Trends & predictions for 2019

[Cash Cow]

It's that time of year again...

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All eyes looking at what the next 12 months have in store and where we'll need to up our game, what new avenues will open up and how we're all going to keep having our voices heard, above an ever more noisey marketplace.

So, having just compiled my own list of B2B marketing trends and predictions for 2019, from across the web, I was wondering what everyone else had to say.

As I'm new here you'll have to hunt around for my own thoughts

 

[Cash Cow]

For my tuppence worth I'd say this:

It's time for a 2-way conversation - even if it's chatbot assisted, videos not going anywhere, voice is getting louder, companies need to start thinking of social as something more than a side task for junior staff and playing along with Google's rules has never been more important.

Oh yeah, and email is back! (like it ever went away...)

 

[The Byre]

Brexit is dead and the economy will recover when it finally dies. Invest in the UK now whilst the rest of the World avoids what it thinks of as a basket case looks on as a lost cause,

The UK is regarded as a totally dead duck and when this whole Bexit nonsense blows over, it will be seen in retrospect as a brilliant investment opportunity!

 

[fisicx]

...companies need to start thinking of social as something more than a side task for junior staff and playing along with Google's rules has never been more important.

Only if your business has a social following or relies on Google.

Many do very well without either.

 

[Nochexman]

December 2019 BBC and ITV hold a series of shows in which political correspondents fight to the death in order that the last one alive gets to ask PM Theresa May and Jeremy Corbin "Just where are we now with Brexit?"

 

[NickGrogan]

"It's time for a 2-way conversation - even if it's chatbot assisted" - a chatbot isn't a conversation, chatbots for most businesses with die off in the next 12-24 months

"videos not going anywhere" - true, it will remain totally irrelevant for most businesses, but SEO/"marketers" will keep pushing it.

"voice is getting louder" - Millennials will do anything to avoid actually speaking to anyone, even friends, so not sure who's voice you're referring to.

"companies need to start thinking of social" - companies need to stop thinking about social.

" playing along with Google's rules has never been more important" - the SEO/"marketing" guys who are pushing social will keep telling you that you need to follow unpublished rules that only they know and will continue to try and game Google. They will continue to fail.


"Brexit is dead" - People who think Brexit is dead will get a surprise when it happens by mistake in September after 6 months of "talks" that do no where. The UK will recover as things get back to normal again.

"Invest in the UK now" - do this

political correspondents fight to the death in order

- Celebrity Deathmatch is back

 

[Mr D]

For my tuppence worth I'd say this:

It's time for a 2-way conversation - even if it's chatbot assisted, videos not going anywhere, voice is getting louder, companies need to start thinking of social as something more than a side task for junior staff and playing along with Google's rules has never been more important.

Oh yeah, and email is back! (like it ever went away...)

None of which appears to make a difference for this ebay and amazon seller.

What will make a difference is figuring out what to buy. I have ideas.

XXXXX will be in, with demand increasing by at least 10% nationally in 2019. XXXX will decline globally once again with at least 3% drop.
XXXXXX will be in great demand by 31st March. XXXXXXXX will have reduced local supply and potential problems getting in April so expect price to increase considerably while supply cost remains constant.

And furniture stores will have sales. You can take that one to the bank.

 

[Usman Aslam]

Clean and minimalist designs, or flat designs, are characterized by fast loading and are currently modern and desirable for two important reasons. First, mobile users and desktop browsers can experience fast loading websites. Second, they can have a high SEO value. The flat design helps a site meet many of the speed requirements that search engines are beginning to require. This is the reason why flat design has started to be popular and will continue to be a trend in 2019.

 

[fisicx]

This is the reason why flat design has started to be popular and will continue to be a trend in 2019.

What a load of twaddle. Flat design doesn't affect the page load speed.

 

[Gillie]

I had to google flat design - then I laughed!!

Yes you need a site that loads fast - don't care though what kind it is and neither does google - and then you need a site that keeps people on it - as GGG (great god google) understands that the content is relevant so its worth keeping an eye on!

Why do some feel the need to make a mountain out of a molehill??

 

[Wogan May]

It's time for a 2-way conversation - even if it's chatbot assisted, videos not going anywhere, voice is getting louder, companies need to start thinking of social as something more than a side task for junior staff

For chatbots: They do have their uses as first-line support, but the real effort in getting them set up well is a thorough understanding of a business' processes. The technology is usually the easiest part about them - it's designing the conversation flows that's unique to every customer.

In truth we've had chatbots for years now - telemarketers and remote support personnel have used virtual soundboards and pre-scripted dialogue for the majority of their communication, something that text-based chatbots will easily replace for a more text-savvy generation.

For voice: The real market opening up is home automation (Google Home, Alexa, etc), with their APIs opening up for "skills" (meaning integrations) all the time. For instance, search "getvoiceflow" - having an Alexa skill enables customers to ask their personal panopticon for your services, instead of searching and clicking on a PPC ad, so this would probably be a good one to learn.

Social: This one's debatable, really. Direct customer relations (meaning email, call centers etc) will still deliver better ROI than investing in social. There's very little good that can come from a modern social presence: If you're on Facebook, you need to constantly spend to reach an audience that you think you've earned (and organically you're reaching less than 10% on every post). On Twitter, most of your engagement will be complaints. Instagram is great for products that have a strong visual element, but beyond all of those you're probably better off with good old PPC ads.