2019 Marketing Predictions: Voice-Activated Emails, CDPs, Video

What’s the next big thing in marketing? Wouldn’t we love to know – but we’ll give it our best educated prediction.

At the end of last year, we predicted that AI would be huge. Isn’t that the truth? As a whole, we’re still figuring out what AI means for marketing, but it’s here to stay.

Our 2019 marketing trends are more tangible. They stem from products or services we’ve already seen emerging.

Here are my three predictions for marketing in 2019:

• Voice-Activated Email

• Consumer Data Platforms

• Videos in Email

Voice-Activated Email

Marketers are already worried about how their emails will render on different sized screens and email clients.

But earlier this month, Amazon single-handedly made a big change to how we interact with our email accounts. Now, Amazon Alexa will be able to read your emails out loud, and dictate your replies via voice command.

New platforms will undoubtedly take note. That includes Google Home and other smart devices, such as wearables, cars and phones.

Think about it: How will your email render on Google Home or Amazon Alexa? How will a car or smartwatch read your email? What does your CTA sound like? These are just a handful of new considerations email marketers will need to take.

Rise of the Customer Data Platform

Customer Data Platforms first started making a splash a few years ago. But what in the world are they – and why are they important now?

A Customer Data Platform (CDP) is “ packaged software that creates a persistent, unified customer database that is accessible to other systems,” according to the CDP Institute. CDPs help make data storage and management more efficient across platforms and between internal teams. They break down barriers and improve information sharing.

Why does that matter?

Customers expect a unified brand experience. CDPs help marketers by reducing the friction that comes with organizing lots of data across dozens of platforms and technologies.

The challenge is that internal departments will need to give up control over their own data and become more willing to share that data across the entire company. This comes with a big benefit – breaking down silos – but is admittedly tough to deploy.

More Video in Emails

Video, video, video – isn’t that the buzzword of the decade?

This trend has been a long time coming. Facebook pivoted to video. Instagram debuted stories. Snapchat caused a ruckus. We Facetime and Skype friends and family. I’ve even noticed more salespeople opting for video calls versus conference calls.

I’ll admit it: I’ve been reluctant to test out video in our own marketing and sales emails over the past year. Creating videos used to be technically hard, and embedding them in emails looked funky. Plus, it’s a little awkward to take a selfie-style video and send it off for prospects to see.

But here’s the truth: Emails with videos earn higher click through (65%) and open (19%) rates, and lower unsubscribe rates. Since adopting video, our own sales emails have seen a boost in opens and clicks. Can’t beat that!

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Do you agree? What are your predictions for marketing in 2019?