2019 Marketing Trends You Need to Know

The need for, and use of, digital marketing has been on the rise for years - and it’s no surprise that the digital landscape consistently changes and evolves as new technologies are introduced and others lose relevance and popularity. We know it can be hard to keep up with the trends at the rate they are moving - but that’s why we’re here to help. We’ll catch you up on the marketing changes, updates, and trends that are on the rise in 2019. Check out our findings below.

Content Still Matters -

As Bill Gates says, content is king - and we couldn’t agree more. We love content around here (clearly), and so do consumers. Content marketing is on the rise and providing general content is great, but more and more businesses are creating specialized and personalized content specific to their industries and they are seeing significant results. According to HubSpot, 55% of marketers say blog content creation is their top inbound marketing priority. Have you thought about creating a blog or resource center on your website? If not, it might be something to consider. The blog/resource center could house helpful information like “What to Know Before You Buy”, an article covering information on “Picking the Right Type of RV for You”, or even a guide on the best local destinations near your dealership - the possibilities are endless. Don’t forget that you are an expert in your field and potential buyers will be looking to you for information. You want to market your business as not only a dealership, but as a true resource center for potential buyers.

Time to Up Your Video Game -

We weren’t surprised to hear that, according to Forbes, YouTube is America’s most popular social media platform. YouTube’s following has been growing like crazy over the past couple of year and we expect that to continue to rise because consumers LOVE video content. Videos are a great tool for businesses because they give you the opportunity to share important information quickly and clearly. When it comes to the RV business specifically, potential buyers want to see units before they even step on a dealership’s lot, and video is an amazing way to showcase an RV in its entirety. Check out our additional tips on incorporating video into your business strategy here.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is on the Rise - 

AI is the simulation of human intelligence processes by machines, especially computer systems.1 Computers are getting smarter by the minute and AI can actually be used for marketing purposes and we expect to see those use cases rise in 2019. So what is AI marketing, exactly? AI marketing is a method of leveraging customer data and AI concepts, like machine learning, to anticipate your customer’s next move and improve the customer journey.2 By gathering this big data, AI marketing can help businesses better target consumers by boosting campaign performances, and increasing ROI in the long run. We are going to keep a close eye on AI marketing this year, and we’ll take a look at how RV Trader actually uses this technology in a future post - stay tuned.

Voice Search - 

Do you hear the phrases “Alexa do this”, “Siri do that”, and “Ok, Google” being used on a daily basis? You’re not alone. Voice search is becoming increasingly popular and we can predict that this trend will grow as smart speakers get more advanced. In fact, according to research conducted by NPR and Edison Research, 39 million Americans use smart speakers and 65% of them say they wouldn’t want to go back to life without their voice-controlled assistant. Consumers are searching for anything and everything with voice search, so if they search for your dealership’s hours or directions to your dealership - will they find up-to-date content? It’s important to make sure all of your information is current so consumers can find it when using voice search. We expect to see advertisements make their way into the smart speaker world sooner rather than later, which means buying voice ad space could be a new marketing tactic in the future - we’ll keep you posted.

Social Media Stories - 

Social media is here to stay, and if you’ve been avoiding it for your business, we recommend jumping on the bandwagon ASAP. Social media usage is consistently growing and we are seeing particular interest in not only posting regular content but participating in social media stories. From Instagram, to Snapchat, to Facebook - there are a ton of new ways to get your stories out there. So what is a ‘story’ exactly? Stories enable users (like you) to create photo and video collections that can be viewed only a few times before disappearing after 24 hours. You can add to your stories throughout the day and add fun text, GIFs, and graphics to your posts to tell your brand story, highlight an event you have coming up, or poll customers on questions you’re eager to ask. We suggest experimenting with this feature as it will no doubt become more and more popular in 2019.

There you have it. The top 5 marketing trends you need to be aware of in 2019. As always, we’ll continue to keep you aware of any marketing trends, changes, and updates we see throughout the year.

1 TechTarget
2 Emarsys