Yep, it’s that time of year again, where people predict what trends will surface in 2019, from food and drink to clothes and makeup. Like every year, we are extremely excited to see what this year has in store for the marketing industry and predicting trends has been a hot topic of conversation in the office as of late.
In the first of our blog series, ‘Punch predicts’, our Digital Marketing team discuss what they think will be hot in the world of social this year.
Micro influencers
In the past couple of years, social influencers have dominated the social media scene and the world of marketing. Brands can now turn to Instagram stars, Twitter influencers and famous YouTubers as a means of promoting their products and services. However, influencers with a huge following don’t come cheap, which has seen companies with a smaller budget search for alternatives.
Sophie says: “This year, I think we’ll see the rise of micro-influencers. Although they have a smaller following, they generally have a more engaged audience who have complete trust in them. Ultimately, follower numbers aren’t everything, something which I think brands will begin to understand in 2019.”
Storytelling
Now more than ever, people desire more from brands, they want to invest in a narrative or story that delves deeper into their core values. Not only this, but research has proven that those with a strong brand story have the power to increase the value of their product and/ or services 20 times over!
As things continue to move online, storytelling on digital platforms has become extremely important, and what better way to tell a story than on social media to millions of users? Visa showed everyone how it should be done with their ‘Keep it high street’ campaign, showcasing the company’s commitment to local businesses.
Rochelle commented: “With so much competition in every industry, storytelling has become imperative for any business. Not only does it help emphasise a company’s core values, but gives them a unique edge. I think we’ll start to see a lot more ‘social storytelling’ this year, with brands turning to social media to tell their stories – personally, I can’t wait to see what campaigns come out of this trend.”
Tongue in Cheek Campaigns
Campaigns with ‘sass’ were all the range this past year, with the likes of KFC, Greggs and Lidl showing us all how tongue in cheek campaigns should be executed. From KFC promoting negative tweets to Lidl doing yet another parody to the John Lewis Christmas ad, we’ve had our fair share of sassy social campaigns in 2018.
Hannah said: “So far, we’ve seen many big national and international businesses have more fun on social media, however, I think 2019 will be the year where we begin to see SMEs following this trend, becoming more playful on social channels. I also think we’ll see more colloquial interactions between companies and their followers think Greggs replying to hate about their vegan sausage roll.”
Look out for more in the ‘Punch predicts’ blog series coming later this month…next up is design!