Marketing Trends For 2020 That You Must Implement And Can’t Ignore

marketing trends

Marketing trends change faster than we breathe, which is why marketers need to stay updated with all the ongoing trends in the industry.

This wasn’t the case before. In the past few decades or so, businesses depended upon traditional marketing methods like billboards and flyers to connect with their customers.

However, technology has completely changed the game. From the time of black and white TVs to now, a lot has evolved in this decade.

Here are the following marketing trends you need to look out for in 2020:

#1. Email is becoming more personalised

A lot of marketing critics are arguing over the sustainability of email as a marketing channel. And the truth is, it’s falling behind other channels in terms of effectiveness.

But that doesn’t mean email is out of the game. Email is an important channel and it’s here to stay.

The marketing channel still has a great ROI of 4400%!

But to get the most out of it, you need to make email more personalised. And to do that, you’ll have to automate the entire process.

You can no longer send generic, bulk emails to all your subscribers.

Suppose a customer is browsing through products on your website. They pick a product and abandon it in their cart. Send them an email reminding them to finish their purchase along with similar products that they might be interested in.

Here are some statistics from Campaign Monitor to back me up:

#2. Facebook is still the top social media channel

We’ve been hearing a lot of rumours about Facebook’s user base declining, and unfortunately, it’s true.

The platform’s US user base declined by 15 million since 2017, especially in the 12-34 year old demographic. But there’s an upside.

It’s still the most widely used social platform currently. So if you were thinking of shiting your operations somewhere else, hold your horses.

Using Facebook will depend entirely on your target audience, of course. If you’re targetting millennials, perhaps it is a good move to focus your resources on Instagram and Pinterest.

However, if your product or services are targetted towards adults or the elderly, Facebook is the best platform you can market on. According to Forbes, 41% of Facebook users are above the age of 65.

Facebook’s user base partly declined due to its privacy violation breach in 2018, but it’s expected to peak again in the coming years.

#3. The use of chatbots is rapidly increasing

Any time consumers have difficulty navigating a site or finding details about a product, they immediately turn towards chatbots for help.

And with online shopping replacing retail stores, the need for chatbots is simultaneously growing as well.

You can use chatbots for Email, Facebook and many other marketing channels. They’re great for the following services:

  • Customer service
  • Basic communication
  • Product recommendations
  • E-commerce transactions

However, large businesses cannot always handle so many customer queries, and consumers do not appreciate waiting for their turn till a representative is available.

Plus, even if you have a small business, why waste resources on hiring employees to deal with customers when Chatbots can do that for you?

Check out ManyChat or Mobile Monkey, two of the best platforms that leverage Facebook Messenger and are working to connect it with Instagram and WhatsApp which will gain them even more popularity.

Check out the existing integrations that ManyChat offers:

You can also get tools for your business that allow for push notifications, such as Subscribers.

Here’s the impact that entrepreneur Neil Patel was able to generate from using Subscriber’s push notifications:

#4. Voice search is becoming popular

Voice search and interaction are shooting up.

According to statistics, voice searches currently account for 20% of all searches and this number is predicted to increase to 50% of all searches in 2020!

This is all thanks to the smart devices like Alexa, Google Assistant and Siri.

The technology and software embedded in these devices are so personalised now that they can finally understand our wants and needs as buyers.

While this is great, voice search is a fairly new channel of communication so it presents some challenges.

When you type in a query, the search engine will give you the entire list of results. However, when you conduct a voice search, you’ll only get a limited amount of answers.

This means voice searches are going to require an entirely different approach. Luckily, Jetson.ai is one of the few platforms that provides a solution to this:

Jetson’s works with most of the popular devices including Alexa and Google Home, and it will help you order products and services from different websites through voice search.

The great thing about it is how personalised it is. It will learn your purchasing patterns so that when you order the same product over a period of time, it will make the process easier and smoother by leading you right to it.

So if you think about it, once we adapt to voice searches, it becomes way more convenient to shop through voice search instead of typing on your phone or laptop.

#5. The best analytical tools are more complex

We all love Google Analytics, as do I because it’s so useful and it’s completely free!

But the sad truth is, it’s no longer enough. After all, you can’t get much out of free software.

Because so many other platforms have developed that can provide a more detailed insight into your marketing strategy, using free tools like Google Analytics is no longer enough.

Due to new channels like voice search, there’s more to transactions than just buying a product and Google Analytics does not evaluate features like upselling, down selling, repeat purchases and checkout bumps.

You also need to take into account the revenue that is generated from partnerships, affiliate marketing, and even webinars.

For this, you can check out tools like Amplitude – a platform that will monitor and create long term value instead of short term profits. 

#6. SEO will become more important

Yes, SEO will become more important than it already is. 

That means companies will have to conduct SEO A/B split testing. Wondering what that means?

SEO testing is not about where your website ranks in terms of search engines, but more about testing different strategies in a way that will help you boost your firm’s SEO performance.

There may be untapped potential in your SEO strategy and platforms like ClickFlow will allow you to find just that. Not only that, but ClickFlow will help you monitor and improve your click-through rate:

#7. Branding is more important than ever

With all the advantages that technology brings forth, it also has its downsides.

A major downside of technology is how easy it has become to copy something. You’ll be able to find a cheap knock off of every high-end product in any industry.

Let’s take the example of a Gucci bag. Originally costing $1000, you can find highly similar designs with little difference in appearance and sometimes even quality for as low as $100.

Similarly, you’ll find phones that look exactly like the newest iPhone models with many of the same features for half the price.

With this difference in pricing, you’re going to need strong branding to get consumers to buy your product over others. If consumers can get phones with great features at such affordable prices, why do they still prefer iPhones? Simply due to branding.

Apple no longer has the first-mover advantage as many brands have introduced better and more innovative technology. Yet, Apple shares the biggest chunk of market share in the US:

Create a unique selling point based on perception rather than features, because breaking an intangible competitive advantage will be an impossible task for your competitors.

#8. Having multiple marketing channels will lead to success

Some of the biggest names in the industry started from promoting their brand through a single channel. But that’s not enough anymore.

Let’s take Facebook as an example. When it started out, it used email as a channel to promote its website.

Now, you’ll see Facebook ads everywhere – during videos, TVCs, in-app ads, SMS and every other major channel that you can think of. 

The point is, even if your business is small, you’ll still need multiple channels to market your brand.

This is because it is likely that only one segment of your target audience uses a channel, for example, not all users check their email every day or there are some Instagram users that have an account but don’t actively use it.

Using multiple channels will improve the chances of getting the message across to your target audience.

#9. Videos are the future

Did you know that the average user spends 88% more time on a website with videos?

That’s how engaging they are, and it’s only natural.

We as humans are designed to process visuals faster than text (well, unless we have a photographic memory!)

You can video for all the following purposes:

  • Launching a new product/service e.g. the Apple Keynote
  • Teaching consumers how to use a product/service e.g. makeup tutorials
  • Interacting with customers through live video – queries, feedback, responses etc.
  • Educate your target audience about a trending topic
  • Customer testimonials – get your customers to send you videos telling everyone how much they like using your product or brand

Videos increase conversions by up to 80% so you need to consider it a crucial part of your marketing strategy.

More than that, you need to incorporate live videos into your strategy since they are more interactive and allow for two way, immediate communication between you and your customers which makes them feel more involved in the buying process.

#10. There’s no survival without automation

To tie up everything, you’re going to have to automate all your processes – whether you’re dealing with chatbots, voice search or email personalization.

Without automation, survival can become very hard in the business industry. Now a days you can find several saas companies that offer affordable automation and support. This makes it easier for businesses small or large to easily adopt such technology with the big expense.

This, however, poses a problem for small businesses that cannot bear the start-up costs of incorporating automated technology into their business processes.

Luckily, there are credit companies like Brex and Lighter Capital that will loan you money for your short term needs as an alternative to getting burdened with extensive costs.

To ensure that you can pay back your loans and avoid bad debt, invest in the right places that will generate high Returns on Investment. 

Check out digital marketing tips to absolutely perfect your marketing strategy.

Conclusion

So these are the marketing trends that you need to follow if you want your business to grow and survive in this competitive environment.

Even market leaders need to adapt to the changing environment otherwise they will eventually fail. Make sure you do your research and keep updated with the ever-changing trends so that you can always stay one step ahead of your competitors. If you found this article helpful here is another on web design marketing trends that could definitely be useful.

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