5 Digital Marketing Trends that Are Dominating 2019

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As the new year is officially upon us, I can’t help but reflect — for just a moment — on 2018. What an exciting year for the digital marketing space, and especially for AdSwerve. June was a huge month, as Google announced it was consolidating the DoubleClick Digital Marketing and Google Analytics 360 Suite into one Google Marketing platform. Then came August, when we announced one of our most important milestones in the last decade — the acquisition of Analytics Pros. Flash forward two more months, and our New York office was officially open to better support our clients on both coasts. Wow, lots of change. But certainly the good kind. As we move full-speed into January, I thought it’d be helpful to share what these consolidations mean to you, and what I see as the top 5 digital marketing trends of 2019.  
  1. Our Industry Must Bridge the Communication Gap Between Marketing and Analytics. While investments in analytics are booming, many are struggling to move from employing analytics in a few use cases to scaling it across all marketing activities and embedding it into everyday decision-making. Simply having the data won’t be enough — marketers will be required to understand, digest, transform and execute on it in order for the data to be valuable. This will be the year that agencies, DSPs and brands alike will start to work more collaboratively to activate, optimize, measure and ultimately plan future campaigns using true data.
 
  1. Brands Will Require Even More Transparency. Brands have spoken in 2018 and the message is clear — more transparency. Marketers want to own their data and better understand the ROI and performance of their campaigns across all channels, including data from Google Cloud, Salesforce, marketing automation tools, G-suite integrations, and social channels. With more access and real-time visibility into campaign performance, marketers, agencies and tech platform providers will be able to work off of the same data to develop a better understanding of the customer journal across all marketing channels.
 
  1. Consumers Will Continue to Want Privacy but Expect Personalization. 52% of consumers say they’re likely to switch brands if a company doesn’t personalize communication to them. While privacy is important, consumers expect their experiences — across most platforms, at least — to be personalized. Marketers who learn to unlock the human stories hidden within their data will have the upper hand. And, no doubt, AI, chatbots and other personalization tools will become even more critical in helping to unlock these insights and fuel more hyper-relevant content.
 
  1. Digital Video Is a Must-Have. We are seeing marketers taking more of a ‘hybrid’ approach to media buying with an increase in digital advertising across mobile. We believe digital video presents a big area of opportunity for marketers, especially for those reaching a younger audience. According to the IAB report, mobile video revenue grew to $4.2 billion in the first half of 2018, up 60.5% from the same period the previous year.
 
  1. Immediacy Is More Important Than Ever. Most of our clients have or are planning an omnichannel marketing strategy. This is supported by the proliferation of leveraging micro-moments — providing content to consumers exactly when and how they need it via mobile devices. It’s become apparent that any instance in time, regardless of the device, is an opportunity to make an impression to a potential customer.
  So that wraps my top 5 digital marketing predictions. How about you? What’s top of mind for you to win in 2019?