As a leading Suffolk brand marketing agency, we work with clients in many different sectors. What each client has in common though is that with a new year comes new challenges, new opportunities to grow the business and the chance to make marketing work harder. 2018 was a big year in business and in politics, there’s been so much going on that it’s hard to keep up! Here is our guide to the year ahead – and the 5 trends to look out for to keep your brand at the top of its game for 2019.
A rise in Instagram use (and advertisement)
Instagram will continue to grow this year, with advertisers increasingly shifting their spending from Facebook advertising to the photo-sharing platform. Instagram still has fewer users than Facebook (approximately 1 billion monthly users to Facebook’s 2.2 billion) but they are much more engaged and likely to interact with brands, making it the go-to platform for ads that make an impact. Top tip: engage with Instagram Stories, which are set to become an even better marketing tool in 2019. Alice Cuffe, editor at We Are Social, told Marketing Week that, “Instagram has evolved Stories to allow brands to connect with audiences in a space where they feel comfortable enough to express their truest, least curated selves.”
Influencer marketing is still one to watch
Influencers are already big business – there were over 21.7 million brand sponsored influencer posts on Instagram in 2018. It’s proven to be a great way to reach people effectively and personally, through utilising the online networks social media influencers have already created. Here at Curzon Associate Marketing, we’ve successfully developed content with influencers for brands including Gressingham Foods and Munchy Seeds. Top tip: Choose influencers you want to work with based on engagement, rather than following. Having 2,000 engaged followers is worth more than having a million followers who don’t interact. If you’re interested in influencer marketing then we have come across a few Influencer Marketplaces that are extremely useful, these are Brand Snob and Takumi, and there are so many more out there!
Pay attention to privacy
2018 brought new data protection legislation under GDPR. Although the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into effect in May 2018, expect more far-reaching changes this year. Like most major new legislation, it will take a while to come fully into effect.
Augmented reality marketing
Companies including Tiffany’s, Michael Kors, and IKEA have already offered customers the opportunity to “try before you buy” through augmented reality advertising – clever ads that allow you to try on a product through your phone or see how a piece of furniture would look in your living room. Expect this technology to become more developed and used more widely in 2019.
Interactive Content
Expect to see more “clickability” in email and social media marketing – more games, image carousels, quizzes, Instagram polls and anything interactive. Top tip: the use of interactive content in your marketing emails is a surefire way to boost engagement with your audience – it gives people a chance to interact with your brand without leaving the email or platform they’re on, making it easier than ever to make an impression.
As a leading Suffolk marketing agency and brand marketing specialist we are dedicated to keeping our clients at the forefront of the ever-changing marketing opportunities available to them. To discover how we can help you please get in touch.