Digital Marketing Trends in 2020

Back in the 60s, thinkers promised that the development of technology would turn the world into a global village. Their promises have come true – now we live in a village where distances and cultural differences are almost irrelevant. Communicating with a person on the other side of the globe is no different from communicating with a family member who is sitting in the next room. Marketers are not overjoyed: they gained access to a global audience. Promoting your product and increasing its recognition has become much easier. Digital marketing pays off so well that investment in it in 2019 should exceed $ 305 billion. This is almost half the amount spent on advertising in general. This situation creates fierce competition. To get around your rivals, you need to understand the trends in this industry. You have to glide beautifully along the waves of trends, anticipating their appearance and not stopping for a second. Stop – drown, miss a wave – drown. We have prepared for you a map of these waves so that you stay afloat. So, what are the trends of digital marketing in 2020 waiting for us?

Chatbots are coming

People liked chatting with chatbots. Companies can safely use and develop them. Chat bots spend less money than salaries for live workers, and they can work without lunch, sleep and weekends.

And what else bots delight owners:

Speed. Chatbot finds the answer in a split second. When a live worker only reads a message, the chatbot already sends a response. Quick recall speeds up customer decision making. He does not have time to think deeply about the purchase while he is waiting for the response of the consultant. This means that the percentage of conversions is increasing.
Satisfied customers. The chatbot is ready to communicate around the clock, it does not matter to him, at noon the client asks him about vacuum cleaners or at midnight. Again, the user does not have time to cool, and the likelihood that he will buy something is growing.
No bad mood. The bot is not angry, does not feel sad, does not disdain and does not freak out. He is just a program. Chatbot communicates with all people with the same kindness. That is, customers do not leave you because of the rudeness of living staff.

By 2020, 80% of enterprises want to have a full-time chat bot. Experts promise that by 2022 the annual savings of companies on chat bots will exceed $ 8 billion.

Platforms for effective promotion

Let’s go to the messengers

Smart companies in 2020 will appeal to their audience in instant messengers.

Some brands have already replaced email alerts with messages in instant messengers. For example, KLM has been sending tickets and useful information to Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp for more than a year. She also suggests creating family and friendly groups that will receive special alerts: flight status, weather, your movements. Moreover, in these chats you can not only read airline messages and communicate with each other, but also ask questions to the chatbot. KLM combined two trends at once in one service.

Even more advanced companies began experimenting with the sale of their products through instant messengers. Their customers go through the whole process – from selection to payment – right in the chat window. Accessibility and proximity to the client becomes a competitive advantage of such companies.

In messengers, people spend a lot of time. WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and WeChat at the beginning of 2019 entered the top 4 applications with the largest number of active users. In them, people are used to communicating with friends, colleagues, relatives. And companies, integrating into this platform, are getting closer to their customers. Close people trust more, which means that brand loyalty increases. And statistics show more sales.

Stories

Advertising, which disappears 24 hours after publication, is a very attractive marketing platform. Here you can play on fear of missing out on profits and present events in the style of “Only today and only now, hurry, there are only 5 minutes left!” Spontaneous purchases are just a feature of those who sit on social networks and watch Stories.

Push notifications

A third of young people allow the browser to send push notifications. And here you can deploy powerful retargeting. The user will see a reminder that he forgot something in the basket or was interested in something, but did not buy it. This will push him to finish what he started.

Voice search

Smartphones are getting smarter, and people are becoming lazier. They no longer spend time typing a search query. Instead, they simply tell their gadget what to look for. And not always with the same words that they would type manually. And this trend also needs to be adjusted:

Remember the language. People use longer words, phrases, and even complete sentences in voice search. So think about how you would ask a friend about your product. For users, voice assistants are almost friends, they communicate with them as if they were real people.
Answer the questions. There is a quick response function, which is read out aloud when the search results are opened. Information from the most informative site gets there. Become this site, and more users will come for additional information to you.

In addition, you can add voice search to your site.

Search by image

How convenient: I photographed a product, uploaded it in a search – and found out where to buy one. This is not yet developed, but already in demand service. Cooperating with a company that can promote this service, you can get a considerable flow of customers. So far, collaboration offers can be sent only to Pinterest, which made Lens with such functionality.

Augmented Reality

Several large brands are already working with her: IKEA offers to see how the furniture from the store will look in your room, and Sephora – how cosmetics will lie on your face. Such tests help customers make sure in advance that the product will suit them. In addition, more recently (regarding the publication of this article) Instagram and Facebook began to test AR-fitting rooms right inside social networks.

Progressive Web Applications

This is a mix of site and application. It works in a browser, does not take up space in the smartphone’s memory and does not obey the rules of Google or Apple. And everything else does not differ from the application: you can display the icon in the menu, receive notifications, work with the site without the Internet. Customers like this convenience and they buy more.

Omnichannel marketing

All channels should work within one strategy. For brands with omnichannel promotion, sales are increasing, as well as levels of customer engagement and retention.

SEO split testing

Without checks, tests, and thoughtful experimentation, promotion will never be effective. Even search engine optimization cannot do without A / B testing. To do this, you can use special services that will show all the indicators and help you choose the best option.

Active use of artificial intelligence

Another trend in digital marketing in 2020 will be the development of AI. Its main advantage – the ability to quickly analyze large amounts of information – comes in handy here.

Voice assistants will be able to provide better service than chat bots with less functionality and live employees. To the advantages of chat bots from the first trend, machine learning and programmed liveliness are added. They better understand human language and it is simply pleasant to communicate with customers. Siri, Alexa, Alice and even Oleg become invisible, but very useful assistant friends who can buy or pick up something at the request of the client. The first two can even make calls on behalf of their owners, making their life much easier. And for business, voice assistants are used in some call centers, and here they have also shown their usefulness.

AI is also an ideal option for creating recommendations and personalized content. Advertising bids are also driven by artificial intelligence. And he conducts predictive analytics. In these areas, AI will only improve.

Super Targeted Ads

Imagine that a poor student went to the website of a shelter for cats, looked at its inhabitants and wondered whether to take a kitten home. I looked at the feed in the online store and went for a walk on the Internet further. Then in contextual advertising he began to show ads like “Scottish short-footed cats for only 200 thousand rubles.” A man is a poor student who wanted to take a pet for free. And he is offered to spend “only 200 thousand rubles” on him. Poorly defined targeting won’t bring you money and may even scare users away. They will not like the annoying advertisement of unnecessary goods.

According to Forbes, half of users simply ignore irrelevant ads. Your site can be beautiful: low prices, high quality and all that. But an annoyed or disinterested audience will not want to become your client. When they need something according to your profile, they may recall their unpleasant acquaintance with your brand. So they will look for the right product at any site other than yours. That is, first you incur image losses, and then real ones. Advertising will not pay off if it is shown to too wide an audience. Therefore, you need to know your target audience so that all ads are useful to users.

Personalization

Recommendations and personalized suggestions are an important part of promotion in 2020. Already, nearly 80% of users are disappointed in the site if it does not offer them personalized content. It seems to them that the company does not think of them as their favorite customers, and such indifference makes them angry. Therefore, they go to caring competitors.

You should take the example of Amazon, the Internet giant that initially relied on personalization. On their website, customers often look at the “Recommendations” tab and buy what the site offers in e-mail newsletters. This collection includes, in particular, those products that are often bought with those viewed and already put in the basket. Is the customer looking at the glasses? We offer you eyeglass cases and wipes.

According to statistics, letters, in which at least the name of the client is indicated, are almost a third more often opened. And the clickability of these letters increases by 41% compared to standard ones.

90% of users are happy with ads created specifically for them. So everyone needs to personalize their ads. Otherwise, good sales cannot be achieved in 2020.

Geomarketing

The two previous trends will give impetus to the development of more accurate geo-targeting. Sending advantageous offers to people who are within walking distance from the company’s point will be effective: most of the audience has smartphones.

Attraction of new clients

Expand your customer base constantly. The coverage of new sites will become a trend in digital marketing in 2020.

Opinion Leaders and Engagement

Most of the women before buying a mini-study in social networks. They see other people talking about an interesting brand. And the opinion of others is trusted by 92% of consumers. It’s harmful to ignore, right? Therefore, companies should develop their representations in social media, as well as work with complaints and positive reviews. In addition, let your customers create the content themselves. Having stood with you on one side, they will sincerely and free promote your brand.

Video content

People love it when they are told how something works. But they are bored to read the user manual. Something more modern and convenient for consumption is needed. Video. So you attract customers through useful information. Moreover, it can be not only video reviews and guides, but also interviews, videos about the life of your company, the backstage of production, a 360-degree video or something else. In addition, shopping video content has become a new format. A pop-up on a photo or video window leads viewers directly to the site with the goods.

According to a large-scale survey, users expect honesty, friendliness and benefit from brands. Be so – and customers will reach for you.

Transparency

In the world of Google and regular revelations, a successful company should be (or at least seem) as honest, open and transparent as possible. To begin with, assure everyone that you are careful about personal data. Promise your customers that neither their contacts nor card details will fall into the wrong hands (and try to stick to this). In Europe, disclosure of information about how you handle customer data is mandatory, so do not wait until you are forced to do so by law. Do it voluntarily, and rise a little in the eyes of others.

What else should be done to obtain the status of “Honest company, worthy of trust”:

tell us about your values;
convince others that selling is not your only goal;
Tell about yourself as much as possible so that customers know exactly who they are dealing with;
promptly dispel any doubts of customers;
calmly accept constructive criticism, respond amiably, without passing to the person;
create a platform for customer suggestions to improve the service, organize a community of those who like your brand.

Content marketing

Content creation has a lot of advantages:

cheaper, but brings more customers;
not jammed by ad blockers;
Brings respect to the audience.

Digital Market Growth

The Drum agency predicted that by 2020-23 the market will grow by $ 75 billion. This means that more money will be invested in digital marketing. By 2022, about 90% of the marketing budget will be spent specifically on digital promotion. This rapid growth should highlight agile marketing. How is he good? In it, the effectiveness of promotion is calculated by whether the company has achieved marketing goals: whether enough products have been sold, whether the brand has overtaken its competitors, etc. Also in agile marketing a significant role is played by work with social networks – an invaluable source of data and ideas for business.

Market growth is also associated with the acceleration of production and launch of new products on the market. More products – more campaigns – more money.

Single marketing tool

There are many services for promotion now, but not one of them gives access to all marketing opportunities on different platforms. Therefore, for the time being, it’s necessary, for example, to launch contextual advertising in Yandex through one service, on Google – through another, in social networks – through a third, analytics through fourth. But everything is going to create a “single window”, such services are already appearing, but have not yet become popular.

Why is such a service good?

easier to track the path of the buyer;
more objective analytics;
higher quality customer service;
progress is faster and progress errors are noticeable.

New Generation SEO

Search engines are constantly updating their algorithms, forcing you to constantly adapt to new realities. All the major search engines explain these changes with a simple phrase: “We are improving the quality of search results.” Changes can raise or lower your site in search results, the same SEO element can bring you to the first line today, and tomorrow become the reason for the ban. Or vice versa. You will not know this in advance. Be prepared for any changes.

Customer happiness

Purely economically, it is more profitable for companies to please existing customers than to attract new ones. And in 2020, this should be taken seriously. More effort is needed in the last stages of the user path. You can better know your loyal audience, segment it and motivate you to buy. And loyal and affectionate clients will become lawyers of your brand absolutely free of charge and honestly tell you if there are any problems in service.

Micromoments

These are the events when a person picks up a smartphone and begins to search. Four micro-moments are important to us: I want to know – I want to go – I want to do it – I want to buy. These are the deepest desires that motivate the waste of money. Based on them, you can conduct a successful campaign.

conclusions

The development of technology has created a huge sea of marketing tools. It is impossible to cover them all, but you need to try to pick up at least those that have not yet rusted and are working. This is not easy, but also necessary. The competition in most areas is high, digital marketing and new technologies are developing rapidly. Their waves are rapidly replaced by new ones. So try to at least stay in trend.