Mood of marketing in 2019
The best way to gauge the mood of marketing in 2019 is to cast the net wide amongst marketers for a mixture of opinions. Here at Litmus, we’ve done just that.
Without further ado, here are our marketing predictions for 2019. We believe 2019 will be the year we stop complaining about GDPR and start thanking the privacy gods for reinforcing the notion that our job as marketers is to earn people’s attention (and ultimately their loyalty). It will reinforce quality and creativity in content more than ever. That will mean several things: Great writers and editors will have new career opportunities and brands will take a closer look at their publishing schedules.
Brand marketers will be completely replaced by an AI algorithm
The ingestion of data sources and the evaluation of new technologies, especially around AI will spin everyone’s heads. Companies will subscribe to yet another tool that serves a single purpose without ultimately making a dent in revenue.
Sophie Shiatis, CEO | ShinyBlue Marketinng LLC
It only makes sense for marketers to turn to machines to help them better understand their audience, and how they interact with them. In today’s tech-forward world, it’s projected by #Adobe that over the next 12 months, 31% of enterprises are expected to add some form of AI to its marketing mix.
https://www.marketingeye.com/blog/marketing/how-ai-will-impact-marketing-in-2019.html
Creativity becomes cool in marketing again.
“Creativity is back. In recent years we have become obsessed with data. While it is an amazing tool — it won’t tell you exactly how to change hearts and minds or reach your audience. We think this year will be a swing on the pendulum back towards good ole’ fashioned creativity.
Look around at the wave of creative leaders who have swept through London’s advertising scene in recent years: they don’t fit into the old paradigm. Arguably the work with the biggest impact to come out of Richard Brim’s department at #Adam & Eve/DDB last year was not a TV ad, but a sculpture installation raising awareness of the problem of male suicide, which informed a real change in government policy. And there are new players who have entered the arena. For all the scepticism around Uncommon, more competition can only be good for this industry.
https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/welcome-2019-stand-creativity/1521681
Enhanced personalized recommendations
Artificial intelligence algorithms are making it possible to offer more personalized content than ever before. Your company can increase sales by personalizing the customer experience.
For example, when watching #Netflix, you get recommended movies and TV shows based on what you’ve watched so far. An interesting example of the ongoing importance of creating interaction and personalization to improve your digital value proposition is #Stitch Fix, a US fashion retailer that since its 2017 IPO has grown its active client accounts to 2.7 million, an increase of 614,000 and 30% year-over-year. Again, this isn’t necessarily new. But in 2019, the technology will make these recommendations better and more accurate than ever before.
Martech leaders like #Amazon Web Service’s Personalize system are simplifying personalization and recommendation services for customers through machine learning. These systems support data sets in real-time, and data remains secure in the Cloud. It even allows for seamless integration from CMS data sets, so it puts personalization at every marketer’s fingertips.”
– Matt Garrepy | Solodev
Breaking down data silos
One opportunity that marketers predict will grow in 2019 is the need for blended data.
From how you understand your customers to how your report your results to executives, the marketers that show the value of integrating different data sources will be the ones most successfully proving ROI.
Steve Dodd of Socialist spoke to us about the importance of integrating data to get a more complete picture of the market: “In 2019, marketers will need to be able to blend corporate data (what you know) with social data (what’s coming).”
Voice Search
Consumers are more excited about their smart speakers than ever. A 2017 report by NPR and Edison Research revealed that 42% of Americans called them “essential,” and their popularity is on the rise. This year’s version of the same report concluded that smart speakers are becoming a part of our daily lives and bringing dramatic changes to consumer behavior.
So, what does this mean for your marketing plan for 2019? We will likely be seeing more online publications using audio content to keep up with their followers’ demand. This also means that we may see new advertising platforms. As you enter 2019, your marketing plan should include efforts to tailor your company’s search engine optimization (SEO) strategy to respond to voice search demands.
Compared to other ad formats, audio has been slow to catch on in the past, but rising adoption rates among voice-activated speakers and audio subscription services have marketers eager to apply it to next year’s strategy. Sarah Scherer, media product manager at Goodway Group, sums it up simply, “More money will flow into programmatic audio in the coming years as advertisers recognize the cost efficiencies and optimization benefits compared to linear radio.” With near limitless opportunities to target your audience and expand reach, there has never been a better time to take advantage of the power of audio.
https://goodwaygroup.com/3-digital-marketing-trends-2019-predictions
Video Is a Must
As people begin to detox from social platforms that prompt and expect “interactions,” they’ll shift back to experiences that instead entertain, inform, and educate. This means that people will spend a lot more time listening to podcasts, reading, and watching videos on platforms like #YouTube. Whether you’re creating videos for #Instagram, #Facebook, #YouTube or even your own website, it is a top-tier, incredibly effective digital marketing tool. You can capture and convey a lot of information and your brand’s personality with video. As long as you stick to the fundamentals of good video production, you can make impressive gains.
Check out a blog, How to increase Youtube video views like a pro? for more insights.
Distrust of social media will continue, and rightly so. Not only might #Facebook’s violation of user trust and privacy — with data breaches and questionable data sharing agreements with third parties — lead to government regulation and additional hurdles for #Facebook advertisers, but the growing #DeleteFacebook sentiment means marketers should be ready for a shift in user demographics this year. Conversely, LinkedIn has grown into a robust platform that has maintained user trust.
Authenticity
At the end of the day, what clients really want is to understand your business. The 2018 Global Consumer Insights Survey by PwC revealed the importance of consumer trust in a brand during the decision making process. Cohn & Wolfe’s 2017 Authentic Brand Study confirmed not only that consumers evaluate authenticity when deciding whether to trust a brand with their business, but also that 91% of them are willing to reward a brand for authenticity.
Every interaction you have, whether it’s online or in person, should contribute to your overall brand — a brand that is uniquely yours and is clear about what you offer and how you stand out from your peers. The undertone of honesty and authenticity can attract the types of clients with whom you’ll actually want to work and can make your content marketing initiatives far more successful.
These are just a few trends to look out for as you think ahead for the end of this year and into the next. Remember, there’s not a single “right way” to build a marketing strategy, but these tips can help you achieve any marketing goal. So, what are you waiting for? Follow these trends and get ready to take your content and your business to the next level in 2019.
