New and Emerging Digital Marketing Trends for 2019

By Bethany, Social Media Strategist | December 6, 2018

Successful marketing depends on reaching your target audience where they consume content. These channels and platforms have changed drastically over the years – and the evolution continues. The ways in which marketers share their messages is also a practice in flux.

A few trends have caught our attention as we work on our clients’ 2019 marketing strategies. You should consider them, too.

Social Media Is Here to Stay

The use of social media in marketing remains prevalent and pervasive, even when the different types of social media rise and fall in popularity. And within these different media, specific tools rise to the forefront. Stories are incredibly useful for businesses. Instagram stories excel for one-to-one content and can spur engagement. 57% of people say that stories make them feel a part of a community, and one in two people have purchased a product or service after seeing it in stories.

Between Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, over 1 billion people use stories in some capacity every day. Stories are a great opportunity to promote content you don’t want to feature on your main page, like a temporary sale or promotion.

In addition to stories, social media platforms offer live streaming and long-form video services. Options like IGTV, Facebook Live, Instagram Live, and Facebook Watch are all great ways to show in-depth information on products or services.

Storytelling Increases Value (and Interest)

92% of consumers want brands to make ads feel like a story. Google, Patagonia, and Volvo are all using storytelling to lift their TV ads, in completely different ways. Google, for example, uses data to grab the viewer’s attention. Patagonia takes the philanthropic approach to connect through shared values. The emotional appeal used by Volvo elicits a strong response and connection.

The newest spin on storytelling is episodic content through IGTV, Facebook Watch, and YouTube. These serials engage viewers, as they follow up with each new episode for fresh content.

The Rise of the Influencer

Influencers have steadily increased in relevance, and that trend will continue. In addition to mainstream influencers with hundreds of thousands of followers, “micro” and “nano” influencers now hold a large share. These accounts – with anywhere from 1,000 to 100,000 followers – serve niche markets, and engage well with their community with authenticity.

Because influencers are so prominent, they will impact your brand whether you take advantage of their services or not. Micro-influencers are an opportunity to spread the word of your business with a reliable positive experience. This can be as simple as promoting your business through an influencer with a coupon code that they can pass on to their community, so you can track the direct ROI.

What does your 2019 digital marketing campaign look like? Are you taking advantage of these trends – do they even make sense for your business? We can help you figure that all out.