A new year brings new trends in all aspects of marketing. We narrowed down our top 10 trends for 2019 and brought them to you in a two-part series, with our tips on how to apply them to your business.
- Real-time communication
With the rise of chat bots and live videos, the need for brands to be available 24/7 will increase in 2019. This also adds to a brand’s image of trustworthiness and reliability. From 24/7 live feeds, automatic replies and second-fast responses to tweets, brands will need to cover all bases on social media to ensure cohesive and reliable communication with consumers.
Whilst the US food chain, Wendy’s, may not be a stellar example of the traditional customer service route, their quick humourous quips to fans have created a new kind of image for the brand.
Nike seems to approach their direct tweets in a more professional and traditional customer service-oriented fashion, with helpful responses to their customer’s troubles.
There have also been instances in which a consumer will tweet another brand, and another similar offering will swoop in and plug their service. To do so, just follow key hashtags associated with your brand, get notifications whenever anyone mentions your name and get in quickly. Whatever real-time service route you take, ensure it is cohesive across all channels.
- The rise of the micro influencer
Influencers have had expensive stakes in the social media space over the past few years, but as their popularity for spruiking brands, experiences and products declines, the micro influencer will take over.
Favoured for their expertise in niche markets, despite smaller followers, micro influencers have a perceived loyal, trusting and organic following more likely to listen to their recommendations. As experts in their field, with a comparatively smaller following, their offering is far more inexpensive than that of the celebrated mega influencer.
A trustworthy and down to earth digital presence is becoming far more appealing to marketers and consumers alike, granting smaller social media users high potential in creating a self-serving income whilst reaching more people.
We recommend searching for potential spokespeople based on content and engagement, rather than their follower numbers.
- Third Party Integration
In a fast moving world, signing up with an email address and creating a new password for every new account is considered too time consuming. In 2019, we will see a shift towards more social media companies integrating their services with third party providers. This will allow users to access new sites faster and provide valuable insights and analytics to the companies with which they create accounts.
Facebook and LinkedIn have been using these capabilities for years from online shopping to apps, but into the new year the trend toward third party integration will amass broad following. This increased uptake builds on growing trends towards sharing data with audiences and creating more seamless browsing experiences.
Further, the more social media companies integrate, the greater their dominance and presence across digital media. In turn, this presence will create a better, more personalised experience to their users.
- The rise of the social CEO
Boosting company reputation is not just the responsibility of 24/7 chat bots. CEO’s are continually growing their presence on social media to boost reputation, build trust and appeal to job applicants.
In 2016, OKTOPost revealed that 40% of CEOs are active on social media, whilst 70% of those were only on LinkedIn. As media distrust grows across the digital sphere, it can be predicted that this percentage will rise to incorporate more CEOs on a range of social media platforms such as Twitter and Instagram.
The social CEO commands relatability, respect and a credibility that second-hand information cannot. The consumer now demands news straight from the source – and having a CEO active across company blogs, LinkedIn posts and Twitter announcements affords this on a new scale.
- Social Stories
Just as video consumes social media platforms, so too will the ephemeral stories made popular by Snapchat. These vertical disappearing videos are said to be experiencing growth 15 times faster than feed-based sharing and will soon surpass conventional feeds to become the primary mode of sharing.
Visual, eye-catching designs create an aesthetically pleasing experience for viewers, whilst their short-lived nature allows easy consumption on the go – anytime, anywhere. Their designs are optimised for mobile viewing as yearly trends continually favour handheld devices over desktop.
Users no longer have to scroll through their feeds to see what their favourite users are posting, rather, they can access real time ‘vlog’ style content in 60 second bites of ‘reality’.
64 percent of respondents in a Hootesuite digital marketing survey revealed they plan to implement Instagram stories into their social strategy in 2019. Brands can benefit from providing a diversified content experience to users and varying their approach and delivery whilst maintaining a consistent brand image across all platforms.
Contact Evolve Marketing today to discuss how we can boost your digital presence by leveraging these trends and applying them to your current business strategy. We are available on 07 3254 1911