2018 has been another exciting year in the marketing world and as always new trends, software and statistics have come and gone at the speed of light. These techniques take us by storm on an annual basis and entirely transform the manner in which we connect with, attract and engage our audiences and clients.

We have seen a vast number of trends evolve from more content and video marketing trends to native advertising and social media. It has, however, and continues to be the age of the micro influencer, spiralling to new heights unimagined and outstripping the traditional celebrity figure. Despite having smaller audiences than Hollywood A-listers, these influencers have greater power, in the strength of their engagement. No longer splashed across print and television, these individuals posts pack a punch as their audiences are able to aspire to similar lifestyles.

Looking to the future

Keeping up to date with these trends is, however, no longer enough. As marketers in this exciting age we must look to the future. At arc we look ahead to the Marketing Trends of 2019. These will undoubtedly spread across both print and digital media, as a new wave of marketing milestones come to life in the new year.

1. Look to Feed

Attention marketers! If it had somehow gone unrecognised… The feed is the place to be. The place where consumers live, work and thrive. It is here advertisers crave to spark your interest and divert your attention, so for the new year: vibrant, engaging and diverse native ad formats will continue to infiltrate across the feed.

2. Mobile Matters

Adyoulike recently carried out research on mobile usage, which found collectively the distance traveled by scrolling thumbs for 400 people, in one year alone, would account to the entire circumference of the Earth. Therefore, native advertising on mobile feeds is the key to a marketers success. It’s no longer enough to concentrate our energy on that old, dusty office desktop or a shiny MacBook at home, targeting mobile phones with ‘scroll stopping’ mobile responsive content is greatest plan of attack for 2019.

3. Content? Not yet…

Content overkill is now a thing – there is more content than ever in circulation, which means even more content is able to be ignored. The need to invest in better content, not just more content is only going to grow in 2019. To ensure you are producing the most accessible and effective subject matter, pay attention to the type of content that is able to resonate most with your buyers demographic.

4. Keep Rolling

Video marketing isn’t a new idea itself, but its popularity and conversion rate have proven to have soared in the last year and is not slowing down. YouTube is now the second most popular social network after Facebook, according to a report by Statista, who have also seen the evolution of much of their feed content becoming video formatted. Marketers have but a few seconds to quickly captivate audiences with heightened impact and interest videos, which will see 2019 a space for creativity and thinking out side of the box.

5. (Brand) Safety First

Everyone now experiences swathes of promotional emails, marketing campaigns and advertisements with inboxes full to the brim. The joys of modern life…

In 2019, however, brand safety considerations will be a great force behind key digital advertising practices. As personal data is set to appreciate as valuable currency, not just to you but to all marketers and business owners across the land. Those to hold such data will grow in responsibility as General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) enacted inMay of this year, continues. Following the GDPR guidelines may seem like a burden, but landing a hefty fine for non-compliance will feel much worse; so as we look to the new year, keep fingers on the pulse for GDPR regulation and keep your data protected.

Overall, we at arc look to 2019 with great excitement, to see once again how the marketing world will evolve, as we find new ways to reach diverse audiences and even greater heights. Taking with us these marketing tips, we wish you success for the year ahead and eagerly await new marketing frontiers.