2020 Digital Marketing Trends And Beyond

It’s hard to believe how quickly 2019 is coming to a close. As is the nature of the beast, digital marketing has changed a lot throughout the past year, and we expect the same for the next. As we look forward to the new year, here are some Digital Marketing trends to consider in 2020.

Emerging Tech

5G is coming. When it does, mobile usage will drastically increase globally. This is definitely going to change the way consumers access and use content, which will change the way marketers need to connect.

Voice search is already becoming the norm. As smart speakers continue expanding their presence in homes, developers will continue to make improvements.

The connection between TV and OTT will continue to grow. Soon, users will be able to interact with ads from their TV and mobile devices, so get ready for increased product placements within streaming videos.

Interactive Content

We’re living in a hands-on world, and consumers are looking for more of this. Interactive online content could be the key. Get ready for more shoppable posts, 360-degree video, quizzes, polls, and other content consumers can interact with to feel they are part of the process.

Shoppable posts will soon be the new norm. According to Forbes, 72% of Instagram users have purchased a product on the app. The ability to purchase will continue growing on this platform as well as on Facebook and Pinterest.

Influencers

Brand image will continue to grow in importance in the coming year. Influencers will prove to play a big roll in this next year, just as it has in the past. Brands will include influencers in their online marketing plan to increase brand awareness and help drive relevant backlinks to their site. Influencers have become integral to many social media marketing plans as well as non-social platforms as well.

Social Media Stories

Stories are not new – Instagram stories, Facebook stories, Snapchat My Story, YouTube reels, TikTok… They’re the perfect platforms for users to create in-the-moment or behind the scenes content that doesn’t necessarily need to be planned or perfect.

Stories can be used for this purpose by marketers as well. Since stories disappear after 24 hours, this platform could be used to create urgency. It’s also a great way to increase brand awareness, get follower engagement, and a great way to get in with a younger audience.

Try adding polls or questions in your stories to increase follower engagement. You could also use it to drive a 24-hour sale or promotion. Using hashtags, locations or user tags are a great way to get found by new potential customers as well. Stories are here to stay!

AR and VR

Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality have grown tremendously in popularity over the past few years. Using AR will soon become a normal part of marketing plans on social media and on websites. This is a great way to tie in the interactive content to allow customers to see how your product could affect them.

Rich and Featured Snippets

Google continues to show more information on the main search page, which is resulting in a higher percentage of zero-click searches. This means sites will need to start really optimizing their snippets to focus on zero-click searches. These snippets should show different information including images and prices.

Conversational Marketing

Gone are the days of talking to customers – we have to start talking with them. Customers want to have a conversation. When they reach out via social media or chat, they expect an immediate response. In this fast-paced world we live in, we will need to accommodate customers’ real-time needs.

Consumer Privacy

This is a trend that’s been ramping up over the past few months. New regulations have already begun to take place that will make businesses think about their customer’s privacy when managing accounts. Marketers will need to really think through how cookies are used when advertising.

In the coming year, customers will more than likely be at the center of all marketing decisions. There will be an increased emphasis on 1st party data collection and a decrease in the use of 3rd party data management.

Digital Marketing is always changing. That’s what makes it fun! We are always excited to take on new challenges in this crazy world and look forward to the new trends 2020 and beyond will bring.