Hottest 6 Marketing Trends for 2018
Episode 3
The Marketing Trends for 2018 have arrived. Is your marketing strategy ready?
It’s THAT time of year. On this episode, I highlight what I believe are the current trends affecting Marketing Leaders and Managers for the coming year.
It’s important to remember, that when looking at trends and assessing what is possible in your role, that you keep your eyes on the business goals, and only leverage the trends that your budget, time and resources allow.
Here are my predictions for 2018:
1. Brand Purpose
2. Influencer Marketing
3. Podcasts
4. Technology (Voice and AI)
5. Content Marketing
6. Big Data
Let’s have a closer look at each one:
1. Brand Purpose
This trend became a strong talking point in 2017, and will again be raised in 2018. This is driven by the customers, and business will have to start to listen.
Millennials are forcing this more than other generations. Some insights on this come from Goldman Sachs:
“One of the largest generations in history is about to move into its prime spending years. Millennials are poised to reshape the economy; their unique experiences will change the ways we buy and sell, forcing companies to examine how they do business for decades to come.”
Marketing Week also has a great article on this topic, called – Trends for 2018: Purpose will morph back into positioning saying…
“Purpose has been moving up the agenda for many a marketing department over the past few years as companies look to ‘do well by doing good’. But this year saw the beginnings of a backlash.”
[bctt tweet=”This trend and pressure for brands to live on “purpose” will not be going away. #ThisMarketingLife #BrandPurpose.”]
2. Influencer Marketing
If you have read other “trends summaries” you will have seen this one a few times. As companies and advertisers become desperate, due to their target market continuing to block their messages, this tactic has become more and more appealing.
In case you have been living under a rock, here’s a little definition of Influencer Marketing:
According to Ogilvy...
“Influencer marketing identifies those which have the most influence over potential buyers, and orientates marketing activity around these influencers.”
If you want to learn more about it, this is an excellent Huffington Post piece…
>> The Cost of Influencer Marketing: Choosing the Right Pricing Model
This trend is playing on the minds of many Marketing Managers, as you will see by this chart from eMarketer on the Expected Change in the Company Influencer Budget:
3. Podcasts
If you thought podcasts had reached their peak in popularity, then think again. An article on PR week says…
“The popularity of podcasts is rising with monthly listeners growing from 21% to 24% year-on-year in the U.S., according to an Edison Research report from April. Also, the report says 40% of Americans have ever listened to a podcast.”
And if you look at what is happening in Australia….
OzPod 2017 conducted some research and found:
For the FULL Report, please click here: ABC Podcast Research 2017
The ABC have this great infographic with some interesting insights…
And big media personalities in Australia are taking full advantage:
>> Hamish & Andy to join Southern Cross Austereo’s PodcastOne network
Corporates and Not-for-Profits are finding it difficult to resist. Especially when a friend of mine launched this podcast for his company in Sydney in 2017, it reached “New and Newsworthy” within 1 week, and now has 63,000 subscribers –
>> Australian Prescriber on iTunes
4. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Voice Technology
This looks like the trend most talked about and promoted this year. I’m not sure if Marketers should be nervous? Hmmmm, I don’t think so.
I was at a Real Estate Conference – ARPM – I think, in 2015 and the team from realestate.com.au put a headset on me and told me that virtual reality was going to change real estate in a big way.
Fast forward to 2018, and real estate buyers haven’t stopped going to Open Homes and Inspections just because you can “virtually” tour a property.
I think Marketers today may tinker with chat-bots or similar lower level AI, but hardly stretch themselves to make a significant investment….. just yet.
[bctt tweet=”#ArtificialIntelligence and Voice Technology seems like a good idea to implement, but only customer feedback will really tell if it’s a success and something worth pursuing. #ThisMarketingLife #MarketingTrends.”]
For further reading, a great well-rounded view can be found in this NextWeb article, that explains what the REAL, day-to-day impact of Artificial Intelligence will be.
>> How Will Artificial Intelligence Impact Digital Marketing in 2018?
“Optimized decision making, better sales-cycle and ‘predictive’ buying and selling processes are sure-shot outcomes of this robotic war.”
Is AI part of your role in 2018? I’d love to hear about it.
Watch this space.
5. Content Marketing
Marketing Managers and Leaders have FINALLY recognised the power of Content Marketing as they recently admitted to Smart Insights, when asked which SINGLE marketing activity will make the largest commercial impact in 2018:
I have a simple explanation of Content Marketing, that I always stand by:
[bctt tweet=”#ContentMarketing is about creating non-spammy, helpful, and shareable content that will promote your brand and your business in the best way possible. #ThisMarketingLife #MarketingTrends.”]
If Content Marketing is not in your tactics for 2018, you may be in trouble.
If you are keen to hear detailed stories about Content Marketing, please let me know.
6. Big Data
Every company now wants a “Data-Driven” Marketing Manager. But when making strategy, planning or campaign decisions in the business, how do you make sure you are data-driven?
Disruptor Daily shared a good article that Marketers can use to understand the trends in Big Data that is affecting Marketing…
>> Top Big Data Marketing Trends to Know in 2018
And Salesforce published a pretty good article back in 2014, that I think is still worth checking out today…
>> 5 Ways Marketers Can Actually Use Big Data
[bctt tweet=”#Bigdata or all the data in the world is useless, unless you know exactly what you want it for.. #ThisMarketingLife #MarketingTrends.”]
That’s It
Did I miss any? Feel free to let me know your thoughts and comments.
Subscribe via: iTunes | Stitcher | Soundcloud | CastBox
Provide Feedback
What would you like to hear about in regards to Marketing Management? Fill in this 2 minute survey [qsm_link id=1]HERE[/qsm_link]
Sign Up to Receive New Episodes
[wpforms id=”32″]
