Technologies such as AI and data-driven marketing will be big trends for 2020, but you should focus on people, not technology. You need to make digital marketing more human again.
- Customer Experience
2020 will be the year of the customer. There is a massive shift in beliefs about what marketing is. It’s no longer about trying to convince people to buy from or work with your company.
Instead, the priority has moved towards providing fantastic customer experiences that will keep people coming back for more.
The growth of online content has given consumers more power. They are no longer a passive party when it comes to learning about products. They’re not waiting for you to tell you how great your products are. Instead, they’re going out and doing their research.
Customer experience is already the hottest trend in marketing circles. 73% of people say that customer experience is an important factor in their buying decisions. You need to provide a great experience to keep your customers and attract new ones.
- Employees and Engagement
Research also found that 46% of consumers will abandon a brand if its employees are not knowledgeable, and bad employee attitude is the number one factor that stops individuals from doing business with a company.
Your employees are the human face of your brand, so the interactions between your employees and your customers should be a key part of your marketing strategy.
So a high level of employee engagement is the first and most important step in improving customer experiences.
- Visualization
Many studies have shown that people prefer visual content to plain text. You just have to look at the growth of image-focused platforms Pinterest and Instagram to see the proof of this.
Google and other big companies are investing in visual search technology. Images are already returned for 19% of searches on Google, and 62% of millennials say they are more interest in visual search than any other new technology.
Adding infographics, images, and videos to your text you make it more interesting and attractive.
- Personalization
Today’s consumers are flooded with marketing messages from multiple channels and they have started to avoid (don’t trust) messages. Traditional advertising is losing its effectiveness.
You need to create Personalized marketing messages to build a real connection between the brand and the target market. 80% of consumers said that they’d be more likely to do business with a brand that provides a personalized experience.
- Marketing Transformation
Marketing transformation can help companies to improve customer service and experience, boost brand awareness and reputation, and ultimately increase revenue and profits.
It’s a combination of data collection and modern technology. Building customer relationships and engagement, publishing quality content and improving their online presence.
All of these things are part of a strategy that influences every department and employee in the company, not just the marketers.
- Voice Search
Voice search will continue to be a major influence on how brands create content and market themselves online. The smart speaker business is booming, with around a quarter of US households now owning a Google Home, Amazon Echo, or another smart speaker.
Consumers are also expecting to use voice search more soon – 61% of those aged 25–64 who already use a voice device intend to use it more in the future. (research by PwC.)
Voice searchers use search differently. They use longer, more conversational queries, so your content needs to serve these queries, as well as answering questions directly, can help to make it more visible to voice searches
- AI Technology and Automation
Many businesses using AI-powered technology and automation to assist their marketing efforts. AI is the technology behind voice search and smart assistants. It’s also made chatbots possible, which are now popping up on more websites.
AI technology and automation are helping to take some of the grunt work out of marketing so brands can concentrate on strategy and creating an effective customer experience.
Big data, supported by AI and predictive analytics, is also helping brands to learn more about their audience and customers.
Important! Content marketing will continue to dominate the digital marketing in 2020. Most of these trends rely on content in some way. You need to have a solid base of quality content across all your marketing channels.