Read our projections around the traditional and digital marketing trends that that will shape 2019. This blog is a compilation of our own findings coupled with insights from other industry experts and friends.
It’s that time of year again – when industry psychics from far and wide dust off their crystal balls and take their best shot at predicting the marketing trends that will shape the year ahead.
We might not be clairvoyant here at ABI, but we do have some informed thoughts about the traditional and digital marketing trends that that will impact 2019. This blog is a compilation of our own findings coupled with insights from other industry experts and friends.
For 2019, we forecast better integration of data and artificial intelligence for increased personalization. We expect to see B2B companies increase their presence on and use of platforms like Instagram and YouTube (stereotypically viewed as B2C platforms) in order to reach B2B audiences. We’re also anticipating an increased level of creativity when it comes to connecting with customers.
Siri, What Marketing Technologies Should I Leverage in 2019?
Voice and Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology is well integrated into all of our computers, tablets and phones, which means that business professionals are leveraging intelligent assistants like Alexa and Siri in both their personal and professional environments.
“Thanks to Siri, Google, Alexa and a host of other “smart” devices, verbal interaction with devices is continuing to rise.“– Forbes
According to the most recent statistics, 20% of search is now done via voice. As this percentage continues to grow, marketers will be inclined to evaluate how their content is performing against voice search as opposed to traditional text search. This means marketers will need to seriously consider optimizing the website content for speech so that they are still placing in search queries. We expect that companies who alter their meta-descriptions to sound more like natural speech phrasing, versus standard text-based keywords, will find a competitive advantage.
Let’s Get EVEN MORE Personal
Personalization isn’t a new trend. Customers are already accustomed to highly personalized content, as email and content marketing have become more widely adopted. The success of platforms such as Pandora, Apple Radio and even Instagram – which are all based on personalization – further supports this trend. With the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into content marketing – the level of personalized content will only deepen.
“AI-powered personalization delivers increased conversions & improved customer experience.” – Content Marketing Institute
There are a variety of ways we expect AI to show its presence in 2019. First, marketers will begin to test enhancing campaigns by shifting some of the PPC management to AI software tools that are capable of testing more platforms and further optimizing content. Beyond that, we are already seeing companies testing AI tools that manage media buying autonomously.
Secondly, we expect to see AI enhancing user experience on websites. This is where we predict the AI marketing trend will really take off in 2019. AI presents an opportunity to elevate content marketing by integrating with your site and breaking down customer patterns and data points to predict and display content based on audience preference and specific behaviors.
Similar to our own A360 Approach, AI will support companies and agencies that want to develop a deeper understanding of their target clients by providing data and analysis that further refines audience needs and behaviors data, as well as, identifying which content is most appropriate for specific demographics based on patterns and individual data points.
Facebook Is On The Way Out
According to the numbers, the B2B favorite – Facebook – might be on the outs. As Digital Marketing Institute reports, Facebook - which has been an industry standard for B2B advertising - has “gain[ed] a reputation for being the platform of choice for weaponized, political propaganda”. Recent statistics support this theory showing a significant decrease in Facebook users while platforms like Instagram and YouTube gain more traction.
“73% of all Americans engage with YouTube.” - Forbes
This trend isn’t limited to younger demographics. 33% of Instagram users are aged30-49. Adults aged 50 and older, not youth, comprise a 3-8% demographic increase for Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat. This shift is consistent with our theory on increased personalization, as social platforms like Instagram and Snapchat allow more seamless, targeted advertising. AI is a contributor in this area as well, since many social platforms personalize feeds and ads using artificial intelligence that “serves up” content based on user data, action and interests.
We expect this trend to induce B2B companies to better integrate content and presence on platforms more commonly used by B2C companies in the past. This shift could present itself as an increase in development of video and live content –a popular feature on these social platforms--as well as partnerships with social and industry influencers.
Traditional, Digital or Modern-Contemporary?
Our last projection for 2019 is that brands and marketers will become more creative about the ways that they get in front of and engage with their target audiences.
Over the past few years, we’ve seen the industry shift away from traditional advertising, toward digital. Now that most companies have a digital presence, a new problem has presented itself – people are ignoring digital ads. According to Deloitte and the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), roughly 30% of people use ad blockers on their devices, which means companies and agencies have to be more creativeabout their approach to getting in front of customers.
With the social platform changes occurring, we expect companies to increase use of social media influencers and “viral marketing” techniques. Whether through use of guerilla marketing tactics, art installations or showing more personality, finding creative ways to grab audience attention will require that companies and agencies stop playing it safe and really branch out to explore new ways to connect with audiences.
Closing Thoughts
Marketing trends in 2019 will motivate agencies and companies to better leverage new technology and creatively engage the customer in a more personal way.
AI technologies will be of a huge benefit to marketers by reducing time-spend and increasing data availability. Personalization of content and services will improve dramatically across platforms, and web content will begin to mirror speech more closely than ever before.
We’re excited to see how companies and agencies will find creative ways to show up in the landscape and attempt to connect with customers. We’ll check back in a few months with an update on our 2019 marketing trend projections.