The digital era is here to stay, which means the ways we relate to others, buy products or services and even live will change. Digital communication has broken many barriers, taking up significant portions of budgets that were once devoted to traditional media—which up until only recently was the favored option for most brands.

In the digital world, social marketing and advertising efforts have continued to evolve. Budgets for digital platforms have been on the rise for more than a decade, becoming the main media with major participation in advertising. According to Merca 2.0, 41.1 percent of global spending will be on digital platforms this year alone, with television coming in second at 34.5 percent.

Digital marketing has caught user attention through new techniques and strategies, many of which focus on innovation, technology and storytelling. Below are the four trends I strongly believe will manage to meet—and perhaps even exceed—consumer expectations, ultimately helping companies reach their goals.

1. Influencer marketing. Digital leaders have become increasingly relevant to brands in the past 12 months, and this year we expect to see a boom in this area—especially in real-time content shared through influencers’ social media accounts.

2. Augmented reality. This trend will continue to create memorable experiences, using technology to simulate exciting and emotional situations. The latest development in this is the “customer journey,” in which technology attempts to predict user behavior to blend it with brand experiences. Thanks to augmented reality solutions, companies will now be in closer contact with users, allowing them to use digital platforms to share experiences and increase satisfaction.

3. Small data. Analyzing the behavior of the masses is passé. Today’s companies are interested in specific insights into their customers, so marketers are focusing on the details of consumer behavior to quickly create dynamic, personalized marketing strategies.

4. Voice assistants. Despite the issues this tool has had in the past, 2019 promises to make better use of artificial intelligence to add value to brands by providing options to request services, make payments or improve experiences via personal assistants, which can be downloaded to mobile phones, or home devices like Amazon Echo.

In the future, we will continue to see digital trends captivate consumers, enabling valuable strategies all brands should leverage to stay on the cutting edge.