There was a time, not very long ago, when having a digital presence meant a website and a Facebook account. Irrespective of the kind of business you operated, a mere online presence was considered sufficient. Fast forward to 2020 when this approach will hardly be applauded by anyone. In fact marketing gurus will brutally slam you for missing out on the many digital marketing trends that are changing the ecosystem. You may run a downtown brick-and-mortar store catering to neighbors who know all about you, yet effective digital marketing can boost your sales in incredible new ways.
In 2020, digital marketing is poised to reach newer heights. There are several things that are currently trending or will see a peak in the coming days. In this blog we shall be looking at some of the emerging trends in digital marketing of 2020 that will be true game-changers.
#1 Chatbots Will Become Ever More Popular
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is already dominating the virtual space but it is going to grow in leaps and bounds in the coming days. AI in the form of chatbots is already popular. Chatbots are very useful in interacting with customers in an almost human-like manner. Your business’ customer service can improve drastically with chatbots. Unlike human customer care executives (who can stay online only for a certain number of hours daily), chatbots ensure that every customer query is immediately answered. Research indicates that most customers prefer to chat with customer care executives rather than call. This clearly shows why chatbots have become a necessity today.
Chatbots are not only useful in customer service but over time is used to collect customer preference data. With the help of data, you can further improve your chatbot and customer service approach.
# Social Media Is More Than Facebook
Do you know that according to a Forbes research the average age of Facebook users is 65? This means that in most cases, you are unlikely to reach your target audience through Facebook. While you cannot neglect the importance of a strong social media presence, limiting yourself to FB posts isn’t going to work in 2020. You have to move further and beyond, Instagram is a hit among the millennials. TikTok is becoming a rage among the youngsters while Twitter remains a trusted platform for verified information. YouTube is the entertainment platform for one and all. Today engaging customers on social media means using these platforms variedly so that your brand ‘connects’ with the right audience on the right platform. This means that messaging on Facebook will be different from Instagram and Twitter. The same content on multiple platforms is not the thing to do in 2020.
#3 Getting ‘Influencers’ On Board
We cannot talk about social media marketing and ignore the power social media influencers hold in digital marketing. What began as generic content creation by people you could easily connect with has today become a viable business proposition. Small and medium sized businesses are benefiting the most by associating with influencers. You can reach a niche group of targeted customers when an influencer talks about you. They have a high engagement rate with followers and are perceived to be authentic. The fact that influencers use humor for messaging adds to their popularity. Their ideas and messaging can cater to niche brands. If you are an emerging brand looking for ways to connect with young people, get in touch with ‘micro-influencers’, who talk local, think global and can converse with their audience.
#4 Email Marketing
Email marketing has always been considered a trusted means of reaching the audience directly. While the effectiveness of email marketing can be debated in this age of multiple digital platforms, it cannot be denied that this form of digital marketing continues to be very popular. In 2020, businesses will continue to aggressively use email marketing, if current trends are to be believed. Email marketing has undergone many changes lately. Instead of text-heavy emails, nowadays businesses prefer to send info-graphic content. They have clickable links and other interactive buttons – almost like a webpage. The ROI on such emails is greater than traditional emails. This is one of the main reasons why brands are going back to basics with email marketing this year.
#5 Video Marketing is Serious Business Now
If an average user is given a choice between reading text and watching a video on their mobile phone, he would prefer the latter. That’s because on hand-held devices it is easier to watch something than read. Moreover it is easier to share a video content than a text-rich content. Product and brand videos are very popular and are considered easily shareable. Video marketing is not only highly engaging but also gives high ROI. A research by ImpactBND reveals that in 2019, 70% consumers shared a brand’s video while 52% consumers watched a product video before making a purchase. The research also highlighted how 72% businesses revealed that their conversion rates improved with video marketing.
#6 Content Continues Remains Important
One of the foundations of digital marketing was quality content. After all, one of the tenets of search engine optimization is unique content. This continues to remain so in 2020. However since Google continuously changes its algorithms, marketers must always be on their toes while creating content. Generic, stale content will not fetch good results. Google and every other search engine continuously scouts for nuanced content. Your website must have updated information and a blog that has relevant and latest articles. Google search continues to bring a lot of traffic into business websites and you cannot lose sight on quality content in 2020.
Digital marketing has grown to be much more than an after-though of traditional marketing. Today businesses must understand and respect the power of digital marketing. You cannot connect with your audience or reach new targets without effectively using the digital ecosystem. You must have a solid website, your social media presence must be effective and you must utilize AI to your advantage. 2020 is all about connecting with audiences online.
