The Word is Out: 2019 Marketing Trends
Marketing trends come and go as quickly as the latest viral meme—so we’re here to help you keep up as we launch into 2019.
The way people relate with businesses is changing rapidly, and if you can’t figure out how to connect to your target audience coming into the New Year, it’s going to be a rough one. Fortunately, authenticity and community is the name of the game. The biggest challenge will be breaking old habits and learning how to connect with your consumer. Here are five ways to do that in 2019.
People Trust People, Not Big Businesses
There is so much noise on the Internet—pop up ads, radio ads, banner ads, and eventually people just tune most of it out: they have to! That’s why building a community around your brand is more important than ever. A person may scroll past your posts at first, but when a friend or public figure they respect is suddenly talking about you, they’ll start to listen. In other words, market like a human.
How do you build that community? Wow your customers. Don’t just give them the best product or service: do everything you can to customize and personalize their experience. Make sure your marketing is of value to them beyond making your sale. Build genuine connections. If your customers feel like you actually care about them on an individual level, they’ll do half of your marketing for you.
Create, Don’t Conform
This goes right along with breaking those old habits. Old marketing habits say “stick with the brand, don’t get input from others, don’t be too transparent.” While brand standards are important, today’s successful marketers are showing that innovation, relatability, and accessibility are simply too important to ignore. If your brand itself isn’t very accessible to your target market, maybe it’s time for a brand standard change. Smart brands oscillate back and forth as trends change without losing their core principles, so ask yourself: which aspects of your brand are core principles, and which are simply habit?
Align Your Marketing with Sales
Getting input from your sales team and customers is more crucial than ever. If marketing isn’t communicating with sales, one, you’re losing tons of amazing content ideas, and two, you may not be meeting your sales team’s needs (or the needs of your customers). Have regular meetings with sales—you may discover that your clients have very clear needs that you are not meeting with your marketing.
Is it Helpful? Is it Authentic?
Making an e-book, social media post, or content offer? Ask yourself, is it helpful? Is it authentic? If it isn’t helpful, your customers will lose trust in your value. If it isn’t helpful and it isn’t authentic either, what good is it? Your social media posts should be showing your brand personality in a way that connects with your audience. If every post you make is either helpful or authentically showing your brand’s personality and values, you’ll see higher brand loyalty and attract new customers.
Speak to your audience in their language about what’s in their heart.
Jonathan Lister
Don’t Forget Smart Speakers for SEO
Google Home, Alexa, and more smart speakers are becoming integral in consumer’s homes. So not only do you need to consider how people type when they are searching for something, you need to think about how people speak.
Takeaways for 2019? Connect, be helpful, be authentic, and be searchable (in a practical way). If you need extra help building new marketing habits for 2019, our clients have had great success after working with us to create a Marketing Strategy. Check it out and let us know what you think!
Before founding Trusty Oak, Amber spent five years at a rapidly growing digital agency based in Austin, TX. Four of those years, she was responsible for hiring and leading both local and virtual teams while working closely with clients ranging from CEOs to bestselling authors to build their brand online. As VP of Operations, Amber helped lead the company’s growth to #15 on Austin Business Journal’s Fast50 List in 2014.
As a female founder and leader of a company that has quickly established a recognizably special culture within a non-traditional workforce, Amber has energized and empowered women from diverse professional and personal backgrounds to go against the grain of historically standard female roles in business, technology, and leadership. Trusty Oak provides an opportunity for experienced admin and marketing professionals to work independently as freelancers, but with a supportive internal network consisting of other ambitious and resourceful remote workers.