The most important thing to know about digital marketing is that it is not static. For this reason, you can’t adopt a “set it and forget it” approach to digital marketing – it just won’t work.
The various mechanisms that make up digital marketing are constantly evolving in response to consumer preference and updated technology.
Staying ahead of the digital marketing game means remaining alert, informed and (above all) adaptable. To help keep your business marketing current, here are the 10 digital marketing trends predicted for 2020:
- Featured Snippets: Many businesses have a goal of reaching the #1 spot in Google rankings, but this isn’t where you should be aiming – ‘position zero’ should be your target in 2020. Featured snippets have been around for a few years now, but many are only just starting to appreciate their intrinsic value.
- Interactivity: Research shows that 91% of online users are actively seeking more interactive content. Make sure your online marketing strategy is addressing this need by incorporating polls, AV/VR, entertaining quizzes and 360-degree images or videos.
- Voice Search Compatibility: ComScore estimates that this year 50% of all searches will be voice searches. You can optimise your voice search compatibility by including long-tail keywords in your online content (e.g. ‘how to clean your shower naturally’ as opposed to ‘natural shower cleaner’).
- Chatbots: Customers want answers 24/7, and chatbots are making this possible. Although they’ve been in use for a while, recent advances in software have helped chatbots to become more sophisticated, enabling them to answer a wide variety of online customer questions.
- Smart Bidding: Google is constantly updating their algorithms and Smart Bidding is one of the recently announced changes. With Smart Bidding your Google Ads bids can be optimised across multiple ad campaigns, allowing you to set bids automatically and in response to machine learning.
- Personalised Experience: In 2020 we’ve reached the point where customers expect a personalised experience. Failure to meet this expectation will have them turning elsewhere. Incorporating email marketing tools is a great way to achieve personalisation without breaking your marketing budget.
- Micro-Influencers: Rather than focusing on ‘celebrity influencers’, the focus is now turning towards ‘micro-influencers’. With a small but extremely dedicated group of followers in a particular niche, micro-influencers can help you to target a specific demographic of potential buyers.
- Messaging Apps: In 2020 messaging apps will be utilised more heavily by savvy businesses who want to establish connections with customers. WeChat, WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger can all be used to inform customers about promotions, new products or upcoming events, with the bonus of ongoing brand reinforcement.
- Shoppable Social Media Posts: Every business should be incorporating shoppable social media posts in 2020, because of their potential to significantly shorten the sales funnel. With a shoppable post, customers can tap on a product image and be taken straight to the page on your site where that item can be purchased.
- Optimised Content: This remains one of the best ways to enhance SEO, but the focus in 2020 will shift more firmly towards visual content. Content should still be informative and demonstrate expertise, but it will work best when coupled with videos or interactive images.
