Knowing how to leverage your digital marketing trends efforts effectively can help you increase your ROI and drive your business forward. However, it’s a fast moving field. Imagine using marketing strategies from even two years ago! Marketing is a dynamic practice that continually evolves – especially in the digital marketing trends landscape. Best practices change with each Google algorithm update and consumer interest. Look ahead to 2020 and devise a digital marketing trendsplan that will increase conversions, encourage online visibility, and ultimately lead to more revenue. These are the digital marketing trends that we think will be popular in 2020.
Data Is Important – But Not the Only Decision-Making Factor
Data is, and will always be, an essential part of your decision making process. Having objective data from which to garner actionable insight is not a “trend;” it is a good business practice. At the same time, those who rely too heavily on analytics risk falling behind the competition.
Google Analytics is a great tool, and, as a free tool, it’s one of the best for small businesses. There is a problem, however, with diminishing returns.
Google Analytics can only tell you so much, and new channels, such as voice search, are becoming more prevalent. With increased adoption of digital assistants like Alexa and Siri, it is important to optimize your site for these channels.
Here’s why:
Aside from that, making a transaction is about more than just someone coming to your site and making a purchase. There are other important elements at play, like repeat purchases, upselling, and checkout bumps. In addition, there are many more ways you can (and should) be marketing your business online, such as affiliate marketing, partnering with influencers, and generating thought leadership through webinars or eBooks.
Because of all this, it’s time to rethink how you use analytics. Google is nice but not comprehensive. Instead of analytics, make business intelligence a priority in 2020. Tools like Amplitude and Google Data Studio (free!) will help you get there. Instead of focusing on Google Analytics alone, expand your realm into business intelligence and analyze all your channels to stay ahead of the competition.
Look Into Alternative Communication Channels
Email marketing continues to be a crucial tool. However, how we use that tool is beginning to change. Click rates are decreasing across the board, which has some interesting implications going into 2020.
Does this mean that email marketing is dead? No. Email provides a steady, reliable method for reaching your target customers. While there is no guarantee that person will see a Facebook post or carefully curated Instagram, the deliverability of a well-optimized email is certain. Email, for the moment, will continue to have a valuable place in the email marketers’ toolkit.
However, as we go in 2020, it is essential to look into alternative communication channels. Consider chatbots, for example. The tools are exploding in popularity, especially as AI becomes more sophisticated with the help of technology like natural language processing. Solutions like MobileMonkey and ManyChat will likely lead the charge.
Aside from chatbots, push notifications will also become more popular for reaching customers. Subscribers is a powerful push notification tool that allows you to reach customers where they’re at. Though email will continue to play a prevalent role in communication, we recommend expanding your offerings with alternative routes to stay ahead of the curve.
Content Will Be More Interactive
In today’s digital marketing trends, consumers are looking for convenience as well as engagement. Interactive content stands to deliver both, and can be a boon for your business in 2020. Research shows that 91% of online shoppers crave more interactive content online. To meet demand, marketers should be focusing on forms of interactive content like Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality, shoppable posts, 360 degree videos, and polls.
Interactive content has a few advantages:
- As new and original content, it helps cut through the noise of other, more boring marketing pieces.
- It’s naturally more shareable, which expands your visibility (i.e. results of a quiz you post on social media).
- You can increase your brand awareness in novel ways.
- People crave interaction, especially since digital living makes us more isolated. Creative, interactive content helps fulfill this craving.
Shoppable posts, in particular, will become more popular in 2020. Social media is likely already a large part of your online marketing efforts. People shop online via social media posts more often than you might think. A recent survey found over half of Instagram users find new products while scrolling, and 70% of Pinterest users use the channel to find new products.
Why not use these statistics to your advantage? Creating a shoppable post is simple, and it can help drive traffic to all your product pages. If you have an ecommerce store, this is a must-try tactic for 2020.
Marketing Will Be More Personalized Than Ever
We’ve already touched on the importance of personalized marketing in the new year via analytics, but it’s worth a deeper dive. Personalized experiences will be the watchword for 2020. Consumers don’t like generic ads that don’t provide relevant insight to their interests. That’s why we pay extra to enjoy streaming movies and music without commercials. Traditional forms of advertising are becoming increasingly unpopular outside of the Super Bowl, which requires marketers to rethink the way they reach customers.
personalization
This is where personalization can be helpful. The lion’s share of consumers think personalization is important – important enough to sacrifice their personal data for – and they are even more likely to interact with companies who offer personalized experiences. As the marketplace gets more competitive, customers are beginning to expect personalization from their brand interactions.
There are a few ways your business can provide personalized experiences in 2020, such as segmented email lists (which you can create with tools like MailChimp and Constant Contact). By tailoring your email or social content to segmented parts of your population, you stand to deliver more relevant content that can increase conversions.
Interest in Consumer Privacy and Security
Negative news headlines involving giants like Facebook and Google, in addition to security breaches from large brands, have consumers on edge. Your customers may be rightfully concerned that their data is not safe. In addition, tightening regulations and even laws passed in states like California work to improve the privacy of consumer data.
What does this mean for marketing? First, it requires that the entire department work with other levels of the organization, such as IT, to ensure consumer information is always safe and compliant with emerging regulations. Leveraging new and developing technology solutions, such as Identify New Management or Know Your Customer, can help reduce the likelihood of fraud, improve security, and improve insights about your customers across devices. Responsible security and enhanced privacy concerns is more than just a trend for 2020, it will be a concept worth watching as it faces stricter regulations.
Preparing for the Future of Marketing in 2020
Marketing in 2020 will focus on multiple communication channels and creating content that is increasingly interactive and immersive. Marketers would do well to use comprehensive business intelligence and a wide range of alternative communication channels to stay ahead of the curve. At the same time, expect regulations and concerns about privacy and data protection to dominate after the New Year. By anticipating these trends, your marketing team can better prepare for them and come out on top in 2020.
Also Read: Reasons to Focus on Integrated Marketing Communication Strategy in 2020?
