It is barely a secret that social media platforms have recently found themselves at a crossroads. Users tend to upload only their best, carefully selected pictures and/or videos that are 'improved' with filters to demonstrate the highlights of their lives. The standards of appropriate pictures and videos to post on Instagram or Facebook are so high that they lose touch with reality. Therefore, it no longer feels real, and, as a result, people are less active on social media platforms – they post less, even choose to unfollow other accounts, and engage more on private channels.
As Sophie Harding, trends and insights director at Mindshare, who presented the Trends for 2019 report at the WARC’s annual Marketer’s Toolkit 2019 event, has mentioned, 54% of Internet users are now making more conscious decisions about the media that they consume on a daily basis. Users are in need of platforms that provide more 'real' content and gadgets that feel as human-like as possible.
"I try not to use social media too much because it depresses me. It makes me feel like I’m not living my life even though I know none of it’s real. Everyone wants to post the best bits, so it’s not their fault – it just has the awful effect of making me feel like I’m doing something wrong with my life when really, I’m just living it" - From Sophie Harding's presentation 'Mindshare Trends 2019'
Thus, according to Mindshare, audio content, voice messaging and voice search are becoming increasingly attractive, especially among millennials and younger generations. The use of podcasts has doubled in the last couple of years. Smart speakers, such as Amazon’s Echo, play a more integral role in people’s lives and they tend to be seen as the most human-like gadgets that people can get on the market nowadays. Although only 13% owned a smart speaker in 2018, more than half started using it in more ways than before. It is also projected that in 2019 the number of smart speaker users will increase by 7%.
As a result, marketers are increasingly more interested in the use of voice and there is a lot of potential for growth for voice search and technology next year. However, 2019 may still be too early for advertisers to use the voice space online and offline.
Anyway, we’ll have to wait and see what 2019 will be like for the industry!