Remember back in high school, when everyone got that latest piece of fashion?
I bet you also remember the one kid who was always behind the curve, only joining in after everyone had moved on to the next craze.
Marketing is lot like that. If you're not constantly looking at what's coming down the pipe, you'll be able to stay ahead and innovate. This years trends? More content production and the creation of more value.
But to make it clearer, so you're not left behind to play catch up, we've listed the four top marketing trends of 2019.
Marketing Trends You Should Follow
Many of 2018's predictions have come true, and marketing is strengthening its foothold ever-deeper into the digital world. Although 2019 still has a lot to go, these trends are making a dramatic impact in the marketing realm and will continue to shape how we engage consumers.
1. Practice Ethical Marketing
Last year was significant for ethics, and it sent the ball rolling towards 2019 with customer privacy becoming a central focus in marketing plans. It started with Facebook getting slammed with a data breach and led to companies ramping up their own security measures.
In 2019, companies are now highlighting their data collection practices to earn consumer trust. Email newsletters have always included blurbs about keeping consumer data safe and never allowing third-parties access, but the longstanding practice in permission marketing is now reaching new heights.
Synack, a crowdsourced security testing platform, found at their annual conference that consumers want more transparency around the data they share with businesses. They also found that consumers are the driving force behind businesses upgrading their security measures.
2. Update Your Social Media Marketing Plan
Because of the rapid feedback and large audiences, social platforms are being used more than ever to reach target demographics. Specifically, messenger apps are growing in prominence with more than 25% of the world using mobile messaging apps in 2019.
ClickFunnels recently launched a Facebook Optin tool that allows users to sign up for offers using their Facebook profile, making it more convenient to subscribe. Using this method means follow-up emails will arrive in the Facebook Messenger app, rather than their inbox.
The use of chatbots has taken off as well, giving customers assistance 24/7 through messenger apps. These bots can also collect information and guide consumers towards the correct answer to their questions, as well as share content the user may find useful.
3. Produce Video Content
Nearly 75% of Americans use YouTube. That growing statistic means we're still on the glide path to more than 82% of consumer internet traffic being through online video in 2022, according to Cisco's annual update.
Wyzowl published their annual data, finding 87% of businesses now use video as a marketing tool. Given the ease of creating videos from a phone, webcam, or DSLR, it's no wonder marketing teams are taking a shot a video production.
But along with the scripts (if they use them), editing, and branding, companies are getting better at using SEO with their videos to get the content seen. This includes nailing the video's title, description, and tags to optimizing performance.
With a majority of marketers agreeing that video offers good ROI, it may be worth adding video to your own marketing plan if you haven't already.
4. Focus Your Content
Content marketing is still pulling huge audiences, but the value matters way more now with an increase in competition and noise. Because of this, it's also more important to niche down and ensure you're targeting the right audience.
If you're using customer-centric marketing approach, you're already on the right path to providing value.
Companies like Netflix and Spotify are built to provide personalized content recommendations, but how can you incorporate it into your Inbound approach?
Companies are using push notifications and personalized websites to provide the right content to the right people. With notifications, websites can ping a desktop when they publish content similar to ones their viewers liked. The little chime is enough to grab their attention and provide them with more of what they want.
The personalized websites take more work but cater content based on the users geographical location, behaviors, and whether they're a first-time visitor. This option may be more work on the front end, but it's enabling sites to provide more valuable content to individual consumers.
Making the Most of 2019
While there's still more to come, getting ahead of these trends could help amplify your current campaigns. Incorporate what you think would work best in your marketing plan and make 2019 your best year yet.
Since we touched on creating more focused content, we should probably offer our free guide to building an Inbound Marketing plan. Conquering the Inbound Marketing Mountain will explain the critical questions to consider when setting your Inbound goals, provide deeper insights into developing your personas, and how to test content ideas.
Chris a digital marketer at Lean Labs. He enjoys strategizing and creating content that drives results. When not typing away, Chris is exploring nature with his two daughters, wife, and dogs.
