plot Projects ................................................. 69Philippe Marty ..............................reelyActive .................................................... 70 Matt Matergia ...............................Mono Solutions ............................................ 71Digital Strategy .................................................................................................. 72Chris Gregory ................................DAGMAR Marketing ................................... 73Julia Flaherty .................................Ledgeview Partners ..................................... 74Matt Matergia ...............................Mono Solutions ............................................ 75Jillian Als .........................................Mono Solutions ............................................ 76Louise Lachmann ..........................Mono Solutions ............................................ 77Lissa Duty .......................................Rocks Digital ................................................. 78Anne Coqueugniot .......................Yellow Pages (Canada) ................................ 79

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Google My Business

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Growth in local will be dominated by Google My Business

In case you have not noticed it, Google is continuing to add enhancements to the Google My Business platform. 2019 will continue to be dominated by Google as they see the potential in local revenue, and they will be aggressively moving forward and identifying additional ways to monetize the local space.

These new GMB enhancements will drive how we need to optimize for local search in 2019. It will also change how we need to engage with potential local search clients. The presence and quality of your Google My Business (GMB) local listing will continue to be a vital differentiator for businesses to gain visibility in Google search results.

SMBs and Brands can give themselves a competitive advantage by paying attention to their Google My Business profile like never before. Keep it fully optimized and take advantage of the new features like Google My Business Questions & Answers, Google Posts, any new attribution features, and make it rich in images and videos.

Bernadette ColemanCEO

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Google My Business profiles will get more robust and will become an even bigger

ranking factor SEOs are in agreement about Google My Business: it’s more important than anyone would’ve thought. In Moz’s 2018 Local Search Ranking Factors blog, they found that Google My Business has a bigger impact on local rankings than links, reviews, on-page factors, personalization, or social media factors. Businesses with rockstar Google My Business profiles had a huge advantage over the competition. The incorporation of video, Google Posts, and Google Questions & Answers in the past few years shows that Google is expanding GMB. Also, the Google+ shutdown means Google will probably integrate much of the social and community aspects of G+ into GMB. Don’t think of GMB listing as a replacement for your website. Even if it gets more interaction and views on the SERP, it is a separate entity that works in tandem with your local SEO.

Tim MechlingDigital Media Specialist

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GMB listings become more important than websites

As Google moves full steam ahead, creating search results pages where everything happens right in the Google interface, Google My Business listings are going to become as, if not more, important than your website! Your GMB listing is going to become the first place Google looks for information about your business, so you need to be taking advantage of everything Google offers, from Posts, product posts, menus, UTM tracking and more.

Colleen HarrisEarned Marketing Lead Analyst

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Verified Google My Business reviews In 2019 Google will launch a verified Google My Business review feature which will award more value and integrity to users that can verify they have actually been at the local business and purchased the service/product. Verified reviews will be significantly more valuable than standard GMB reviews and Google will mark reviews clearly as verified or not.

Kyle HarrisProduct Director

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Messaging becomes a principal feature in Google My Business

Google’s strategy around consumer-to-business messaging has historically been muddled at best. I’m predicting 2019 is the year that it starts to coalesce. On the SMB side, Messaging feels like the most natural area for Google to invest in next:

• It keeps businesses continually engaged with GMB.

• It’s a feature that doesn’t involve content creation on the part of businesses — an area they’ve historically struggled with.

• It provides a lighter-touch transactional mechanism for longer-tail industries, or industries where Reserve is too complex for a simple user experience.

And of course, on the consumer side, it addresses a pain point for millennial searchers, and keeps searchers in the Google ecosystem, rather than losing them to a website click-through. As Google My Business gradually becomes more interactive, Messaging feels like an essential component of that effort.

David MihmVP Product Strategy

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Google will introduce paid features for GMB and more focus on “Position 0”

Google is putting a lot of money into adding features for the GMB listings and making it so they almost take the place of the website for local businesses. They are going to want to monetize it someway down the road. I predict an increase in GMB features some of which will be paid options. 2018 brought us Q&A and GMB posts, both of which have been very impactful. I am sure Google will continue to roll out more features.

Also, I predict a continued focus on featured snippets and schema. Google recently added Question and Answer schema. As voice search and “position zero” becomes more and more relevant, I can see Google giving us more opportunities to use schema to get that spot.

The importance of relevant content answers a searcher’s question is going to continue to be important. Optimizing content to be relevant for voice search like Q&A pages could be a good opportunity as well.

Niki MosierSr. SEO Account Manager

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Local & Mobile Search

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The “near me” generation will take over

“Near me” searches are up 900% from 2015, which will result in the evolution of a new generation. Consumers contribute to this generation, but, as marketers, we are driving it—along with Google. The “Near Me” generation is made up of a new type of consumer—one that is ever-evolving, along with their needs and expectations. They need to be our priority.

The “Near Me” generation is empowered by the use of smartphones, with voice assistants and maps readily available. This consumer is always busy and on the run; they don’t have time to type on their phones, let alone search from a desktop browser. The continual shift in their day-to-day lives will present mobile devices, voice search and mapping apps with an ongoing challenge to keep up with consumers.

Google will continue to fine-tune and prioritize the mobile-first index to attract the “Near Me” generation to their powerful search engine. Voice search will become second nature for consumers of all ages. To stay ahead of the competition, the mobile web, voice search readiness and accurate location data—including that in GPS mapping apps and in-dash navigation solutions—will need to be next level. These are the tools of the “Near Me” generation.

Bernadette ColemanCEO

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Location services & conversational commerce It’s Not Just Voice, it’s conversational commerce. Everyone is talking about voice. But voice’s popularity taps into a larger trend in marketing – the shift towards conversational commerce. Conversational commerce, through voice assistants and chatbots, streamlines the customer journey and eliminates friction. And as artificial intelligence improves, these conversational experiences will only get better and more personal. Location data is the centerpiece of that evolution. It can power a more differentiated and tailored experience for the end-user. Brands will also rely on geolocation to make more performance-driven campaigns. This will be really valuable for brick-and-mortar retailers who want to encourage nearby foot traffic.

Click-and-collect to deliver even more proximity-based convenience. For brick-and-mortar retailers, in an Amazon world, convenience is everything. This is one of the main drivers of the “near me” mobile search phenomenon, for example, with more opting to shop based on what’s closest. Proximity and convenience are often synonymous. In the same vein, I think 2019 will be the year click-and-collect – also called buy online, pickup in-store – finally goes mainstream. Savvy brands are creating cutting-edge click-and-collect experiences to standout to shoppers and deliver more proximity-based convenience. And Doddle, the big click-and-collect tech provider, also launched in the US this week at NRF, confirming it’ll be a huge trend this year.

SMB is poised to spend big on location. SMB marketers are going to ramp up spend on location-based campaigns. Whether it’s location-driven ads, more local brand pages or geo-triggered email and marketing automation, to compete, SMBs need to get personal. Location unlocks that capability. This is a good thing for content, SEO and digital agencies that serve SMBs. The demand for location services is a massive revenue opportunity.

Florian HubnerFounder & Co-CEO

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Continued focus on local search It seems to have been a focus for Google to improve engagement with site owners this year and I think they’ll make a push for local business owners as well. As Google shows Google Search Console snapshots in SERPs as well as supporting the SiteKit Wordpress plugin that brings in Analytics and Search Console data into the WordPress dashboard, we know that they are trying to get the data in front of site owners and stakeholders (who calls themselves a webmaster anymore?).

I think Google will support some efforts to engage local business owners with data for their Google My Business performance in the coming year. More engaged owners should lead to higher quality listings in terms of accuracy, quality information and images, review responses and answers to Q&A.

We’ll also see further changes in organic search results that give users what they need without needing to go to the website. With more direct actions such as “get directions” or “call” functionality that better matches user intent by device, we’ll hopefully see some way to track things so we can better optimize for intent. Voice assistants are going to drive more of this type of engagement, but I don’t see 2019 as their breakout year.

Matt LacuestaDirector of Earned and Owned

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No click search results No click search results are searches that result in SERPs that offer answers on the page without needing to click to a new website. With the growing frequency of “no-click search results” (mobile “no-click” or “zero click” searches have grown 11%. Desktop no-click searches have grown 9.5%. *Sparktoro case study), SEO specialists will have to start strategizing a bit more to maximize click-through rates (CTR) from SERPs. Some suggested techniques include:

• When doing keyword portfolios dig a bit deeper to forecast organic potential CTR.

• Do more upfront research on SERP appearance so you understand when you’ll be competing with “no-click results.”

• Optimize appropriately for zero positions and featured snippets.

• Be sure to claim your GMB listing and any panels that are related to your company or brand so they can be effectively optimized.

• Find directories and websites that rank for keywords you are targeting and be sure to build profiles.

• Identify results that offer video, images or other content that you are not ranking for and create and optimize that content.

Although, there are many more things you can do, the most important is to monitor the SERP landscape and when Google makes changes be sure to plan for the impact it may have on your results.

Michael HodgdonMarketing & SEO Director

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Less clicks on SERPs but that isn’t a reason to neglect your SEO

As mentioned before, the SERP isn’t what it used to be. Featured snippets, ads, knowledge graphs, local packs, and who-knows-what-else will continue to overtake the prime real estate on the SERP. According to Rand Fishkin, over 61% of mobile searches result in no click at all. Users are scanning the search results, getting their answers, and moving on without even looking at your content. Content creators, who have worked very hard to provide Google with quality content over the years, have been deprived of their precious clicks and engagement. This is disheartening, but it doesn’t mean you should give up on SEO altogether. Every time Google presents a seemingly chaotic challenge, there are always ways to get the competitive edge.

Tim MechlingDigital Media Specialist

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Google’s entity evolution Google is driving more features into the SERP, keeping users on their results page longer. Answering questions, offering bookings, flights, and reservations, making that result page your new homepage. As Google doubles down on more features to understand businesses as “entities,” having the data you feed to Google pristine is more important than ever. Winding down Google+ and moving social features into Google Maps, there’s an opportunity here for the taking. Many brands are asleep at the wheel, not utilizing Google Posts or Messaging on their pages. Seize these opportunities and make your brand stand out.

Jara MoserDirector of Digital Knowledge

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Local & Small Business

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Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose The more things change in local, the more they stay the same. While 2019 is sure to bring improvements in the way that machines understand the real world, success in the local space will continue to be built on remarkable service, reputation, and relationships. Examples of this are everywhere. Whether it’s improvements in the ways search engines understand customer sentiment via reviews and user engagement (i.e. click-through rates, etc.), or sentiment and engagement on social networks, local businesses that focus on timeless “quality metrics,” will continue to reap rewards online.

Gyi TsakalakisPresident

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You must think beyond local, hyperlocal can’t be ignored

With location-based trends like “near me” searches continually growing, hyperlocal engagement should be at the forefront of marketers’ minds in 2019. Because so much local information is available right at a searcher’s fingertips, it’s imperative that local businesses place accurate, relevant information in front of searchers where they digitally live, work and play.

In the past, hyperlocal visibility was accomplished through strategically placed billboards, seen alongside freeways and on skyscrapers for decades. Now, in our increasingly digital world, these billboards have transitioned online, promoting businesses where people spend so much of their time. By utilizing hyperlocal marketing and advertising strategies, local businesses and the agencies that represent them can ensure they reach a highly targeted audience in the hyperlocal environment to increase brand awareness, forge consumer trust and convert searchers into customers.

Sarah GriffithExecutive Editor

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The rise of personalization-as-a-service Personalization is a valuable opportunity for SMBs to attract new and repeat customers and create an extraordinary online experience. In 2019, small business owners will look to their digital service providers for help on how to implement simple personalization within their digital presence to create a unique and accommodating user experience that helps them stand out from their competitors.

Svenn AndersenCOO

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All-in-one won’t mean one-size-fits-all While 65% of SMBs (TAI Wave III Nov 2018) prefer to work with one digital provider, the perfect solution remains to be seen. All-in-one cannot be one-size-fits-all. SMB needs are different across size, vertical, maturity and more. Further, their ideal all-in-one solution likely goes beyond just marketing tools and services. We already see a race to offering the ‘best all-in-one solution for small businesses’ by digital service providers and technology companies alike, yet no one has come across as a clear winner. It doesn’t mean the idea is wrong. Technology and the service model need to work together better to provide solutions that are as flexible (for the small business) as they are scalable (for the service provider).

Jillian AlsHead of Marketing & Communication

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Last yp publisher standing & local marketing supplier convergence

First, I predict that DexYP will acquire Hibu US.

Second, there are now far too many products, solutions (and therefore vendors) in this space. 2019 will see some cannibalization within the supply-side of the local digital ecosystem, together with more JV’s, alliances, and unquestionably there will be casualties, with many vendors running out of cash (and customers), and therefore going to the wall.

Paul PlantChief Listening Officer

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Non-Google-dependent revenue streams will increase in value

With the increasing encroachment of zero-click SERPs, Local Ad packs, Local Service Ads, paid bookings and other Google-controlled consumer experiences, every customer a local business can win or retain without having to pay Google a toll is going to be of extra value in 2019. And, if you do have to pay Google for an initial conversion, invest in providing the kind of customer service that generates repeat, loyal business, so that you’re paying Google only once for that particular consumer’s patronage. Any non-Google-dependent transaction will mean extra profits by year’s end.

Miriam EllisLocal SEO SME

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Social & Reviews

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Google will finally get social right Google is quietly becoming the biggest social network. They may have failed with Google+, but with new features introduced to Google My Business and Google Maps, they are building “social” more into their products than ever before. In addition to Google Posts, we now have the option to follow a local business on Google Maps and ask and answer questions about the business with others. In 2019, people searching on Google will be able to find and do everything they need directly there, without needing to go to another website to learn more—from learning about a business to scheduling a reservation at a local restaurant.

Shashi BellamkondaCMO

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Age of customer & automation realization for SMBs

Customer experience will continue to reign as the most critical element across channels for all SMBs and Enterprise. Connecting emotionally with consumers via social and all other mediums will be essential by adopting emerging technologies to execute strategies effectively.

SMBs seeking to increase market-share across margin-slimming segments will begin adopting full-stack solutions to increase their competitiveness, ensuring their digital footprint expands and is reputably showcased online. Realizing that the Age of the Customer (AoC) has arrived, SMBs will differentiate by evolving their business operations by utilizing Machine Learning and AI tools.

Social listening and review aggregation will help SMBs curate insights never before available for their own brands and competitors, thus increasing the need for them to adopt automated and advanced technology tools. With the rise of data integrity and privacy issues across social platforms and search engines, I’d anticipate the rise of smaller, yet impactful social channels to reach target audiences abandoning the traditional giants.

Jack RoldanFounder + CEO

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The emergence of refreshing alternatives to the mobile-social status quo

2018 may well be remembered as a turning point. While the mobile app economy (App Store) celebrated its 10th birthday, the social media platforms with which it has become symbiotic became mired in scandal, and uncharacteristic changes to Android crippled the background location performance on which many popular applications depend. The result: trust in the once-mighty mobile and social platforms has tanked.

Both the users of social networks, and the brands that reach them through mobile apps, each have ample cause for consternation. Could these recent calamities be the catalyst for refreshing alternatives?

Our LSA predictions in years past have been about progressive breakthroughs in both user opt-in and web-standards for real-time location and analytics. Our prediction for 2019 is that the industry will innovate with initiatives that successfully circumvent the long-entrenched mobile-social status quo. In other words, local search will find a novel way around native apps and social networks. What those initiatives might look like will surely be a surprise, but who they will involve—the most rebellious users and the brands prepared to join them in revolt—will not.

Jeffrey DungenCo-founder and CEO

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Fake reviews, news, and users will carry less weight

2018 was the year of mass fakeness. “Fake news” became a polarizing political phrase, 83 million Facebook users turned out to be fake, and entire careers were dedicated to spamming Amazon products with fake reviews. On top of that, fake science and unsubstantiated conspiracy theories have become widespread. Our society can’t even agree on the basic facts. Chaos is the result. In 2018, tech companies cracked down on hate groups, wild conspiracies, and pseudoscience. Google launched the Google News Lab in 2015, which became the Google News Initiative in 2018, and uses data to dampen and combat fake news. You can bet that RankBrain (which I mentioned in last year’s prediction blog) will be observing user behavior, identifying more fake reviewer behaviors, and adapting to discourage, dampen, and remove fake reviews. It certainly won’t happen overnight, and it will be far from perfect, but tech companies will turn the tide against online fakeness. 2019 will showcase the rise of realness, and the downfall of fakes.

Tim MechlingDigital Media Specialist

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Ads & Paid Search

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Return of the Bing & monetization of voice search

Bing’s powering of Alexa search increases its importance in search and increases its share of local search. I predict that Bing will release a paid listings product to monetize voice search.

Alex PorterCEO

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2019 will introduce “chatting ads” I predict we will see ads with life chat in 2019. As users continue to get more comfortable with messaging services, instead of click-to-call ads, mobile ads enabled with live chat, that consumers can use to chat with the advertiser instantly and get more information as needed, will become a mainstream strategy. Advertisers can let interested customers directly text message and chat with them.

Venkat KolluriCEO

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Say goodbye to keywords in paid search Google is finally going to pull the trigger on keywords and eliminate them from Paid Search. The signs have all been leading up to it: decreased control over exact match, dynamic search ads, investments in AI, etc. Google believes their system can correctly match user search intent to your business without you telling it what keywords you want to be on, so in 2019 they’ll take the option away. Prediction #2: When this happens the Paid Search industry will freak out!

Mike PetersOnline Media Director

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Google breaks down barrier to entry for local advertisers

In terms of local predictions, I think we’re going to see more of Google helping small and local businesses with their online advertising challenges. Small businesses often lack resources and have difficulty in measuring the success of their search campaigns, if direct online conversions aren’t there.

Google is supporting local businesses to better realize and act-on the local advertising opportunity by creating a host of products for them. They created local inventory ads (LIA) and storefronts, local service ads (limited industries available in US & Canada only) and are pulling from location extensions to show business results within Google Maps. These are all initiatives to better service the local market segment, but if the value still can’t be seen from smaller businesses, a challenge still remains.

Google’s in-store visits metric is helping to clarify the value of online advertising, but it’s limited to accounts that have multiple locations and generate thousands of clicks per month (or thousands of impressions on GDN). However, the combination of local ad types and tracking metrics (LIA and store visits; LSA and store visits) could be a very powerful combination for brick and mortar merchants to effectively measure the impact of their campaigns.

By the end of 2019 I believe these barriers to entry will lessen allowing more small and local businesses to better advertise and track their efforts, further catalyzing interest and investment in online advertising. I’m talking more categories for local service ads, more regional coverage and perhaps even enabling single-location stores to use the in-store tracking metric. If I’m right, next year we’re going to see a substantial increase in the number of local merchants advertising inside Google Ads.

Marc PoirierCo-Founder

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Automated bidding AI & machine learning As marketers become more comfortable using automated bidding, they are demanding more data touch points. More detailed data sets will be available for advertisers (even the smaller ones) which will accelerate the trust in machine learning and artificial intelligence in ad buying.

Paul DughiVP/General Manager

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More data will result in more location precision

I predict that as we hand over more and more information about ourselves, ingenious developers will design ever more accurate targeting mechanisms until such a time when waste in the advertising budget is a thing of the past!

Marlene McTigueMulti-Media Consultant

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Google zero click results reporting With Google making more pushes to get brands into the localized paid ad ecosystem, they will start to bend more to show the efficacy of how brands benefit from localized organic quick answers and knowledge panel results that are keeping people within the Google ecosystem. Google is referring out less and less traffic to websites each year, as highlighted by Rand Fishkin of Sparktoro.

We are now seeing the rollout of store beacons and integration with analytics and paid search, but will we see other Google features roll out more robust tracking for the brands that are contributing the content that ranks well and builds trust with Google’s users? Hopefully this is the year that Google provides full transparency into any organic touch point in which a brand’s content is displayed within search results — mainly via quick answers and voice search on smart assistants. After-all, great content is what helped build Google as a trusted brand!

Kurt KrejnySVP of Solutions

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E-commerce & Retail

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Amazon will take a significant portion of search from Google

By March of 2018, Amazon surpassed Alphabet (Google’s parent company) in stock price. Though Google has maintained its monopoly status, with somewhere around 90% of the search market, Amazon will take a larger portion of the search in 2019. People use Google and Amazon for very different reasons. If your small business is dedicated to a skill or service, Google is the way to go. If you have an e-commerce website, or own a shop where your products are ordered and distributed, you may want to start selling your products on Amazon. Google is a site for discovery, Amazon is a place for shopping. If you think you could benefit from the uptick in Amazon search volume, I’d recommend setting up an Amazon shop.

Tim MechlingDigital Media Specialist

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Dynamic commerce will be required for online sellers to stay afloat

Consumer expectations now require brands and online sellers to deliver a fast, easy, secure and personalized shopping experience from browsing to checkout. 2019 will be the year of dynamic commerce, which allows the ability to have your customer-facing pages to dynamically update based on multiple factors, such as browsing history and geolocation. This will ensure a personalized experience for the shopper from content to currency.

Brian DeignanVP of Sales

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Subscription services and the future of checkout

With the rise of subscription-based selling and usership, there’s a fundamental shift occurring in the way people purchase, especially when it comes to digital goods (Spotify, software subscriptions, etc.) In order to keep up, online sellers must embrace and understand how this shift in purchase behavior will help or hurt their business model, and know when, if and how to make a change.

When it comes to the future of checkout, get ready to see AR/VR becoming more integrated, which will help the seller visualize what they’re selling, and the end-user visualize what they’re buying. This will be beneficial for digital good or software sellers, as they will be able to better showcase the impact of their products, as well as buyers.

Chris LueckCEO

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The rise and impact of pop-ups Brick-and-mortar retail brands know they must evolve in order to retain and grow customers. To thrive, brands need to be willing to give customers new and more ephemeral experiences that can’t be replicated online. Using brick and mortar pop-ups—those that create an exclusive and personalized experience to touch and test products—is one way retailers will capitalize on this idea. Of course, opening new stores poses its own challenges and retailers will also likely look for data sources that can help them plan the optimal locations for these shops, as well as measure how effective they are in driving customers to stores.

Ocean FineVice President - Agencies and Marketers

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Faster shipping & product availability I think people getting their goods and services even faster than they do now will be super important.

Brett BarneySenior Digital Marketing Project Manager

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The mobile phone will become customer’s remote control ... both in and out of stores

The path to purchase has been changing rapidly over the last decade with mobile among the most significant disruptors in retail. Keeping this in mind, buying decisions often begin via mobile and end via mobile, yet this is not exclusively for online purchases anymore. Mobile will help to shape how customers engage with their local retailers through technology such as Salesfloor.net — which empowers employees to engage with customers beyond their store walls while also creating more frictionless payment experiences thanks to mobile payment options.

Essentially, the mobile phone will become a customer’s remote control throughout a majority of their buying experiences and thus, retailers must embrace the rapidly changing landscape that mobile is creating in retail. Additionally, mobile will allow retailers to save time and overhead thanks to mobile-based applications such as Legion.co, connecting customers and merchants in real-time more so than we have seen in the past. Finally, I believe apps that are customer centric will increase and impact purchase decisions, as well, both in physical store fronts and online.

Nicole Leinbach ReyhleFounder & Author

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Retail mobile predictions ‘Near me’ search will continue to grow in mobile. Over the past year, “near me” searches have exploded -- especially on mobile. In fact, more than 80 percent of consumers have done a “near me” search on their mobile device. This number is staggering, and is likely to grow in 2019. It also means that “near me” search is a key trend that retail marketers should keep front-and-center moving forward.

The reason is that consumers now find more stock in proximity and the convenience it affords -- even more than brand loyalty. What’s more, as people opt to keep GPS and location services on when using their device, they’re in better position to take advantage of proximity-based searches. Looking ahead, “near me” search offers tremendous opportunity for both retailers and marketers.

Brands will proactively monitor and manage customer reviews. Almost one-third of consumers believe that online reviews are important. With people now more reliant on their mobile devices than ever before, it’s easy for them to look at customer reviews before deciding to spend money at a retailer. Further, 65 percent of shoppers believe that stores should respond directly to customer reviews. This means that brands will have to spend more time checking online reviews and responding to them if they want to win over customers. But it doesn’t stop there. Customers aren’t going to be satisfied with just a generic response from a store. They’re also looking for personalization, showing that the brand cares about them. So retailers will have to keep providing thoughtful responses to online customer reviews if they want to win over new customers and keep their existing ones happy.

Voice adoption will grow, which will be a boon for retailers. In three years, voice search may make up 50% of all searches. For retailers and business owners keeping up with SEO best practices, this new method of search is a game-changer. It’s a relief to know that many of the functional differences between voice and standard search are subtle. However, the result of performing well in voice search can mean less competition and more sales for businesses ready to take on the challenge.

Voice search is changing the game for SEO by taking the need for screens out of the equation. Since digital assistants only tend to relay a single answer to voice search requests, the business that fulfills that top answer could feasibly multiply the number of customers shopping in their stores. In the New Year, expect more retailers to optimize their website’s keywords for voice search, to be present across more business listings and multiple search engines, maps, and apps, and to optimize search relevance with positive reviews. These three tactics will maximize findability among voice searches.

Tehsin DayaVP Business Development

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Data & Location Intelligence

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A structured, data-driven future As data continues to grow exponentially, the importance of structured data will become even more apparent in 2019. Digital service providers will need to work to implement the use of structured data in their own processes for more efficient and automated delivery of digital services, as well as educate and empower SMBs with artificial intelligence that allows them to engage with their customers in more meaningful ways.

Louise LachmannCEO & Co-founder

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2019 will be the year of data aggregation driven by AI

In 2018, we saw technology companies take a more serious look at data aggregation. How they were aggregating data on consumer behavior and to what use this data was put. We will see an even greater increase in focus on data aggregation, specifically multi-channel, as we follow a consumer’s path to purchase. We will see a move away from campaign managers simply allocating a budget based on the lowest cost per lead. Most SMBs do not spend enough to generate statistically meaningful metrics, which has been the problem with this approach thus far. The data aggregation is only truly meaningful if we are able to understand the entire multi-channel path to purchase including offline behavior, voice, etc.

To gather consumer data across multiple touch points, there will be a huge increase in AI. We predict nearly a 60% increase in AI revenue in 2019 and by 2020 we predict an increase of over 120%. It all comes back to data data data!

Avni AgrawalSenior Marketing Specialist

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AI will continue to gain traction There will be more notable press around the value in VOLUME of training data for the best AI applications, and companies will attempt to pivot in their strategies to obtain data for free from consumers in exchange for services.

Nick KnellingerDirector of Product

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Converting latitude/longitude into real information & the full potential of IP data

According to our Digital Data Exhaust Report, more than one quarter of digital marketers say they want to explore more use of lat/long data in the new year, especially retail organizations. Solutions that seamlessly and easily covert GPS-obtained coordinates from mobile devices into useful, relevant information will be high on their radars.

Additionally, according to our Digital Data Exhaust Report, 61% of digital marketers, last year, left plenty of room for improvement because they were not utilizing all the different data points available to them or were not aware of the different types of data associated with an IP address. The same report indicates a large majority expect to incorporate more IP data points to enhance their advertising, personalization and analytics.

Rob FriedmanExecutive Vice President, Co-founder

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The rise of location intelligence as behavioral indicator

In 2019, I predict more companies will start looking at location intelligence as a behavioral indicator. Taking it one step further, they will also start to integrate this data with 1st party data into existing CRM systems.

Ultimately, AI will have to be deployed because without it, companies (and quite frankly marketers), won’t be able to mine these troves of consumer data. They’d just be scratching the surface. That being said, it’s important to keep in mind that AI is not a silver bullet, just part of the solution.

Jeff WhiteCEO

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More usage of location intelligence for personalization

I predict that location intelligence, geofencing and beacon technology will continue to increase in usage in the local search space. It doesn’t get much more personalized than using location-based intelligence to drive a specific customer to a specific location to buy a specific product. We talk about leveraging big data, but this technology paired with expert marketing will give businesses a microscopic view of their customers behavior and preferences which can and should be utilized to reengage them.

Meghan TrappAgency Director

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Expect more foot traffic attribution improvements

Continued growth and improvements in foot traffic attribution will have the greatest impact on local advertisers in 2019. More advertisers will value ad campaigns on their ability to drive incremental foot traffic to their locations, whether the campaign’s impressions were served on desktop, mobile, or CTV/OTT devices.

Frost PrioleauCEO

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Artificial intelligence to “predictive-maintenance-as-a-service” & data privacy

AI will enable better business optimization and predictive maintenance — not just within an industry, but also at the intersection of industries. Predictive maintenance as a service will come to life as more data and model sharing will enable smaller scale entities to join the big enterprises in business (and consumer) optimizations.

Also, the rumors of the death of privacy have been greatly exaggerated. With the GDPR and continued consumer awareness, consumer location intelligence will get more scrutiny and expect other countries to consider GDPR-like policies. While it won’t end the practice, it will make it more costly to acquire the data — and hopefully some emerging models of compensation will be enabled to give back to the consumer.

Kipp JonesChief Technology Evangelist

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Speech & Voice Search

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Schema.org will become a key unique selling proposition

As the digital landscape evolves, search engine result pages are becoming more prominent as a source of business information. Search engines, like Google, are becoming better at crawling websites and pulling relevant information that users are searching for. Schema.org mark-up and structured website content will therefore be a key unique selling point for small business websites to ensure they appear in Google’s Knowledge Graph, voice search and more.

Svenn AndersenCOO

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Voice search will explode! One in six Americans already own a voice-activated smart speaker. More than one billion voice searches occur every month. In 2019, those numbers will explode. Businesses need to make sure their SEO includes voice search to avoid missing out on a growing consumer market.

Paul DughiVP/General Manager

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Voice search standards to emerge in 2019 I predict voice search implementation strategies and optimization will be a big thing in the second half of 2019. Voice search is getting attention now, but all of the mechanics don’t appear to be solid yet. There is an eagerness surrounding voice search, and in six months I believe we will have a good measure of guidance from the SEO and developer communities, perhaps with a set of standards and guidelines. Well that is my hope anyway.

Carolyn HajnasiewiczSr. SEO Analyst

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Search results will streamline as voice search goes fully mainstream

Way back in the early 2000’s, the Google SERP was 10 blue links, for everything, forever. It didn’t matter if you were searching for a local business, cat photos, or you’re trying to figure out that character actor’s name (you know, that guy who’s in everything!). It was minimalist. It was predictable. It was clean. Around 2010, the mass adoption of smartphones changed the nature of the internet. Everything became more bite-sized and palatable. Google adapted its SERP with featured snippets, knowledge graphs, local packs, ads, and those blue links sank further and further down the page. SEOs and digital marketers are still pretty mad about it. Voice search, digital assistants, and the internet of things has further streamlined search results. When you ask Alexa what temperature it is outside, she won’t slog through ten blue links’ worth of information. She’ll give you a handful of words that summarizes the most authoritative answer. This “One True Answer” philosophy is troubling (for SEOs and the concept of truth itself), but it’s the direction the winds of tech are blowing. The next year will be a further simplification-through-complication on the SERP, as voice and image search gets more popular.

Tim MechlingDigital Media Specialist

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Holiday shopping, tech improvements will increase voice device adoption

As voice technology has become increasingly commonplace, there have been groundbreaking improvements in the accuracy of voice recognition itself. In 2013, Google’s speech recognition technology was at a 23%-word error rate and fell to 8% in 2015. Today, the software giant is at a mere 4.9% error rate, meaning only every 20th word is transcribed incorrectly.

I’ve seen major speech technology platforms rapidly improve throughout the years, and I expect to see adoption rates significantly increase amongst the 33 million current smart speaker users and more. Black Friday and holiday shopping will likely help increase product adoption yet again, taking this technology from a fun gadget to a device integrated throughout your entire home.

What does this mean for search? ComScore estimates that more than half of searches will be voice-based by 2020. Also, expect to see voice technology become more predictive and in sync with human asks by using context like user location to better understand their question and respond with a local solution. It is a domino effect as improvements in voice recognition encourages widespread device adoption, which in turn encourages more voice searching. Brands and marketers will be forced to keep up by employing Voice Engine Optimization strategies that keep their brand at the top of search results, so customers choose and visit them over competitors.

Collin HolmesCEO and Founder

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Voice technology will become #1 tool for consumer search

Voice assistants like Siri and Alexa are becoming the preferred search tool for consumers. In response to that, businesses will need to start adopting strategies to prepare for this shift in voice technology reliance. One strategy we predict will be implemented across brands is Voice Engine Optimization, which refers to a new content marketing strategy to provide these voice assistants with questions and answers that consumers are frequently asking. Consumers crave convenience and the increased reliance on voice technology devices will be forcing marketers to adopt this strategy and to think locally.

This is how we see the shift unfolding in 2019: voice tech assistants will be even more humanized, with new updates being made to fix common voice recognition errors that are common today. Once these tools become easier to utilize, consumers will increase their search habits with voice tech tools, with the domino effect of brands and marketers being forced to keep up. This must be done through the optimization of content to continuously drive revenue and foot traffic into real stores.

With voice search, there is only one result instead of a page of 10 results, making it all that much more competitive. VEO will be the secret weapon to stay ahead of this upcoming transition away from typed and into voice search.

Collin HolmesCEO and Founder

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To prepare for the year of voice in 2020, marketers will get serious about analyzing

phone calls in 2019 Many analysts and experts believe we are on the cusp of a revolution in marketing similar to what we experienced with mobile. The rise in popularity of voice searches and voice assistants signals a paradigm shift in consumer behavior, as shoppers locate and engage with brands through voice. 2020 is expected to be ‘The Year of Voice’, as half of all search will be voice, and consumers become comfortable with making purchases on voice-enabled devices.

To get ready for 2020, brands will get serious about leveraging analytics from the original voice channel—phone calls from their consumers—in 2019. Calls provide marketers access to the questions that consumers have—in their own words—for each product and service at each stage of the customer journey. They reveal the answers the business gave to those questions and whether they helped win or lose the customer.

By optimizing website content for the important questions callers ask in 2019—and the answers that won their business—brands will be ready to show up for those voice search queries that have real buying intent and better convert the consumers that visit the brand’s website. Insights from consumer calls will also serve as the building blocks for a brand’s voice commerce strategy in 2019, helping marketers architect content priorities for voice assistants and voice-enabled devices that are prepared for the questions consumers ask. Brands that integrate the voice of the consumer into the sonics of their brand in 2019 will be well positioned to provide effective, engaging voice communications with customers in 2020.

Blair SymesSr Director of Content Marketing

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Voice search and a future without typing According to a recent report, 43 million Americans use smart speakers, and that number is only going to increase going into 2019 and further. It is natural to use these devices to listen to music and podcasts, but more and more consumers are talking to these devices to ask about local business. Top results are hours of operation, distance from the searchers location and also a suggestion to connect to the business by phone.

In 2019, these voice assistants will become more screen-based—more introductions in smart speakers with a screen like the Amazon Echo Show and Google’s smart hub. This is not all either. The technology that runs these is also available as an app on any phone or computer plus is being embedded into existing devices. In a few years, we may wonder if there was a time when we typed instead of just talking!

Chis MarentisCEO

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Voice search readiness applies to directories too

As voice search becomes more mainstream and the user base continues to grow, online directories such as Judy’s Book will make the optimization of data for voice search a bigger priority. Utilizing voice search schema, like Speakable, and features found in the larger directories, like questions and answers, will be a necessity for directories that wish to surface in voice search queries. For local directories to maintain and continue to build a loyal following of users, adapting as consumers’ needs change is essential.

David (Davey) DuykVP of Sales

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Personal Data & Privacy

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The data privacy storm is coming If nothing else, people will come out of this year knowing they are their data, and ultimately the product. That said, as more consumers catch on to how their data is being used, companies and platforms in 2019 need to figure out a way to let consumers monetize their data. Imagine if consumers got paid by Netflix for Netflix selling their data to third-parties? The storm is coming. Right now we’re just hearing the thunder not seeing the lightning bolts.

Jeff WhiteCEO

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Blockchain, security, personalization and automation

For 2019, I believe that blockchain technology will continue to make a big impact. It cuts the risks of security breaches to keep customers data safe. And let’s face it, even Google was struggling with this in 2018. It won’t just be the financial areas that embrace this technology, but healthcare, government, defense, and large corporations.

Also, personalization and automation will go hand in hand. Machine learning and AI will lead to more efficient data analysis that will make it even easier to deliver personalization to our customers. Predictive lead scoring, and content scoring to improve marketing campaigns to produce dynamic content for every phase of the buyer journey. This will help brands to deliver a rich, effective and higher converting customer experience.

Stephanie HooperDigital Marketing Account Manager

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Data ownership & brand control In 2018, concerns about GDPR and its impact on how brands conduct business online was a hot topic. However, many global brands still lack total ownership and complete control over key data that is tied to their business. From a local marketing perspective, there are countless SaaS providers and subscription-based platforms that allow you to “host” your website, landing pages, local data and more on their platforms. This means that they own your data while handcuffing you to their system(s), limiting your ability to adapt to an ever-changing digital landscape.

My prediction for 2019 is that more brands will become aware that complete ownership and control of your own website content, all online accounts (i.e. Google Ads, Facebook Business Manager, etc.) and all of the data associated with each will be critical to success regardless of whether or not you use third-party vendors or agencies to execute marketing programs. Own your website. Own your accounts. Own your data.

Josh AllenSenior Director of Marketing

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The marriage of service-based location products & data privacy

Last year, data from over 4 million devices revealed that two thirds of app users opted in for location tracking. Great news for apps searching for new captive audiences in 2019—for new services based on the movements and habits of users, but there is still the ‘creepy’ location tracking caveat to overcome.

Our customers tackle this exceptionally well, by demonstrating clear value and building trust—then doubling the open-rate of messages by around 50% as a result. What’s their secret formula? From the get-go, apps can use smart opt-in priming to set the goals and the guardrails for collecting a user’s precious location data—services which are based around opportunities to make their lives easier; like “receiving real-time redemption codes for deals and discounts close by,” or “ordering locally available and relevant products or services, on-the-spot.” How do you use their data? How do you process it, and which parties are involved in this irresistible value exchange?

Then, it’s about delivering on these promises, with attentive and responsible assistance which proves your app’s worth to the user and does justice to the data they have shared with you. Surface relevant content right at the moment it matters to them in your app, or only send promotions to those who frequently visit a specific store or event—no more, no less.

This year, be your user’s pocket concierge, fit into their day-to-day, and anticipate their needs by removing unnecessary steps to getting them from A to B—or ordering C. Obsessively offering relevant location-based services, coupled with transparent data usage, are your best bets to gaining a competitive edge in 2019.

Menno KolkertCEO

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Consumer inclusion will become the norm rather than the exception

Consumers will quietly educate themselves about the notion of ownership of personal data, encouraged in part by industry players who will enlighten them on the true value of said data. As was discussed at LSA’s 2018 Place Conference, data quantity has been replaced in 2018 by data quality. In 2019 expect this in turn to be replaced by what we might call “allowed data,” where third-party sharing is explicitly authorized by the user. Our prediction is that companies will work to develop clever new business models based on “allowed data.” Those who fail to keep pace could risk losing the trust of their loyal clients, and those who fall far behind may eventually face class action from consumer associations.

Philippe MartyPartner & Chief Product Officer

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Data privacy 2.0 2019 will bring continued scrutiny to big tech companies, like Google and Facebook for a lack of data protection. Following the rollout of GDPR and deadlines for regulations like the California Consumer Privacy Effect coming closer, SMBs and consumers alike will begin to demand more assistance on data privacy from their technology providers. While it is ultimately the responsibility of the SMB, digital service providers need to be ready to help small business owners implement the necessary changes to ensure that their digital presence is compliant with data protection and privacy regulations.

Matt MatergiaDirector of Business Development

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Digital Strategy

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Longform content and a technical SEO focus Our first prediction is that, yes, content will remain king, but the definition of quality content will continue to evolve. In short, content needs to work harder now, and can’t just be about the keywords. It needs to be long-form; as a starting definition, this can be 2,000 words in length BUT if your top competitors already have longer versions of quality content on the subject, then long-form content is defined as at least 500 words longer than theirs.

This content must be extremely helpful to target audiences, answering their questions across the conversion funnel. It must also provide answers to questions asked via today’s ever-increasing number of voice search queries.

We recommend that you do a content audit on your site. What’s missing? What needs boosted in length and/or quality? What internal linking could improve the user experience? Where does it make sense to improve service pages by adding FAQs, testimonials, outbound links to relevant sites with authority and more?

Our second recommendation is to focus on technical SEO, including but not limited to improving page speed. Because speed is now a ranking factor in desktop and mobile searches alike, it makes sense to use tools like Page Speed Insights, Test My Site or something similar to test your speed, review recommendations given, make quick fixes and then prioritize ones that will take longer.

Add the SSL certificate to your site to reassure potential site visitors that your website is secure and take your time to properly fix site issues such as improper or missing redirects to new URLs, crawl issues, broken links, accessibility issues duplicate content issues and more. We’re seeing increasing numbers of these types of problems, often caused by companies rushing to fix them.

So, take a measured, steady pace and make sure your company is budgeting enough for any necessary technical fixes. Don’t know how to fix them? Don’t guess! Get help from experts.

Chris GregoryFounder/Managing Partner

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RIP Snapchat influencer marketing Yahoo Lifestyle reported early in August 2018 that Snapchat was dead as far as Influencer Marketing is concerned, and, in 2019, we may finally attend its funeral. Instagram has solidified its value and position as the leading platform for influencer marketing and brand development, what with the launch of Instagram TV, and the rise of Instagram Stories and shoppable feeds. There will be no reason for brands or influencers to live on Snapchat anymore.

Julia FlahertyMarketing Coordinator

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The transformation of digital sales Digital service providers will need to transform the way they attract, sell, and service small businesses in 2019 and beyond. The seismic shift in how businesses engage and purchase software and services will challenge sales organizations and their customer service counterparts. Service providers will need to adapt from traditional “sales” into being more educational and content marketing focused (both in terms of lead gen and closing new business).

While disruptive to sales organizations, the upside may enable service providers to cast a wider acquisition funnel and to potentially lower the cost of acquisition and servicing more independent business customers willing to put in the time to research and self-serve.

Matt MatergiaDirector of Business Development

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Service will be the key differentiator SaaS-based solutions will continue to grow in adoption across small businesses. However, the last “S” in SaaS needs utmost attention. “Service” is key, as the customer experience continues to be the biggest way to differentiate a brand as well as the best way to drive value for a client. When digital service providers can offer a well-balanced and value-driven “do it with me” (DIWM) service model, they’ll have customers for life.

Jillian AlsHead of Marketing & Communication

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Accommodating the demands of millennials

A new generation of millennial business owners will demand more control over their digital presence including having the ability to engage with their customers directly through digital channels, including personalization options on their website and targeted email marketing. Traditional digital service providers need to adapt by offering world-class do-it-with-me (DIWM) solutions to gain the trust of millennial business owners and help them succeed online.

Louise LachmannCEO & Co-founder

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Brands will need to step up their game—agile digital marketing is a must

In the past, the big brands could win a customer on name recognition alone. While their names still have influence, their products, customer service and pricing don’t necessarily hold the same power. Consumers have high expectations — a big name is no longer enough.

Behemoths like Facebook and Google recognize this and are making their products easier for the average Joe to use. Google, for example, is continually making improvements to help small- and medium-sized businesses get more exposure in search and map results. Now, it’s easier than ever for an SMB to update their local business listing, get a message from a consumer, run an ad or even publish a GMB post or offer.

Brands need to focus on creating agile marketing strategies or partner with organizations that can work on their behalf in real-time, without needing approvals from layers and layers of management in between. The old adage of “the bigger they are, the harder they fall” is the fate of all brands that don’t shift soon.

Lissa DutyFounder and Publisher

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Brands, marketers & tech seek to build a frictionless future

Voice search, intent-driven content, action in SERP, GMB expansion, action ads on YouTube, self-check-out stores (Amazon), Paypass usage increase. The digital space overall is being transformed to remove as many steps as possible and to drive to a sale/visit to a store.

Anne CoqueugniotProduct Manager

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