Although we've entered into a new year, one thing will hold true in 2019 and the foreseeable future: content creation needs to be a priority. In 2019, it's anticipated that 84.5 percent of companies with 100 or more employees will use content marketing to connect with existing and prospective customers. Given this statistic, if you're not creating and distributing content via your various digital channels, you're in the minority and are missing out on a powerful opportunity to reach your audience.

Today's consumers have the internet in their back pocket, making it a necessity for your business to have an online presence. But simply having a website and a Facebook page for your business isn't going to cut it. You need to fully embrace inbound marketing to earn the attention of your target audience and help your business to be easily found online.

Today's consumers can't seem to get enough content. According to a 2018 Neilson Total Audience Report, U.S. adult consumers are spending nearly half of their day (more than 11 hours on average) consuming content. The types of content consumed range from traditional media platforms (live TV viewing and radio) to streaming podcasts and browsing through social media. From a marketer's standpoint, the opportunities to engage consumers with content are endless.

Are you using the right social media platforms to engage your audience online? Finding the right mix of social media channels where your target audience is most active will help you to drive results for your business. While Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are the staples of most social media marketing strategies today, they may not be the ideal platforms for your business to use.

As you look for opportunities to re-engage your leads at the start of the new year, make email marketing a priority. With the exciting advancements in ways to communicate online with prospective customers (interactive chatbots, social media messenger tools, etc), it can be easy to overlook email.

The terms "social media" and "Facebook" are often used synomonously by consumers, which makes sense considering that nearly two-thirds of Americans have a Facebook profile. However, while Facebook is, by far, the largest social media platform, the number of users has remained relatively flat over the past two years. Many social media experts agree that the current Facebook audience is as big as it's going to get.

As we enter into 2019, businesses should know that video marketing will continue to be a pivotal way to engage an online audience. Currently, video is responsible for driving 69 percent of all consumer traffic, and this percentage is expected to grow to 78 percent by 2020.

While Pinterest is considered to be one of the big players in the social media landscape, it's not always a go-to social network for marketers. Often the reason why brands shy away from Pinterest is that they don't have a full understanding of how to use the social media platform to their advantage. However, given the declining organic reach on Facebook, many marketers are looking for opportunities to broaden their social media marketing scope in 2019 by establishing a presence on new platforms.

With the increased accessibility and performance of internet service, the number of American consumers that are choosing to eliminate their traditional cable TV provider is expected to reach 33 million by the end of 2018. The on-demand streaming video platform Netflix was the first company to truly capture cord-cutters, and several additional video streaming platforms have since become available. However, now there is a new dynamic entering the market: social media video streaming.

In recent years, marketers have invested an enormous amount of time and energy into understanding the unique needs and preferences of the Millennial generation (born between 1981 and 1997). While this demographic deserves attention (as of 2018, Millennials have the most spending power of any generation), it's important that marketers also shift some attention to another up-and-coming group of consumers: Generation Z.