1. Stories Rule Everything

Stories have now eclipsed the news feed and any other feed as the number one way people interact on social media. Every social platform is fully investing in stories and moving people towards them. But with this proliferation, stories from brands get lost in the shuffle. It is no longer acceptable to just post to your story. The content has to be creative, personal, fun, and has to fully take advantage of what makes stories so unique.

  1. The Death of the Bots

Bots were great a few years ago. They automated customer interactions and saved businesses money. But in 2019, customers are far too savvy for the bots to survive. Customers no longer accept a bot talking to them, and they can sniff them out quicker than ever. Brands must commit and, yes, spend money, on creating authentic interactions with their customers on social and digital media.

Let’s take the home company Snowe, for instance. Snowe is a hip, young company with a beautiful Instagram account. This Christmas, I ordered one of their bathrobes for my wife, and it came with a complimentary gift note. When the gift arrived, I was shocked to find the note was handwritten by someone. And the penmanship was good but was by no means done by a professional calligrapher. It was authentic and personal.

This is how brands must interact with customers in 2019.

  1. Get Political

It may sound contradictory that, as divided we are as a country, brands should get political. But consider this. Because of this division, companies that straddle the fence and ignore politics completely, will attract no customers. Yes, when brands get political they push some customers away, but they also gain them. We’re all fragmented into our own little political bubbles, and brands should pick their bubble too in order to keep talking a language their customers understand.

  1. Have Fun

Once again, maybe contradictory to getting political, but brands can’t be afraid to let their hair down a little in 2019 on social media. Take Wendy’s for instance, who have a consistently funny social media feed. They aren’t afraid to ruffle a few feathers or interact with the trends of the day in a fun and exciting way. And they aren’t afraid to poke fun at themselves. In essence, the brand feels like a person rather than a brand because it seems like whoever is behind the scenes is having fun. Let the reins loose. Let your smart, creative, fun people be just that.