Dove Direct Print and Marketing Blog, "5 Trends Driving 2019 Marketing"

Welcome to the Dove Direct Print and Marketing Blog. Today's post, "5 Trends Driving 2019 Marketing" moves away from the avalanche of marketing trends being pushed for 2019 and instead encourages brands and marketers to stay cognizant of five key areas that relate first and foremost to the consumer. New technologies are being birthed nearly every second of every day, so much so, that keeping up with them could be a full time job.

Just take a moment to digest what trends marketers and brands have had to understand and possibly implement from just 2018.

Personalized messaging, chat bots, video marketing, content marketing, email marketing, voice search technology, mobile optimization, direct mail marketing, database management, social media marketing, multi and omnichannel marketing strategies, SEO and the list goes on.

The stage for 2019 has been set and the backdrop for forecasted marketing directives will be disrupted exponentially by the fluctuating state of consumer confidence. To that end, consumer confidence typically associated with the state of the economy is under fire regarding what consumers have faith in, what is truth and with what or whom can be trusted.

As the stock market and trade war befuddles the true global economic picture, the online experience is also being muddled by information leaks and theft while the desire for consumers and businesses to conduct their communications in a stress free environment is now of paramount importance.

Given this backdrop, the following trends are set to take a dominant role in the age of pursuing trustworthy marketing initiatives.

1. Trust Over Ads

We have experienced the rise of brands opting to include "influencers" into their marketing budgets. Why? Well, for one, most marketers are keenly aware of the "death of the 30 second spot" invective, which represented an insult to television's long standing dominance, as far back as 2004. This period also represented a time when the internet was beginning to surge and marketing dollars were being re-allocated away from traditional mediums.

As consumers continued to direct their trust away from traditional mediums, more studies came to the forefront that documented this shift, so much so, that recently Nielsen, a global measurement and data analytics company, put the trend in perspective. When it comes to trust, Nielsen reported that the leading most-trusted sources of advertising are: People you know, word of mouth (WOM), branded sites, editorial sites and reviews.

And if you betted that ads came in at the bottom on this report, you win the common sense marketing award! Further, the Nielsen report seems to justify the advent of ad blocking technology that is currently being deployed by 30% of all internet users and set to increase in 2019. Therefore, until ads become more relevant for consumers, budgets will continue to rise for content marketing and influencer marketing.

The takeaway here is that brands and marketers should embrace content that is trustworthy and valuable to consumers.

2. Automation and Relationships

Automated processes will continue to unfold and unlock better customer communications, saving time and resources, including the promise of increased brand loyalty and equity. Decision making based solely on the results of automated processes should never be a substitute for spending face time with clients and customers.

That said, it is imperative going forward for brands and marketers to schedule face time with their customers and prospects. Relationships are what cements clients' trust and subsequently tie into the prospect that those clients will not only remain loyal to the brand, but have demonstrated a propensity to increase their spending.

The takeaway on automation and relationship building is to provide both automation results and increasing customer face time. There is nothing more authentic than spending time with clients and prospects.

3. Breaking Down Silos

All too often, brands are concerned with internal processes, and to a large degree opt for departments to operate independent of each other. Sure, these departments communicate with each other, however, in most cases the communiques that are being shared are a result of a single department making a decision with minimum input from the other departments, resulting in tactical versus strategic engagements.

Eradicating departments operating in a silo will greatly add to an organization's internal processes that provides the entire infrastructure to view all the seemingly disparate goals as a single strategic vision. Ending silo operational procedures will provide a seamless internal overview for the entire company, from sales teams, to budgeting departments, marketing and forecasting teams, including any other areas that are tasked with divergent responsibilities.

Slashing red tape between and among departments will improve all strategy executions designed for customer facing communications. Regardless of how stellar and engaging the content may be, unless there is buy in from the staff, those goals will be more difficult to attain.

The takeaway: Ensure that the organization's various departments have and maintain the ability to communicate in real time with each other, thus providing avenues for improved talent, better cost efficiencies, and ultimately the realization that stakeholders and clients relationships will be greatly enhanced.

4. Establishing Communication Preferences

Understanding how your customers and prospects choose to communicate has been on the radar for years now. In fact, there are tons of articles, books, blogs, seminars and how-to directives that focus on the best methods to identify customers and prospects habits. How you approach that task is not much different for the time being, although this will probably change in the not too distant future as well.

Most marketing gurus have invested time and resources into developing best practices when it comes to understanding consumers.

That said, we've moved from online marketing to more specific versions of online communications, including email marketing, video marketing, infographics, white papers, blogs, podcasts, apps and other native digital constructs to engage consumers, clients and prospects.

The takeaway for 2019 is that voice search is going to change the game. Voice search for the most part is in its infancy, however, most digital communication experts are signaling that by 2020, 50% of all searches will be conducted via voice search. Every marketer should be paying close attention to this area.

5. Creativity and Omnichannel

Most all creative marketing processes are digital in nature and that will only become more so as new technologies enter the marketplace. To that end, as more online niche market groups emerge, the odds of marketing campaigns reaching enough targets in each niche group to move the needle is dwindling to the point of being classified as 'diminishing returns."

Further the term "omnichannel" is replacing multi-channel marketing with the emphasis on omnichannel directives that are focused on creating seamless customer experiences across any and all channels a brand would target in search of prospects.

As niche target communities expand, it will become more challenging to create meaningful, engaging content that will break through the clutter and gain visibility. One of the answers being supported by brands that have engaged in an alternative approach to gain higher online response rates is through direct mail collateral, from postcards to newsletters, brochures and special offers that direct recipients to online destinations.

The takeaway: use creative marketing campaigns that are omnichannel by design, but also invoke a divergent road to increase exposure and responses by using direct mail tactics in conjunction with online campaigns.

The Net-Net

Regardless of who, where or why a niche market segment responds to digital based marketing, these 5 trends should provide a roadmap of sorts to differentiate a brand from its competitors.

The creative process for constructing and delivering meaningful communication messaging will only become more involved. Automation will continue to help play a huge role in determining and disseminating data. However; the face to face communication strategy is where relationship building actually takes place and should be included in any marketing/sales initiative. Thanks for reading "5 Trends Driving 2019 Marketing."

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