3 Marketing Trends You Definitely Don’t Want To Miss In 2019

I have to be honest, if you came here in order to have your mind blown with a new trend or technology emerging in 2019, you might be disappointed. I’m not going to tell you about the futuristic trends that will emerge, take their first baby steps but won’t become relevant till 2030. Instead I want to tell you about the trends that you will definitely have to be a part of in 2019. The things you really, really, really don’t want to miss, because otherwise you’ll be late to the game.

So here are the marketing trends that even if they’ve been around for a while, will take off in 2019 and you don’t want to be left in your competitors’ dust. Focus on them now before it’s too late.

1. Chatbots

Chatbots are virtual ‘customer service representatives’ that you can interact with conversationally to get help, hear the newest sales and more. They are by far the number 1 thing I recommend every client to not just think about but implement asap, especially in e-commerce. Why?

In August 2017, Grand View Research reported that the Chatbot market size will reach $1.25 billion by 2025, growing annually by 24.3%.

No surprise there, not only are Chatbots a more convenient solution for customers to get instant personalized service and connection to a brand, but they also significantly reduce operating costs of customer service teams for businesses. On top of that, new innovations and improvements in AI (artificial intelligence) and better machine learning will enhance Chatbots and their functionality increasing their popularity in the future.

The increase in Chatbot usage by brands we’ve seen in 2018 will continue in 2019 and make the experience and expectation for customers. Therefore, if you do not have a Chatbot yet, you will want to get one as soon as possible.

Chatbots let you handle customer service, reach out to customers pro-actively with important and valuable messaging and allows you to give your customer a personalized experience. They are a complementary tool to your e-mail marketing measures and running a Chatbot via Facebook creates a beautiful loop with your ads.

2. Video

Are you tired of hearing about video yet? It seems that for the past years, video was the trend of the marketing world. Fact is, it still is. 73% of all Americans watch YouTube videos and even Facebook Ads prefer video and serves that ad format over all others. So, you already know that video is imperative, but have you thought about format changes yet?

People watch hours of video on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and IGTV. They watch on desktop, TV, tablet and mobile. With the rise of mobile usage and Instagram’s IGTV, now more than ever, having the right video format and focusing on vertical video will become even more important. One effective strategy is to embed Facebook videos on your website, encouraging users to stay longer and interact with your content.

People don’t like turning their devices. Instagram Stories and IGTV, two features of the most popular social media platform right now, is training people to watch video in vertical mode.

Utilize video the right way on each platform. Video lets you capture your brand’s personality and convey a lot of information while engaging your customer. It can be the ultimate marketing tool for you in 2019, if you do it right.

3. Voice

Alexa and Siri have paved the way, voice search and voice marketing is coming. Search Engine Land found that voice-based commerce sales have reached $1.8 billion in the US in 2017 and are projected to reach $40 billion by 2022.

For consumers talking is obviously the preferred method of interacting because it’s easier, and as we’ve seen, convenience is a key trend that consumers strive for more and more while they are actively trying to reduce screen time.

So be ready for 2019 and get ready to allow your customers to search, purchase and interact via voice.

Bonus: It’s time to focus on Gen Z

The time of the millennials is over!

Just kidding!

But jokes aside, Gen Z is getting older and beginning to enter the workforce, alas earning money and buying power. When Millennials entered the workforce and became the new target customers they seemed to confuse every marketer out there. Let’s make sure the same thing doesn’t happen with Gen Z.

Generation Z(ers) were born between 1995 and 2012. They are now between 6 and 23 years old. Think of this, the first iPhone came out in 2007, the oldest Gen Z(er) was 14 years old at that time, the youngest not even born yet. Many of them were born with a device in their hand to a world where the Internet always existed.

In a nutshell, this generation is made up of digital natives. Technology and social media is the stuff they live and breath. Digital content is what they consume daily. If you want to reach them, find them where they are: Twitch, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok (formerly Musicaly) and more.

When you do reach them, remember to be authentic. Gen Z(ers) technology skills will let them determine whether you practice what you preach easily. Nothing is a bigger brand turn off than inauthenticity. They love transparency and due to the number of options they have and the awareness around those options (thanks to the Internet again), the thing that will make them purchase is the trust in your brand and the overlap of your values with theirs.

Speaking of values, if your brand is socially conscious, that is a huge plus. Gen Z(ers) have been born into a world where environmental, economic and political issues as well as their true underlying causes in consumerism have become wildly known. They want to support a brand that will make the world a better place. So make your values and your brand story meaningful.

Questions about 2019 and the future? Agree, disagree or have comments? Leave them below.

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