2019 is right around the corner, and marketers are getting ready for the changes that are to come. These are the four trends that you need to keep an eye on to not fall behind:
Content Marketing
It is not breaking news, but content marketing’s importance will keep on growing during 2019. All marketers know that the best marketing does not feel like marketing. However, we are bombarded with intrusive, annoying ads –over five thousand of them every single day.
Content marketing has proven to be the solution to banner blindness –website visitors unconsciously ignoring all ads because they are so used to them. In fact, 24% percent of U.S. Internet users proactively blocked all ads on their devices.
Content marketing focuses on creating a trusting relationship with your audience. Brands can position themselves as personable and worthy of being listened. They can inform and entertain their readers with content that promotes their products and services in a much more organic way.
Video + Audio
But what type of content should companies be creating in 2019? Written content will never go out of fashion, and over one out of every two advertisers still consider it their top inbound marketing priority.
However, video and audio content will continue to make an impact in 2019. Video marketing can be used in a variety of ways: from vlogging (video-blogging) and webinars to landing pages and social media content. Research shows that 45% of people watch an hour or more of video a day.
Audio content is another great content marketing opportunity. Podcasts offer the most efficient way for an audience to digest your content because of its lack of friction and potential for multitasking. 50% of all podcast consumption is done outside the house –while driving, exercising, working, and riding public transportation.
Social Media Automation
As we touched on a recent article, social media is a must-do activity for all businesses, but it can require a big time investment. For those companies that do not have an in-house social media management team, focusing on automation can drastically reduce the daily effort.
Tools such as Social Chimp’s custom post scheduler can automate your social media posts across Facebook, LinkedIn, and even Twitter. Chatfuel and Botsify are also now opening the doors for businesses to easily create and manage bots that interact with potential customers on their website and Facebook.
Filtering of Noise
And finally, 2019 will be a year where the amount of published content –writing, audio, and video– will increase. More content means that there will be more competition for the attention of your consumers, which is already limited and scarce. They, in turn, will be more time-cautious and quickly filter the content they enjoy consuming from the one that they do not.
What does that mean for marketers? Only high-quality content will be worthy of receiving attention, and low-quality content will be completely ignored. Investing in creating content that entertains, informs, and connects will be the most important element going into 2019.
These are the four trends that you should watch out for in 2019.
Marti writes about digital marketing and entrepreneurship. Find him with coffee and a laptop while traveling back and forth between Barcelona and Charlotte. Connect with him on LinkedIn.
