Social Media Marketing Trends to Watch Out for in 2019

With more than 3 billion people globally using social media platforms, having a presence on social media is essential for businesses. Social media platforms, like Facebook and Instagram, allow businesses to form close connections with customers, develop a stronger brand awareness, communicate authority, and ultimately, increase leads and sales.

So, what top trends in social and digital marketing can we expect to see as we move into 2019?

For starters, the internet will catch up to television in 2019.
According to data from Zenith and reported by Business Insider, the internet will most definitely be even with television in terms of hours watched with online streaming rising at a faster rate than ever before.

Here are 6 social media marketing trends to watch out for in 2019:

1. Live Video
One of the first things set to increase in 2019 will be the utilization of live video services, such as those offered through YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram. Brands that use live video have a far better chance at converting customers to purchase their services or products. According to stats reported by Social Report, back in 2016, more than 80 percent of internet users watched more live videos than in 2015, and this trend is only set to increase into 2019.

2. The Growth of Traditional Video
Similarly to live videos, the use of traditional videos are expected to grow next year as well. Humans are naturally visual creatures; as video becomes the more preferred way of gathering information, buyers are more likely to be persuaded through video content rather than by written content.

By 2019, video will make up an astounding 80 percent of all internet traffic. It is not surprising, then, that two out of three marketers expect video to make up the majority of their content in the near future. By this data, social media marketers have the unique advantage of using video platforms to showcase to customers their products in a way that is most appealing to them.

3. Chatbots
Right now, chatbots are a huge marketing trend which rely on artificial intelligence to mimic human conversation to communicate. More businesses are implementing the use of these live chat services in an effort to enhance customer brand experience by offering information and support. Although many write off chatbots as robotic and rather vague, we can expect them to become more conversational and user-friendly in 2019.

In a recent study by Oracle, 80 percent of businesses report they use, or plan to use, chatbots by the year 2020. eMarketer reports that more than 1.4 billion people are now interacting with chatbots.

4. Voice Technology
It is estimated that by 2019, the voice recognition market will be worth $601 million. Voice technologies, like Amazon’s Echo and Google Home, are excellent examples of how brands are able to get closer to their target market than ever before. Research backs that during the 2017 holiday season, 25 percent of shoppers used some form of voice assistants, while 40 percent of adults use voice search every day.

5. Influencer Marketing
Studies show that consumers are 71 percent more likely to make a purchase based on social media referrals. Furthermore, 40 percent of people have purchased a product after seeing it being used by an influencer on either Instagram, Twitter, or YouTube.

Marketers are really beginning to understand the importance of influencer marketing. Some of the best examples of influencer marketing are YouTubers. Often times, YouTubers are ordinary people who have earned a following because they provide their viewers with content that is important or entertaining to them, such as lifestyle hacks, for example. Because of this, YouTubers can promote products or services from just about any type of business to their viewers. YouTubers will inform their viewers that the products they are promoting in their videos are sponsored by the company who make them. If the YouTuber has a large and dedicated following, this is another great way to use influencer marketing to spread the word about your brand and promote your products.

6. Generation Z Targeting
Being that Generation Z (those born in the mid-1990s to mid-2000s) grew up during the digital age, it only seems right that targeting them through social media is a perfect match to ensure they will be exposed to brands and make purchases based off that exposure. To make matters even better, Generation Z is starting to enter the workforce, which means they’re making money, so targeting them is an incredibly smart move for businesses.