Influential 2018 Marketing Trends

A Look Ahead: 2018

Here are some of the marketing trends expected to be among the most influential in the coming year:

• Video is still one of the top ways to engage customers and prospects. Facebook and Instagram are vital here . . . and for longer-form video, YouTube and branded microsites rule. Think cross-platform as consumers switch among devices.
• Influencer marketing will be even more important in 2018, with marketers working with multiple influencers to extend reach, reinforce messages, gain better targeting, create new associations.
• Apps are in the spotlight--both branded apps and in-app advertising. Retailers in particular are using apps to help consumers make better buying decisions.
• Content marketing for B2B (and B2C) will be more targeted, more integrated with other marketing activities, and held accountable for achieving results. Again, think cross-platform and multimedia, as consumers access content via multiple devices and media.
• Mobile marketing (such as geofencing) will increase in importance, given the maturity of the smartphone market and the popularity of mobile devices.
• More transparency than ever before will be demanded by consumers and by marketers. This means better information about supply chains, about audience characteristics, about products, about privacy policies, and about results.

The Celebrity Face of Tourism Australia

Celebrities bring star power when they serve as the face of tourism for a destination, in traditional media and in social media.

For example, the actor who plays Thor in Marvel movies, Chris Hemsworth, is the high-profile celebrity face of Tourism Australia. Interviewed by the New York Times, he gave his top reason for tourists to visit Australia: "Besides the sights, the people are also a draw. They are so welcoming."

Aussies are pleased and proud to have this actor represent them in tourism marketing, through ads, interviews, and other tools. In fact, Hemsworth has generated widespread media interest in Australia tourism around the world.

Hemsworth has nearly 11 million Instagram followers and frequently posts with the tag @Australia to promote the country to tourists and fans. He and his wife both mention Australia on social media, leading to hundreds of millions of impressions and positive associations for the destination. Some percentage of the many people reached by the ads or social media mentions will be influenced and then book a trip or extend a trip, resulting in a boost for Australia's tourism businesses.

Blurring the Lines Between Marketing and PR

A new study finds increasing overlap between public relations and marketing. One of the study's co-sponsors, Paul Holmes, says:

PR has the opportunity to move aggressively into paid content, an arena long dominated by advertising but that will require investment and training. The bigger challenge for the profession and for society is what happens when consumers no longer know the source or the nature of the information they receive, and how that impacts the credibility of that information.

And that's both a plus and a minus for marketing in general and society at large. 

The three key developments fueling this trend are (1) social listening, (2) digital storytelling, and (3) real-time marketing.

As a top official of ANA states: "Digital has put PR front and center, as it allows immediate outbound communication and inbound feedback."

PR's traditional function has been to "listen" to the interests and concerns of an organization's publics (consumers, community members, and other stakeholders) and allow for response through programs or other means. PR also explains the organization's position to the publics and helps protect reputation, both reactively and proactively. So in a real sense, PR has been an integral element in the marketing plan from the beginning.

With the rise of product placement and influencer marketing, among other techniques, consumers are increasingly surrounded by content that they can't as easily evaluate in terms of source (paid? spontaneous? stunt?). This is where transparency becomes critical.