Advertising Trends to Watch for in 2019

As we move forward into 2019, one can’t help to wonder what the greater part of the year will bring in terms of advertising trends. Secure the optimal benefit for your micro, small, or medium-sized enterprise (SME) by taking notice of expected trends and plan accordingly, starting today.

For example, how will the advertising trends of 2019 affect online advertising and online-to-offline commerce and your business in turn? Let’s consider this and more, including the advertising trends expected this year.

2019 Advertising Trends

Advertising trends for 2019, include but are not limited to:

Meaning and Connection

Humanity has access to a vast spectrum of new technologies that almost constantly get improved and updated. Yet, many of us feel disconnected, yearning for emotional connections that are real, which can help us to live meaningful lives. It is said that musicians and artists can sense the raw emotions that drive this urge in their audiences – and it seems increasingly to be the case.

What does this mean? This means for an event to be successful, it needs to encourage and help with the establishment of emotional connections that are real, the kind of connections that make us feel good about ourselves, others and products / services. The kind of emotional connections that leave happy memories long after an event has ended. The demand for such connections are expected to increase even more this year as we move deeper into 2019. SMEs can draw on their connection to the community, or on the connections that their product or service offerings facilitate.

On-Demand Advertising

Moving forward into 2019, it is expected that an increasing number of businesses and consumers will become aware of blockchain-based, on-demand advertising solutions such as the one being pioneered by WeBuy – the first on-demand advertising platform in the world.

Commerce and ecommerce, including online advertising and online to offline commerce, are expected to greatly benefit from this fresh, logical approach to advertising. This on-demand approach to advertising advocates that consumers should:

• Only see ads on-demand, when they specifically request to see ads relating to a specific product / service.
• Any such request should be based on a real-time need for a specific product / service.

In addition, potential buyers should be compensated for the time taken to view ads relevant to their requests. They must not be harassed by the display of ads about products / services that they don’t want or need. In particular, ads that have nothing to do with their on-demand requests for a specific product / service.

Furthermore, sellers or advertisers also stand to greatly benefit from on-demand advertising. They for one get the opportunity to communicate with potential buyers in real-time based on a current or real-time need for a specific product / service. This should yield a much better result when it comes to targeted advertising than what contextual advertising or AI-targeted ads can offer (see Contextual Advertising and Artificial Intelligence below).

It should also be much more cost-effective, especially since value and data can be moved cheaply, fastly and securely via the blockchain in a transparent manner across the globe. As an example, the WBY token is XLM-based or based on the Stellar Network. It makes it possible to complete transactions on average within 5 seconds and almost free of charge. It costs about 1 cent per 300,000 transactions regardless of the size of each transaction.

The possibilities offered by an on-demand approach to advertising and the use of blockchain technology are almost endless. For example, as advocated by WeBuy, the use of blockchain technology also makes it possible to create a blockchain-based, on-demand advertising solution that can be turned into a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) when needed.

Personal Data Protection

The Facebook–Cambridge Analytica data scandal that surfaced last year involving Facebook and the now defunct Cambridge Analytica underlined the fact that personal data or information can be of great value.

It is expected that 2019 may further help to shape the trend where companies will increasingly choose to reward consumers for actions taken (e.g. watching ads, taking surveys, etc.) and the use of their personal data – or risk losing their business and support.

Contextual Advertising

Legislation that is in support of or inspired by GDPR, short for General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679, is expected to surface in other parts of the world, including the United States. This is expected to lead to an increase in the demand for contextual advertising this year. Many micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) may still not be ready for GDPR, especially given the cost implications of GDPR compliance.

Contextual advertising, in essence targeted advertising that makes use of keywords on web pages to serve ads that target those keywords, can be used as a means to run advertising campaigns that are stripped of personalized data (e.g. Google Adwords).

Despite the increase in contextual advertising expected this year, on-demand advertising (see above under On-Demand Advertising) is expected to become increasingly of relevance. The latter is expected to dominate the advertising market in the months and years to come.

Slow Down of Subscription-Based Commerce

Growth in subscription-based commerce is expected to slow down, unless it can be revived by a fresh set of products and experiences that will make people feel good. Otherwise it will just be part of a routine that in itself is not a great way to build real emotional connections or trust for that matter – something that is required for lasting success. SMEs may see diminishing returns from including their products in subscription boxes.

Artificial Intelligence

The use of technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning are expected to continue to improve and refine targeted advertising. This in turn is something that should make it more cost-effective for companies to run targeted advertising campaigns, although on-demand advertising (see above) might offer a much better alternative.

Political Ads

It is expected that political ad campaigns will increasingly target social networks, especially as the 2020 United States presidential election approaches. Like other ad campaigns, these political ad campaigns will have to facilitate or encourage the establishing of real emotional connections between people or risk failure. Businesses will have to decide whether to be apolitical or to take a stance on hot speaking points.

Content is King

Content is still king, but the use of content will demand a different approach moving forward in order to be effective and stand out in the crowd. Content will for one have to be better targeted. The use of AI could help in this regard. As we move towards models based more on connection and on-demand advertising, SMEs will have to create content that feels individualized and speaks to the consumer’s needs and wants. If there’s one common thread that unites 2019’s advertising trends, it’s that the field is poised for a big change. Will your business be ready?