7 Digital trends for 2019 - this is how you continue to be relevant!

Last week, the Prophet published an article with this year's digital trends. Here we summarize seven of them and give tips on how brands can continue to be relevant!

1. Analysis + marketing = true

This year, market managers will go away from traditional marketing to working even more with digital aids to follow the customer's sales journey and behavior. With the help of AI tools and real-time analysis, you can get important insights and get patterns among customers, which can be used to optimize and personalize the marketing. As marketing becomes better, it becomes more valuable for the company also, says the article. We addressed this topic in more detail in our article five tips to start with AI and analysis in marketing. Check it out!

2. Communicate via your products

If you have a Fitbit (a digital exercise clock) you are already familiar with the method; brands that communicate through their products.The clock sends you information and news about new upgrades and related products based on your uses.The base idea is that marketing does not end as soon as the product is purchased, but continues and becomes even more relevant over time.

The product itself creates the relevance (if it is connected) or via a synchronised app. Relevance is the key when you communicate through your product, and you create it by adapting your communication with the customer's behavior. Therefore, it is important that companies collect customer data to avoid irrelevant and disturbing communication.

3. Companies start digital advertisement

One big challenge you have as a company is that you do not have control over the entire purch journey of your product. Your production and delivery can keep the highest quality and service, but unless the merchandiser lives up to it, you can't do much more . Until now.

2019 seems to be the year when companies create digital tools for their merchandisers. The article addresses Ford as an example, where they help their merchandisers with everything, from web design, till chat features and SEO. This means that Ford ensures that at the end customer gets the same experience no matter where it acquires its products.

4. Choose analysts over copywriters

A change of the most wanted in marketing expertise will be made this year.   The Prophet's latest research shows that 42% of companies create relevant content based on customer data, and the majority ranked data analysis as the ingredient they want to add this year. This is the first time you would prefer to have an analyst rather than copywriters and art directors. This demonstrates and strengthens the first trend, marketers want to use more data to improve and complete their creative work.

5. Interact with your senses

2019, the way we interact with our units will change dramatically.The growing uses of voice and movement recognitions takes AI as a base, while this trends take over. Embrace the trend and develop your designs of products to make them compatible with the new ways of interacting. Companies that do not adapt to the new trend risk missing a very important part in the change of customer experience

6. Focus on ethics within AI

We are used to acting quickly when it comes to new trends and new technologies. This is an area we see will change and will have a more ethical focus in our product development, especially when it comes to AI and data collection. Build a good foundation and set rules for the process in how to collect and save data. This will give a lead start when more global laws are put into place, like the GDPR law that came last year.

7. Healthier working environment

The article mentions an American study of loneliness, where half of those interviewed feel lonely, especially people in their late twenties. A trend is for employers to focus more on the working environment and outbreak loneliness. It can be anything from starting to work together with various departments to opportunities for creating networks and mentoring programs. Loneliness not only affects the individual but can actually affect the entire organization. When employees feel better, the results are also improved and this is something employers will realize this year.