The end of the year is coming in fast, and it brings with it some new and exciting marketing trends for the upcoming one. And while 2019 was not without its trends (such as Google releasing a new NLP algorithm and social media becoming more conversational) we need to look towards the future and consider what possible marketing trends to look out for in 2020.Â
When you are working with a digital marketing agency it is important to keep up-to-date with all the trends. With constant algorithm changes, technology upgrades, and new techniques being adopted all the time, digital marketers need to be on their toes and keep an eye on what is working and what is not.Â
Keep reading below for just some of the marketing trends to watch for 2020.Â
Slick, Shoppable Posts
It is highly unlikely that you, or someone you know, does not use social media. And because of how popular it is, social media has become an integral part of digital marketing, which means that many marketing trends will focus on social media. One of these trends to look out for is the shoppable post.Â
Shoppable posts allow users to tap on a link or tag in a post and be taken to a page where they can buy the product in the post. Instagram and Pinterest are the most popular platforms for this feature, with an impressive number of people preferring to purchase directly from each app. Shoppable posts are ideal for retailers who would like to reach the younger generations, as well as provide loyal consumers with a simple and easy way to shop.Â
Voracious Video Streaming
Video streaming has risen steadily in popularity over the years, and by 2020, this marketing trend could easily become a necessary digital marketing tool for any agency. By using video streaming, you are able to go where your consumers are, and in South Africa alone, the number of people using YouTube has increased by up to 80 percent. Â
Studies have also shown that people viewing live video content are more likely to pay attention to the products shown and the promotions offered. There are platforms such as Facebook Live and IGTV which allow you to easily create streaming videos for your brand. In 2020, it will become more and more commonplace for brands to have live streaming videos, allowing them to interact with consumers in a more direct and personal manner.Â
Creative Conversational Marketing
One of the more exciting marketing trends of 2020 will be the adoption of conversational marketing. Voice search is a part of conversational marketing, as is the new algorithm update from Google, known as BERT (Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers). In terms of new trends, people will likely adopt smart speakers and other devices more rapidly in the coming year, meaning that marketers will need to create content and websites accordingly.Â
Conversational marketing allows you to interact with your consumers in a way that mimics human dialogue. Using long-tail keywords and phrases rather than one keyword in your content is a way of adapting to conversational marketing, as is building a website that can easily be read by screen readers. Targeting your audience based on their behaviour and demographics is another part of conversational marketing.Â
What Is Reality?
Virtual and augmented reality are two marketing trends that may very likely take off with impressive speed in 2020. In 2019, we saw VR being used in marketing from brands such as Oreo and The New York Times. In 2020, we could see AR surpassing VR as the technology progresses, allowing people to create fully immersive experiences for their brands, companies, and products.Â
This interactive content provides consumers with a one-of-a-kind experience, and can help to improve your conversion rate as well as your return customer rate. However, you will need to be sure that AR and VR are right for your brand as there are some industries that may not benefit as much from this technology. The retail industry is the ideal application for augmented and virtual reality, making marketing for this industry easy and fun.Â
Perfectly Personalised Marketing
While personalised marketing is nothing new, this marketing trend is set to become even more important and significant in 2020. Consumers have become experts at tuning out, scrolling past, and skipping content and advertisements that have been mass-produced.Â
If content does not connect or resonate with your audience, you are likely going to lose their concentration, trust, and loyalty. Offering a personalised experience at every touchpoint of your customer’s journey should be at the top of your list of marketing trends to take note of in the upcoming year.Â
If you are looking for a digital marketing agency for 2020 that thinks outside of the box, contact NetMechanic today to find out what we can offer you.
