For any small business it is not always easy to juggle between earning money from your business and spending time to market it though to be successful you will have to try your very best to master both!
2019 is likely to be an interesting time for UK small businesses with the doom and gloom or exciting times ahead (depending how you look at things) of Brexit over the country along with a degree of uncertainty in the economy via stocks/shares, property prices, interest rates and more. Despite a degree of suspense, there will still be thousands of businesses across the UK starting up, growing, merging, selling and more in the line of positive news.
So with optimism in the air for many, what trends should we be looking at in 2019 in relation to marketing:
- Data Control: 2018 was a wash of information, panic and for many, expenditure and loss of databases, when the European Union’s General Data Privacy Regulation (GDPR) system was brought in to practice. Many businesses across the UK will still have not touched on the subject though now will find themselves very exposed to legal disputes as the world as a whole tightens up on data sharing / security.
No longer is it as easy as buying email lists in order to build your subscription lists, things will now have to grow organically and with permission. Consumer data will no longer grow on trees, businesses will have to be working harder in order to gather their data and look at new ways to engage with audiences – This may cost more in the long run though your own active data, smaller and more up to date over huge volumes and unresponsive, will add value to your business. Also, a SEO Agent can be very useful.
- Innovation will add value and time save: In most industries there will be a tech division, ie #PropTech #FinTech and more. It will be very important for small businesses to investigate the latest innovation within their industry as services such as products / software will provide businesses with fast money saving solutions and many automated services that will save valuable time.
- Content Marketing: As the effect of GDPR takes a grip on small businesses a newer and more productive way in order to engage potential clients will be content marketing. Being found online will grow in importance and as will your ranking on Google as more and more people search for products / services online – Make sure you claim your Google my business page especially for those of you relying on local business.
- Live streaming: Depending on the business you run, live streaming will become a popular way to engage with existing clients and those maybes. We now see the likes of GP’s live streaming medical advice – Some businesses will be able to adopt live streaming in order to communicate with wider audiences as the need for physical face to face appointments lessen – mobile phones now enable a wealth of innovative communication options. 360-degree cameras will increase in popularity also and the likes of showcasing them on Facebook will attract increased audiences for your business.
- Influencers: The popularity of using influencers especially via social media is increasing as businesses see a direct channel of communication to target audiences they are after. The power of a tweet / Instagram post / Facebook live video stream will increase in value from the account holders – businesses should be looking out for the influencers in their industry sector and start to build relationships.