5 Business Trends You’re Likely to See in 2019

December 27, 2018

When you think of 2018 as a year, what marketing trends do you recall taking large interest from typical consumers? From the explosion of video marketing on platforms such as YouTube and Facebook to the incorporation of live streaming from sites like Twitch. Artificial intelligence also made a large impact this year, with the massive spread of Google Home and Amazon’s Alexa, home assistants have never been so easily available to the average consumer. Another large trend brought to light was the incorporation of conversational marketing, where being straight-forward with your customers yielded a higher retention rate as opposed to those being traditionally marketed towards. With all the advancements taking place in only a year it may come as a worry to some marketers as to what trends may become popular in 2019. We have compiled a few trends to keep an eye on for marketers at any stage of their career.

Important Trends in 2019

Data Security

Thanks to our friends at Facebook and Google, data control has never been a more prevalent subject. With both companies’ CEO sitting before congress, fumbling over their answers and confusing those on the stands (to be fair, a lot of confusion was from the lack of technology from those in the stands) we are at a point where there are more questions than ever. Though, the topic of data privacy has often been conspiracy theories for the last few years, with the first-hand accounts noticed by most there is no denying something’s up.

With a ton of States passing laws to enforce a tighter protection for their consumers, there is still a ton of data collection in place that is “lawful” but would still raise concern from most. Keep an eye on how straightforward your company is with its data collection, as well as transparency, or else you may end up on the wrong end of an angry viral social media thread.

Subscription Services

It seems as if everything you can purchase online has a subscription box added to it. From clothes from services such as Menlo House, to snacks delivered to your home, to even dog toys and treats with personalized boxing for your dog sent monthly. Regardless of what it is there’s no denying that subscription boxes have boomed in the past few years, and there’s no end in sight. With new niche box ideas being created every single day, there will always be someone willing to subscribe to a box. We may see some instances of price decreases as competition grows exponentially and more competitors enter the market – but as far as any decrease in sales, it’s doubtful anything will change.

Borrowing Services

Thanks to the overall hardships of getting a leg up in the current economy (or the past few years) there has been a giant increase of small-time lending companies rising. With the minimum lending amounts from banks being in the hundreds to low thousands, you will find the everyday users who are looking to only borrow the money to cover rent going to online providers or apps. Apps such as Dave, Earnin, and Money Lion have made big ripples by providing small loans that will automatically deduct from your paycheck on payday. This way you could borrow small limits in advance to cover your weekly needs and have enough to pay back the amount you lent the next. This is exceptionally helpful for the millennial age group, as living paycheck to paycheck has become the financial norm. If you are considering starting this type of service, 2019 may be your year to do it.

Vertical Video

For the past few years we have been hearing constantly about the “sins of recording vertical video,” as the video doesn’t translate well for those watching on a computer or on their select mobile device of choice. Surprisingly this trend is now on the decline and vertical video is taking its place as the most coveted form of video marketing. With the inclusions of stories in apps such as Facebook and Instagram, marketing in vertical video has never been so important. Mainly an aesthetic choice over anything, users have begun to change the way they want to record videos without the need of spinning their phone to see the full view of the video recorded. This will now require a more creative outlook from content creators, as vertical videos can primarily only be shot on iPhones/Androids and provides you with less horizontal space to work with, leaving less room for ads and text overlays.

Influencers and Gen Z

If the Logan Paul scandal at the beginning of the year has taught us anything, it’s that online personalities have just as much weight as celebrities, if not more. When the events happened from YouTube creators such as Logan Paul, Jake Paul, PewDiePie, and others, there wasn’t a single news outlet covering the events. But who has been watching these individuals to rise the success of their careers to the point of such a large attention? The younger generation, Gen Z.

Influencer marketers are not a new concept at all, in fact most channels that base themselves as a purely affiliate channel have lost traction over the past few years. But, with the content being created and views by the hour, the impression being placed on each of these children will eventually become conversions for whatever business is sponsoring the content provided.

Though I am not a Gen Z, I am a Millennial that has been encompassed with YouTube (before the era of all the ads) and with the amount of content I personally consume from each of the creators I follow, I could name you their common sponsors and prices of the products being marketed. I can also attest to having some of said products in my home knowing that a “portion of my purchase” goes towards these influencers to keep providing content for me to consume.

2019 and Beyond

Though not everything talked about may take strides at the beginning of the year, they may become a staple later in the year or maybe not something until 2020 and up. Being prepared and testing the waters is the only way you’ll know. You may have a hook that works with your business model, but others don’t find much success due to whatever reason. This is by no means a definitive guide, but it is a good starting place to gauge how the market has been progressing over the past year and what to keep your eye on.