The key trends that will impact marketers’ jobs in 2019

Click on each heading for the full analysis

Effectiveness wins the battle over efficiency
This prediction might be more wishful thinking than based in reality, but there are signs 2019 could be the year marketers succeed in getting their businesses to prioritise effectiveness over mere efficiency.

Brands stop talking about being customer-centric
Brands often talk about being customer-centric but in reality, most businesses are still not set up with customers at their core. Simply installing a chief customer officer and hoping the rest will fall into place will not cut it in 2019.

The era of social media self-regulation is over
In a world of data breaches, hacking and fake news, social media giants will need to take greater responsibility for their communities if they are to avoid hefty regulation over the next 12 months.

Agencies under attack from all sides
Could 2019 be the year the agency model finally gets a 21st-century update? Putting aside the perennial complaints about pitches being too costly and time-consuming, the rise of the consultancies and a trend towards in-housing are now taking their toll.

Innovation will become faster and more flexible
In 2019, the need for faster and more reactive innovation will become even more integral. Some companies have already realised the importance of speed and are implementing more streamlined innovation processes, but next year we should expect to see a lot of this being put into action.

Brands realise the risk of sitting on the fence
Taking a stand on a polarising issue can be risky for businesses – you only need to look at the divisive reaction to Nike’s Colin Kaepernick ad for evidence of that – but with consumers’ trust in brands dropping, many are realising it could actually be riskier in the long-term to sit on the fence.

NLP boosts the power of chatbots and voice
We’re likely to see natural language processing (NLP) reach a level of advancement in 2019 that finally makes more complex applications look both possible and appealing. This will benefit not just chatbots but also that other hugely promising but so far disappointing technology – voice assistants.

Marketers re-imagine the future of work
From side-hustles to ‘squiggly careers’, marketers are embracing the opportunities of flexible working as they pursue multiple projects in a bid to turbocharge their professional development. Indeed the appetite for flexible working in undeniable.

Brands must finally put their Brexit plans into action
29 March 2019 is set in law as the date when Brexit will happen automatically. For brands, waiting to see what occurs is no longer an option. Plans, and contingency plans, must be made now, otherwise they won’t be in a position to act on whatever sequence of events actually comes about.