Get Ahead of Marketing Trends in 2019
I know it seems as if 2019 is so far away, but once you get real busy in life, have kids, hit the age of 30 OR are experiencing all of these at once, you will realize that time FLIES by! So how are you gonna stay ahed of the trends in marketing that are FAST approaching? Well you could:
Time Travel and play guitar on stage for an audience
Put on a blindfold, spin 3 times and guess…OR
Do your research and implement the latest up and coming marketing strategies BEFORE you get left behind!
The first question to ask yourself is “What is trending now?” If you find that you aren’t even utilizing the trends that are currently out, you may need to step it up and get with it. Don’t attempt to research every trend and try to do it all at once. Your head may explode! If you like your head intact, take some time and find what works for you.
For example, research has shown that more Google searches take place on mobile devices than on computers in 10 countries including the U.S. and Japan. What does this mean to your business? It means you need to make sure your website is mobile friendly and you might even work to have your own app developed to make purchasing a breeze if you have products to sell. If you don’t have the funds for that, you might work on selling your goods through Amazon, or get yourself listed on Yelp at the very least to drive mobile users to your storefront!
Now that you are tweeting, googling, mobile apping, yelping, snapping those chats, and feeling super trendy while wearing a T-shirt that may even express your feelings about Mondays, it’s time to move your thinking to the future. Just close your eyes and picture it. You don’t need a genie in a lamp to see one of the fastest growing trends. It’s Video!
If you are still using plain text and still images, it’s time to move on up to the video platforms. In 2017 Snapchat only allowed you 10 seconds to show your friend that awesome burger you were about to chow down on, but now that the other platforms are stepping up their game, they allow you a full 60 seconds. Attention spans are short and lives are getting fuller than ever so 60 seconds is quite a jump for them! In 2019, it’s safe to say they may even make it longer than that to keep their competitive edge.
Not only are videos the thing to do but LIVE videos are going to be trending even hotter! Live videos give your audience a chance to see what you see in REAL time! It makes you downright relatable! Who wouldn’t want to see that concert you are attending, or seminar that has all the attendees screaming like Fangirls?!
Facebook and Instagram use this trend all the time and even alert your followers when are on! Instagram already took it a step further and gave it’s audience an IGTV. What is IGTV? It’s your own video channel through Instagram and we have absolutely seen a vast majority of our own followers using it every day for: Trends, Updates, and Informative Sessions! This could definitely give YouTube a run for it’s money, so if you are Instagram, it’s time to use that channel of yours and talk to your viewers! Hop to it, while it’s hot hot hot!
Since our Magical 8 Ball isn’t working and Signs Point to Yes, it’s time to talk about a trend that may even talk back to you. No your kids aren’t trending, unless your kids names are Google, Alexa, or Siri. I’m talking about voice activated search! By 2019 the voice activated smart speakers will be a $601 million industry and by 2020, it is estimated that more than 1/2 of all searches will be voice activated! That’s a WHOLE lot of users!
You may wonder how voice activated search will affect your marketing. Just think about it for a moment. If you are no longer sitting down and typing the words to find information, this could ultimately affect your SEO (Search Engine Optimization). When the mode of search is different, the terms and way you search are different as well.
For example, the queries will be a bit different when asking Google a question, so instead of typing in a search, you use your voice to have Google, Siri, or whoever to search for you. Queries will be action based with a direct command such as “Google, give me directions to a local bakery” instead of typing “local bakery”. With Alexa, you can even ask it to buy or order things for you! This will affect how a marketer optimizes their pages
So now you know why you should get ahead and it’s clear how to prepare yourself. When you are ahead of the game, you can watch your company grow and you’ll be sure not to struggle to catch up to those who are already set up for success! When all else fails, you could still choose time travel!
Sources
1. https://www.hubspot.com/marketing-statistics
2. https://www.socialreport.com/insights/article/360000663006-7-Digital-Marketing-Trends-That-Will-Own-2019
3. https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnhall/2018/06/17/5-marketing-trends-to-pay-attention-to-in-2019/#3142a61760f7
4. https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2018/04/10/voice-search-statistics-2018
5. https://searchengineland.com/seo-2018-optimizing-voice-search-288078
