What’s ahead on the marketing landscape?
If you’ve been with us a for a while now, you’ll know that we made some educated predictions for 2018. Now that 2019 has begun, it’s time to take a look at those predictions to see which came true and which are still in development for the 2019/20 year ahead.
Additionally, we’ll talk about the new trends and see what’s ahead on the marketing landscape for the year in development.
Looking back on the year behind us
We talked about personalised marketing and how niche-focused content remains the norm. It seems that personalisation has stayed and is still going to be the trend in this year. Additionally, we also said that firms need to keep producing mature content that will keep their audience engaged and informed on everything that’s going on. We stand by this assumption because setting yourself apart is still vital in the online world.
Furthermore, we talked about the continuing rise of video which saw some significant gain in popularity in 2017. The trend continued in 2018 and is likely to further increase in 2019 as well. Check some statistics that show how it will look this year and the others to follow. Some even go as far as to say that more than 80% of all Internet traffic will be the video format by 2021. A bold prediction, but it shows how big video content has become. It’s easy to digest and is becoming easier and easier to make as well.
We also discussed the decline of Facebook. It seems that we were on track with this, even though we knew nothing of what was going to come in 2018. The numerous scandals involving Facebook brought its stock down by a staggering 25.7% while the public opinion went to an all-time low. What’s more, 2018 proved to be the worst year for the juggernaut and 2019 is not going to be much better unless they make some changes they keep claiming they’ll create, yet fail to do so. That said, Facebook remains the dominant social media platform for middle aged and older people (women especially), so don’t be too hasty and dismiss it entirely – you need to make choices dependent on your client base and target market.
Trends to pay attention to
Besides the things we already mentioned, there are some additional trends to keep an eye on in 2019/20.
- People will continue to trust reputable sources while ads will continue to have a lesser impact as more people are using ad blockers.
- We at The Thought Leadership Initiative firmly believe in setting yourself apart from others, as that’s the key to being a successful marketer and a true thought leader.
- Understanding your clients is vital and will continue to be, no doubt about it. It is one trend in the world of marketing which everyone can agree.
- Newer technologies are continuing to make an impact. It’s crucial for you to pay attention to automation and using it to connect, engage and deliver. Also, keep in mind that the technologies which have made the most significant impact in 2018 and are going to continue to be important in 2019. Think artificial intelligence, virtual and augmented reality, as well as visual and voice search.
2018 has proved to be popular in many areas and brought us some critical changes to the marketing landscape. As you can see, 2019 is not going to lag, and neither should you.