1.Shoppable Posts

By now, you know that social media is a huge part of online marketing. What you might not realize is just how many people shop on social. 60% of Instagram users say they discover new products on Instagram and in a survey of over 4,000 Pinterest users, a whopping 70% said Pinterest helps them find new products.

These platforms have taken note of the fact that people are using them to shop and have made it easier for merchants to sell via social media. Over the past few years, Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook all have ways for ecommerce stores to create shoppable posts using a native integration that makes it easy to tag and shop products directly in your posts. For online retailers, this is a great way to drive traffic to product pages.

Let’s look at this example from Free People on Instagram:

This photo is on their feed and when you tap the photo, the dress name and price appears. Tap the price and you’ll be taken to a screen with more information and the option to view the item on the Free People website. From this screen, you can also scroll and see more products:

By utilizing social commerce, you’re reaching new customers, reducing the barriers to purchasing, and dramatically shortening the sales funnel. While shoppable posts have been on the rise for the past few years, we expect them to become the norm in 2020

2. Interactive Content

91% of buyers are looking for more interactive content online and in 2020, content marketing will shift its focus to give the people what they want. Shoppable posts, AR/VR, 360-degree video, quizzes, and polls are just a few examples of interactive content.

Interactive content will be one of 2020’s top marketing trends for a few reasons:

• This type of content is new and original, helping it cut through noise
• It gives visitors a reason to stay on the page
• It’s extremely shareable (almost everyone has seen someone share results of a silly quiz like “What kind of cheese are you?”)
• The shareability increases your brand awareness
• Last but not least, people just love to interact!

3. Smart Bidding in Google Ads

Automation is nothing new in the digital marketing world, but thanks to recent Google Ads updates announced at Google Marketing Live, we expect automation and smart bidding to become the norm for many PPC account managers.

Google Ads relies on machine learning to optimize your bids so you get the most value out of every conversion. The improvements announced at Google Marketing Live make optimizing your bids better than ever with the ability to choose conversion actions at the campaign level, the ability to optimize your bids across several campaigns with a set of desired conversion actions, and the ability to set bids to automatically change when a sale starts or stops. These improvements will help you maximize your conversions.

4. Social Messaging Apps

Social media apps like Facebook Messenger, WeChat, and WhatsApp aren’t just for messaging friends anymore. These apps are becoming popular ways for businesses to communicate with their customers. In fact, Facebook Messenger sees over 10 billion messages exchanged between individuals and businesses each month.

Messaging apps are popular for businesses because customers find it convenient to have direct contact with companies. In addition, it allows for extremely personalized marketing, which we already know people love.

Here are a few ways businesses are using messaging apps:

• Establishing contact and building relationships
• Educating customers about their business/products
• Boosting sales
• Inviting people to events
• Regaining potential customers
• Providing customer support

Think about how your business can use social messaging apps in 2020!

5. Chatbots

Many companies will continue using a chatbot, they’re effective software programs that interact with website visitors and customers. Chatbots communicate naturally with people viewing the site and can answer their questions in real-time.

Chatbots either use verbal interactions or chat windows to help web users find what they’re looking for.

Hiring an individual to monitor and communicate with visitors on your website can be expensive, but chatbots save costs by answering questions on your behalf. And subsequently, customers tend to appreciate the personalized service and getting their questions answered.

Additional Benefits of Using Chatbots in Digital Marketing

a). It Saves Time: Unlike humans, a chatbot can provide answers quickly to all kinds of questions. And quick responses mean that customers can make decisions faster.

b). Customer Satisfaction: Unlike humans, the chatbot doesn’t need time to rest. Any time the customer wants information, it’s right at their fingertips. And as the chatbot responds more accurately, your sales conversion rates will increase as well.

c). Good Humor: A chatbot is never moody. You will never hear customers complain about being turned away. They are unbiased, clear, and informative- all the qualities that make your customers feel at ease.

6.Social Media Stories Become a Marketing Mainstay

First Snapchat came out with the concept of “My Story,”then Instagram and Facebook stories were introduced, and then YouTube unveiled their own story format: Reels. Now we have the emergence of TikTok, where users create videos on the spot and behind the scenes for a less polished and more authentic look.

Since these types of stories disappear after a set period of time, this is a great opportunity for marketers to make good use of FOMO (fear of missing out).

There are several benefits to using social media stories including:

• Increased brand awareness
• Constant engagement with followers
• Cost-effective ad solution
• Increased traffic to your web page
• Opportunity to reach younger audiences

A simple way to engage users is to add Polls to your Stories. For instance, the National Basketball Association used Polls to ask their followers who they thought would win the upcoming matchups. Additionally, it was a useful tool to build anticipation around the event itself.

Consumers often use Stories to search for local businesses. For instance, on Instagram Stories, some location searches have a story icon that allows users to view recent stories that have used the particular location sticker. Additionally, the use of hashtags for places or events have a similar effect of driving user traffic to that destination to learn more. This is a great way to help your brand get discovered locally.

7. Use of local influencers in marketing strategy

The use of influencers in digital marketing strategies is going strong. After all, the strategy is extremely effective. The influencer marketing is to hire persons who are recognized by consumers for them to do actions and report to the followers of the benefits of the company’s product. If your business is local (in areas of interest as well as geographically), the tendency towards 2020 will be focusing on long-term partnerships with local influencers.

For this, the first step is to map the points of influence in your area, be it a niche of interest or location and analyze if this strategy really makes sense for your business. This means searching for podcasts, YouTube channels, and people with a high level of engagement and engagement with your audience. Make a list of the top influencers in your niche and then take time to get to know them, understand their positions and their levels of engagement with followers.

8.SERP Position Zero

What will be the top ranking in SERP is either #0 or #1? Most of them thought that #1 is the top rank. But that’s not correct. #0 is the top-ranking is SERPs. #0 is the place called featured snippet which shows your website text with URL in SERP.

This is the prime location that has a high chance of getting the user’s view and drive them towards the business website. Check out this link to get guidance to attain zero position >> Ranking Zero

 9. Companies will be optimizing for voice search, but not for revenue

According to ComScore, over 50% of the searches in 2020 will be from voice search. But that’s not really a new trend… everyone has been talking about that for years.

So, what’s the big deal?

Optimizing for voice search is a great way to get your brand out more, but how is that going to convert into sales?

I haven’t seen too many solutions so far when it comes to capitalizing on your voice search traffic, but so far there is Jetson.ai.

If you aren’t familiar with Jetson.ai, it makes it so people can buy from your site using voice search. It doesn’t matter if it is Alexa or Google Home, they work with most of the popular devices.

What’s cool about Jetson.ai is that it can learn from each customer and customize the interactions.

For example, if I keep ordering the same toothpaste from a specific store using voice search, Jetson.ai keeps track of that so you can easily keep ordering the same product over and over again with little to no friction.

Heck, it’s easier than logging into your computer or pulling out your phone to make a purchase.

10.Video marketing

Video marketing will be the leader of digitization in the coming year. By the year 2020, Tubular Insights predicts 80% of the online content will take up the form of visual representation.

The videos will be the highlight of any marketing venture as these will distribute the message in a better way while providing entertainment to the viewers. The videos along with apt audio will help companies accelerate brand growth and allocate their UPS across all platforms.

Video has become the golden child of communication since the rapid adoption of smartphones in the last decade and social media apps. We are all completely overwhelmed and just trying to keep our head above water, so short videos make both communication of a message more efficient and more enjoyable.

More than ever, we are seeing that video content does not have to be high production and high cost. Don’t shy away from pulling your smartphone out and recording a message to your potential customers about a recent win or to share some insights that will be valuable to them. This more casual style is well adopted as we are all used to watching low-quality videos from our friends and family on our social media feeds.

On top of all these factors, many apps allow lots of easy ways to make your videos even more entertaining (think bunny ear filters or 360 videos). So, what are you waiting for – we’ve outlined a full guide on how to get started with video marketing here.

11. Machine Learning

This is a major trend that has also gained a lot of traction in the recent years and we predict to be a huge player in 2020. Machine learning is the process of data analysis that makes analytical model building automatic. It is a form of AI that based on the concept that systems can learn from data, therefore identifying patterns and making better decisions with minimal (or no – scary we know!) human intervention.

Now don’t go getting too terrified about the impact this could have on our world (mind you, the Facebook shut down of their machine learning after they started talking to each other in their own language was pretty scary!).

Forbes states that 84% of marketing organizations are already implementing AI and machine learning currently. In addition, they report that 75% of organizations using machine learning report on an increase in customer satisfaction of greater than 10%.

This trend offers huge opportunities and most importantly is making the measurement of marketing ROI increasingly accurate. This development can be used to understand faster and therefore act on problems that may exist in the marketing and sales funnel, through this learning. For example, it can provide insights on how to best deliver and produce content that will answer your prospects questions, at the exact right time.

Other exciting developments in this space include Google’s machine learning products such as Powerful Image Analysis   that allows developers to understand the content of an image (e.g. a car).

Technology never remains the same. This is probably the best and the worst thing about it. However, if we take a momentary look at the future of the digital marketing trends, we can expect good things to come, things that will not only make our marketing initiatives easy but fruitful as well.

Reach out today to book a complimentary digital strategy session here to learn how you can leverage these trends for your business.

12.Personalization

Personalized marketing is where it’s at in 2020. Consumers are tired of seeing generic ads that may not have anything to do with them. We change the channel when commercials are on (that’s if we still have cable) and pay extra to music streaming services to avoid ads. Traditional advertising and generic commercials are increasingly ineffective.

That’s where personalized advertising comes in.

90% of 1,000 people surveyed said they find personalization appealing and 80% said they’re more likely to do business with a company that offers personalized experiences. Customers are beginning to expect personalization and there are a lot of ways for digital marketers to deliver.

Segmented email lists are one of the most popular ways to personalize your online marketing efforts. In fact, personalized email blasts perform 3X better than generic emails sent to your entire list! Most email marketing tools, like MailChimp and Constant Contact, and marketing automation tools, like HubSpot and Pardot, make list segmentation simple and easy.

If you’re not personalizing your marketing messages, make 2020 the year that you make marketing personal

13.Overcoming Ad Blocking

Marketers have felt a constant doom with more than 400 million mobile web users using ad-blocking technology to restrict banner ads being displayed on their devices. But from this year, they can instead adapt to the new reality of online campaigns. They have found out about a new methodology that includes diversifying their media mix with native ads as well as non-standard ad formats. This will help them increase their ability over the blockers. The fragility of the digital ad ecosystem is directly proportional to criticality of the content marketing.

15.Cyber-security will be more important than past years

This might seem like a strange addition to the list. But cyber-security is more important than ever with how much people rely on technology these days. Hackers are becoming smarter, and ransomware is on the rise. Attackers earned more than $6.5 million from holding companies’ corporate data ransom in 2019.

The threat of coming into contact with any sort of cyber threat is heightened for the marketing department that has to use various social media, answer emails, and talk to people online.
Between strategizing and rolling out campaigns, there’s simply no time to be on the lookout for potential threats. So something like a VPN could come in handy to keep cybercriminals at bay.

16. Email Isn’t Slowing Down

Email marketing has been around for more than two decades, and it’s still a core tenet of the digital marketer’s book. And that isn’t going to change within the next five years. However, it is still evolving.
Customer preferences continue to change when it comes to email marketing, and it’s important to keep up. Data analytics along with advanced email automation platforms have resulted in big strides in the personalized email sphere. Anyone who isn’t using these email marketing tools to create unique and super personalized emails in 2020 may get left by the wayside.
Personalized email marketing isn’t anything new, of course, but its efficacy is almost undeniable. Studies show that personalized emails improve click-through rates by 14% and 74% of marketers say it improves customer engagement.

17.Artificial Intelligence Is Refining Audience Targeting More

Any marketer worth their salt will know that understanding their target audience is a core tenet to the profession. Without that knowledge, all other efforts are a shot in the dark.
It’s no secret that there’s a big driving force behind artificial intelligence in most industries. Marketing is no different. AI is the new frontier in audience targeting, and it’s currently the most effective way for audience expansion.

It became more widely used in 2019, with 43% of marketers surveyed by Blueshift saying they use AI for audience expansion techniques. 2020 set to turn it into industry-wide standard practice.

18.Focus on Visual Content

Visual content helps you add emotion, say more in a shorter time, and make your communications more powerful and memorable. According to Digital Marketing World, by 2021, 13 percent of all internet traffic will consist of live video. Almost all social media platform supports live video streaming today, and it is only expected to soar in 2020.

Another example of visual content is a LookBook.The Dutch clothing retailer Scotch & Soda used the LookBook to capture the creative inspiration behind its Spring/Summer collection. The interactive design elements provide an engaging experience that drives sales and increases the time spent on their website, while the content communicates authenticity and the brand’s identity.

19.Google’s First Page — SEO Optimization

Google’s algorithm updates are lined-up today and in the upcoming 2020s. The major heist is to get that position on the first page of Google’s SERP. Google’s algorithm is a system that filters out billions of pages to give the aptest and best content for the search query.

The primary lookout for this are:

• Doing Keyword Research
• Optimizing your webpage according to long-tail Keywords
• Checking your site for Speed and Errors.
• Optimizing your Images
• Making the Content, specific for Longtail queries
• Enabling content for Voice Searches.
• Keeping the page “mobile-friendly.”
• To keep going, you need to:
• Check for any broken links
• Use relevant and high authority external links
• Control the bounce rate
• Check on URL redirections and 404 errors.

20.MOBILE WALLET

Electronic payments are nothing but simple software options that permit you to do money transactions by your laptop or mobile apparatus both online and at physical stores. Mobile or contactless payments are flourishing thanks to the new technologies and constant push towards a cashless economy and advanced payment methods.

The tendencies are such that even social networking websites are expanding their company through payment systems for peer-to-peer transfers and direct payment within the network. Digital and cellular technologies are in the sport to be another winner of marketing your brands to your consumers.

21.Social media stories and live video

Stories and live videos allow you to communicate directly with your audience. Your followers may miss or ignore your posts as there are too many posts in their feed. However, one of the main advantages of live-videos and stories is they appear on the top of the all the posts, and visual elements around stories make the user click on it and check out the stories.

The daily watch time for live videos has increased significantly. Live videos on social platforms keep your audience engaged 3x longer, and live videos generate 6x higher interactions compared to single posts. Hence, it is highly recommended to use both in your marketing plan.

Top social media tools:

1. Canva
2. Adobe Spark

Apart from built-in features of Instagram for creating interactive stories, Canva is one of the best and highly popular tool for creating posts, stories and other visual content for social media. You can also use Adobe Spark to create stunning social graphics and short videos.