It’s a new year and that means your social media feeds and email inboxes are being inundated with 2020 trends articles. Everyone wants to figure out what trends are next in their respective industries. And that means making predictions about the year ahead.

But as we make our way through Q1 2020, it’s important to look back at 2019 and review the martech trends that defined the past year. More often than not, there’s plenty of value left to gain from past predictions.

As you plan for 2020, remember the impact of these three 2019 trends—the continued growth of artificial intelligence, data privacy maturation, and voice technology.

1. The Continued Growth of AI-Powered Martech

Marketers have been trying to do more with less for years. As budgets shrink and demands grow, you have no choice but to optimize all of your strategies and tactics. And while big data was the major trend for a long time, now it’s time to do something with all of that data. More and more martech platforms are integrating artificial intelligence and machine learning to help you unlock the potential of your data while streamlining operations.

But just because AI and machine learning have been hot topics in marketing recently doesn’t mean you’ve made the most of them and are ready to move onto a new year of trends. In 2019, AI-powered martech continued to mature, opening the door for key use cases like:

  • Content Audits: Use AI and machine learning to spot gaps in your content marketing strategies and identify opportunities for new content creation.
  • PPC Advertising: Digital ad spend can be a tricky thing to master. With AI and machine learning, you can optimize your budget to ensure you’re maximizing the potential of your ads.
  • Audience Targeting: The stronger AI-powered martech becomes, the easier it will be to leverage intent data to engage target customers in real time.

2. Data Privacy Maturation

It wasn’t long ago that the pending enforcement of GDPR felt like doomsday for marketers. But 2019 marked the first full year that GDPR was in effect and the marketing world is still going strong.

However, data privacy doesn’t stop with GDPR. In 2019, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) became a new data privacy concern that marketers had to contend with. And as it goes into effect to start 2020, it’s important to recognize the impact that growing data privacy regulations will have on your work.

For years, marketers have relied on third-party insights and information to fill out profiles they built with first-party data. GDPR and CCPA seem to put that approach at risk, forcing you to be much more careful about the third-party data you trust. These two primary data privacy regulations won’t just be a blip on the marketing radar. We should expect to see more regulations come into effect—and you need to be prepared.

If the continued reports of data privacy fines teach you anything, it’s that you need to find compliant data providers you can rely on. That means taking the time to evaluate how potential data providers maintain compliance with GDPR, CCPA, and any emerging regulations before you solidify your partnership.

3. Voice Technology Takes Over

When Amazon Echo speakers and the Alexa assistant blew up among consumers, it might have been easy to write voice technology off as a fad rather than a trend—especially for B2B marketers. But throughout 2019 it became increasingly clear that voice technology is becoming a fundamental part of consumer behavior that even B2B organizations have to be ready for.

According to a Comscore report, nearly half of all online searches will be done through voice inputs by the end of 2020. Already, consumers have made the market for voice-based purchases worth $2 billion. And that figure will grow to $40 billion by 2022.

Much like other consumer-focused channels that have bled into B2B, voice will become an important way for you to engage with customers. That means that now is the time to optimize your website and online channels for voice search. Creating content that helps you appear in searches that start with “how,” “what,” “easy,” and “best,” can boost brand awareness while target prospects are still researching their pain points.

Build a Foundation of Buyer Insights

Marketing trends don’t come and go as quickly as annual predictions make it seem. There are always fads and shiny objects that emerge, but the three 2019 trends predictions listed here will carry through over the course of multiple years and it’s important to prepare accordingly.

But the real key to success with any marketing trends is to have the right foundation of buyer insights to make the most of them. Whether you want to leverage voice technology, unlock the potential of AI, or keep pace with data privacy regulations, you need accurate, compliant customer data underneath all of your strategies.

That’s why it’s so important to find the right intent data provider. If you want to learn how, check out our free report, Demystifying B2B Purchase Intent Data.