Check out the 6 most important trends that small businesses should pay attention to in 2019. I read over 400 pages of trend reports so that you donâ€™t have to ðŸ˜œ.
According to The Luxury Institute, a consulting firm that boasts the largest global network of luxury experts, ultra-luxe brands are collaborating with local networks of highly devoted customers who, in turn, sell directly to family and friends through apps that connect to the brandâ€™s website. Think Stella & Dot Facebook parties...but for this seasonâ€™s Chanel ðŸ˜œ.
In an increasingly competitive marketplace, and an audience fast ditching social media (more on that below - keep reading), the merging of modern technology and local grassroots marketing is going to help reshape the luxury industry in 2019.
Podcasting is taking off for a few reasons, not least because they appeal to our love of hearing a good story, plus theyâ€™re a convenient way to pick up new skills on the go. Podcasts are also hugely influential.
50% of Londoners trust the information they hear on podcasts more than other sources (source: Mindshare Trends 2019 Report). 46% said they purchased a product/service they discovered through a podcast and 35% said they trust podcast hosts more than radio/TV presenters. With over 6 million adults in the UK tuning in each week, expect to see even more small business owners jumping on the bandwagon in 2019.
The world is noisey as hell and trying to stay relevant on your own is so 2017. With technological innovations taking place at lightninghtning speed, there is a growing trend for larger businesses to collaborate with lean and more agile start-ups and small businesses. Itâ€™s a win-win all around, with the smaller enterprises able to leverage the scale of their larger partners and the big fish gaining access to new innovations and creative thinking.
According to The Luxury Institute, 1 in 5 affluent consumers are reportedly actively discouraging friends, family or other people they care about away from Facebook and other social media channels.
The report predicts that this is just the beginning, as more wealthy and influential customers head to private networks online, the luxury advertisers will soon follow suit.
With distrust of social media networks at an all-time high, Hootsuite surveyed more than 3,000 businesses, of various shapes and sizes, to find out how they plan to adapt to the changing digital marketing landscape in 2019.
The standout star, it would appear, is LinkedIn, who reached the 500 million member threshold last year. Did you know, 80% of B2B leads come from LinkedIn vs. 13% on Twitter and 7% on Facebook (source: Foundation Inc)? More than 100k articles a week are published on its blogging platform and 38% of people that use the platform said it was a quality source of new business leads.
ðŸ’¡ Light bulb moment: How can you use LinkedIn to grow your business this year?
Small businesses are particularly vulnerable to cyber-attacks as they are less likely to have the appropriate security software in place. A recent report published by Beaming revealed that UK businesses are attacked online every 2.5 minutes, with the average firm suffering from 52,596 cyber-attacks between April and June 2018. Business owners who want to ensure their growth continues into the future will have to invest in cybersecurity software and training to keep their customer data protected.
ðŸ’¡ Light bulb moment: What systems do you have in place to protect your business from a cybersecurity attack?