From AI to push notifications, this year will be all about creating smarter, more accessible opportunities for brands to engage with their audiences in the digital space. With support from the likes of Apple, Google and Facebook developer tools, marketers are able to actively incorporate interactive experiences into their digital strategies.

Here are some things to keep an eye out for (or adopt in your marketing) in 2019:

The AI Invasion

If you’ve used Alexa or Siri or Google Home, you’ve already experienced Artificial Intelligence. Heck, if you’ve asked a question on a website, chances are the “person” you spoke with is a bot.

But where does AI fit on the marketing scene? All over the place, it seems. Google and Yahoo use AI to predict search behavior. And Google is using AI to automate the buying and selling of ad inventory with real-time bidding across mobile, display, video and social channels. You can even use AI to determine how much to bid for keywords. Oh, and AI can not only automatically send emails to leads, it can also predict when recipients are ready to talk to a human.

What’s next with the use of AI in marketing? Consider that Lexus has already used it to create a tv commercial and you start to get the idea that we’re really just scratching the surface.

Web-Based AR

We’ve talked a lot about augmented reality being the most accessible form of immersive technology, but this year, we expect web-based augmented reality to make it even more accessible than its app-based counterpart.

Chrome, which holds about 35% of the mobile browser market, has offered WebXR since 2018, while Apple’s ARKit 2 now also includes the ability to view AR models in the native web browser, and to share the experiences via text message thanks to their Quick Look standard. Together, they bring web-based AR capabilities to about 65% of mobile web users. And what about the rest? Now that Facebook has its own AR studio for developers to create experiences with, expect that number to increase even more.

Push Notifications for Web

It was only a matter of time until web adopted push notification capabilities (and that time is here.)

While mobile use has undoubtedly grown over the years, around 40% of users access the internet on desktop. Push notifications can bring the immediate engagement of their mobile counterparts to this still-sizable audience. They’re easy to subscribe to, don’t get lost in inboxes, take some of the heavy lifting off of social media to disseminate timely information, and they’re relatively cost-effective to develop. If your business uses a content-focused digital strategy, push notifications provide another way for engaged audiences to access your click-worthy content.

If there’s one common thread between these trends, it’s creating timely, personalized and meaningful brand interactions. Or, not to sound too on-brand, engagement. Humans have an innate desire to engage, experience and explore. These emerging interactive technologies? Well, they just make it a little easier.

Want More Insight?

Read about our other 2019 predictions throughout the months of December and January.

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