19 Digital Marketing trends for 2019
We have welcome 2019 with digital wishes, video, and Instagram stories… Taking stock of the last year, let’s see which predictions were proven to be true and what we expect to happen in digital marketing for 2019.
Editor: Dimitris Dimitriadis
Τrends that prevailed throughout 2018 and will certainly continue to prevail, are:
- Videos!
As I mentioned in 2018, videos, namely live videos (Facebook Watch) and vertical videos (IGTV) shall go on gaining ground against visual content and text. The original and also short-term nature of live videos, make them very attractive and useful to social media users. In addition, Generation Z is increasingly using platforms such as Houseparty and TikTok, so if you want to reach young people, then live videos are your only way to succeed. If you didn’t try it during 2018, it’s time to find out how worthy videos are and invest in it. - Bots / Conversational commerce
Bots are now strongly part of our lives, we see every time smarter ways of their use in customer service and online sales. Bots in 2019 will become “smarter” by using artificial intelligence. Your customers will demand from your company to respond fast and effective and of course to know their order history, as well as other details for which a bot is designed to know. Try to set up a bot for Facebook messenger and see how effective it can be. - GDPR
In the past year in Europe, we certainly heard so many times the word GDPR or in simple English the EU General Data Protection Regulation. This caused many email lists disappearing in the dustbin of history, on the other hand, it initiated a reformation of the data protection process, giving users more power on their personal data. Pursuant to the GDPR decisions, Facebook and the biggest social networks have updated the method by which advertisers can use data. For example, the website administrators on Facebook can no longer upload any old contact list for a targeted custom audience, if this list does not comply with the GDPR terms and conditions. Any breach of this policy could leave you with no advertising account on Facebook…
To understand the extent, if the famous scandal of Cambridge Analytica would have taken place after the GDPR initiation, then Facebook would have been forced to pay a fine of 1,4 billion Euro. - AR-VR-MR
Augmented reality and virtual reality have powerful kicked in last year and will become more popular this year as well. Snapchat and Messenger already have platforms where you can use augmented reality (yes, these tiny little dog-ears and nausea causing rainbows are AR — deal with it), Facebook has also tested out AR videos and all big players are ready for the big boom. Now in commercial terms, augmented reality will start changing the way consumers shop online, allowing them to “try” first before buying. - Your voice is the best interface!
We already talked about it last year, the sales on amazon echo, google home, apple homepod, facebook portal and on other devices have skyrocketed, but the “voice” technology will bring great changes for the year 2019 and will be much more than just saying “Alexa” when you enter home … Your voice will help you do more searches and less typing. Imagine how important this can be to consumers of older age (and stronger purchasing power) with an aversion to key pads, just commanding with their voice. Focusing on the voice will change the way consumers discover products and communicate with social media. The term “Voice Search Optimization” will be a “must” in 2019 - Ιnfluencers
Micro influencers / macro influencers / nano influencers and 2019 will be another year in which we’ ll see people living next door increasing their sphere of influence on the consumers. We said that last year, talk to them, adapt their way of communicating, help them promote your brand and above all let them be original.
Now to the expectations proven wrong, the one and only….twitter, still existing with loyal followers but also with brands supporting it….and of course Trump using it as a press office … launching at least 11–12 tweets every day. I do hope it will change (e.g. have an edit button feature installed, at least) or maybe it closes down and finish with it.
Stories… everywhere stories
In 2019 more and more brands will use stories both for organic content and advertising as well. This form was initially developed by Snapchat and was “adapted” (cruelly stolen) by Instagram where it became incredibly popular. For the year to come, we expect stories to become more popular since the number of platforms experimenting with this format is constantly increasing. WhatsApp is doing it already with big success, counting up to 450 million users with stories, and it’s very likely that LinkedIn and YouTube as well will come up with something similar in 2019. What makes stories attractive is that they are more original, interactive and don’t last long, also their reach is more effective than the one of regular postings. So, what are you waiting for ?
Make a story with this article !
Blockchain and social media
Blockchain was one of the widely discussed issues in the past two years, however this doesn’t necessarily mean that all this fuss helped people comprehending what exactly this is all about. We are so confused with bitcoin and with everything around it, that we don’t see how marketing can benefit from this technology. Why does blockchain deserve your attention next year ? Data Collection, you can have data in the right way, you can motivate your audience with blockchain, you can even target your audience in an innovative way (check out BitClave)
User Generated Content
The user generated content (UGC) is a content generated by simple users/fans of a brand, and can help promoting a brand on social media. UGC is present in the form of photos, videos and stories, and will impressively increase within 2019. UGC improves interaction and conversion and can help develop your brand on social media. It’s not very simple…but it is worth a try.
As in 2018, I mention very briefly also some trends worth bearing in mind
Fresh Content
One of the most important “problems” is the constantly increasing significance of fresh content. Content lasts now shorter than ever (leaving out the SEO content) — and the need for fresh content at any moment from the consumer’s point of view, is increasing.
Messages and closed groups
Message applications (Viber, WhatsApp, WeChat…) will become one of the main ways by which your customers will interact with your company. Find out creative ways to be part of this dialogue.
It’s time to tell impactful stories
Consider 2019 as an opportunity to tell wonderful stories to your audience. Combine branding with positive messages and promising perspectives that could change how people think about everyday life and their own lives in general. Whether it’s Baby Boomers, Millennials or Generation Z you aim at, create stories on social media that are genuine and important to you and your audience.
*Dimitris Dimitriadis is Product guy, Bike Share Expert, sharing economy enthusiast, social media marketing instructor, designer, productivity maniac, zen monk, Apple funboy. Follow his Medium blog or learn more about his agency “The Future Cats” here.
