At the Kaplan Hong Kong Open Day in November 2018, I shared five digital and social media trends to watch in 2019. The most rewarding part was not only presenting the trends—it was the thoughtful discussion with students after the class.
Trend talks are useful when they help learners look beyond fashionable terminology. The real task is to understand which changes affect customers, how they influence business decisions and what capabilities marketers should build next.
How to evaluate a digital marketing trend
A trend deserves attention when it changes behaviour, creates a new customer expectation or makes a previously difficult activity practical. Marketers should avoid adopting every new platform simply because it is receiving attention.
A useful evaluation asks:
- Does this development solve a real customer or business problem?
- Is adoption growing among the audience we need to reach?
- How does it affect discovery, trust, experience or conversion?
- What skills, data and processes are required to use it well?
- How will we measure whether an experiment creates value?
Five themes shaping the conversation
Entering 2019, the digital marketing conversation increasingly centred on mobile-first customer behaviour, short-form and visual content, social commerce, data-informed personalisation and more conversational forms of interaction. These themes did not develop in isolation. Together, they pointed towards faster, more connected and more customer-specific journeys.
The discussion also highlighted an important distinction: tools change quickly, while strategic principles endure. Marketers still need to understand the audience, communicate a clear value proposition, earn trust and connect activity with a meaningful objective.
Learning through discussion
The questions after the session showed why open-day talks can be valuable. Students bring fresh observations from the platforms and communities they use every day. When those observations meet structured marketing thinking, the result is a richer conversation about what is changing and why.
That exchange continues to shape my approach to teaching. A good session gives learners a framework, but also creates room for them to test it against what they see in the real world.
From 2019 trends to today’s AI-enabled marketing
Many of the forces discussed then have accelerated. Social commerce has matured, video has become even more central and AI now affects research, content, personalisation and customer service. The need for critical thinking has grown alongside the tools.
Universities, professional programmes and organisations can explore my training and speaking programmes or current AI and digital marketing training.
Frequently asked questions
What was the Kaplan Hong Kong Open Day sharing about?
It introduced five digital and social media trends expected to shape 2019 and discussed their practical implications with students.
Why teach trends through a framework?
A framework helps learners distinguish lasting behavioural change from temporary hype and connect new tools with customer and business needs.
Are trend talks available for student or professional audiences?
Yes. Topics can be updated and tailored to the audience, industry and learning goals. Contact me to discuss a session.
Event record: shared on LinkedIn on 9 November 2018. Photographs are from the original post.
