By Mark Eting

Bullseye Strategy Special Correspondent

This week, we have been visited by the ghosts of Digital Marketing Past, Present, and Future with news about the ripple effect last year’s holiday shopping has had on e-commerce, some breaking news from LinkedIn that should change the way this channel is used in 2019, and a shocking prediction about influencer marketing in 2020. It’s given us a lot to talk about around the proverbial water cooler (OK, at our agency, it’s a Keurig machine; we’ll admit to being more caffeinated than hydrated these days.)

2018 Holiday Shopping’s Impact on e-Commerce

Online holiday shopping in 2018 exceeded predictions, increasing by 16.5% over 2017 to hit $126 billion. According to eMarketer, these gains were fueled primarily by an increase in mobile shopping; purchases made on smartphones were up 56% YOY, while desktop sales only increased by 5% and tablet shopping inched up a mere 4%. We see this shift in shopping behavior as the gift that keeps on giving to mobile marketers in 2019.

2019 is the Year of LinkedIn Live

We were super-excited last week about the jump in LinkedIn engagements in 2018; is it possible we ain’t seen nothing yet? TechCrunch just announced that LinkedIn Live is rolling out, offering ample opportunities for product demonstrations, live webinars and other real-time opportunities that businesses–particularly those in the B2B space–can excitedly embrace. We’ll be watching this development closely…and we mean that quite literally. via TechCrunch

2020: The Year Influencer Marketing Exceeds $10 Billion

Social Media Today came out with “7 Important Influencer Stats You Need to Know.” We can’t get past stat #1: that influencer marketing is going to exceed $10 billion in 2020. If you’re considering venturing into working with influencers, whether it’s a blogger who gets pinned like crazy, microinfluencers or the most-watched YouTube creators, we recommend you give it a try in 2019 before competition to work with these brand advocates becomes even more fierce (and expensive). (Shameless plug: we love influencers!!! Give us a shout if you want us to match-make for you, whether you’re a brand or an influencer. )  “Mark Eting” is the pen name of the Bullseye Strategy team. Check back with us next week for more news on what’s buzzing in the digital marketing industry.]]>