Posted: January 20, 2020
Welcome to the Roaring 20’s... again! With 2019 behind us, it’s time to peer into our crystal balls and see what we anticipate will be trending in the world of digital marketing in 2020.
While many of the trends that we discussed in our 2019 trends review will continue into this year as well, here are a couple of trends we foresee breaking through into the mainstream this year in a way that didn’t get quite as much traction last year.
Without any further ado, here are Four Tens top anticipated digital marketing trends for 2020:
Mainstreaming Omnichannel Marketing: Okay, yes, we did talk about omnichannel marketing in our 2019 trends blog post, but it was too nascent to be considered “mainstream”. But consumers are looking for and demanding the kind of integration between marketing and sales that omnichannel systems precisely cater to.
Proliferation of Video Content: We’ll sit here shouting about video all year if we have to but we think this is the year that businesses will really start upping the ante on video content. With so many sources for stock photos and video, and social channels prioritizing engaging video content, it would be a waste not to jump on the bandwagon while it’s hot.
Move to Micro: Microinfluencers, niche social groups and media networks, oh my! Whereas the 2010’s were all about appealing to as many people as possible, we’ve started to see people moving away from this and instead embracing niche groups, or smaller groups with more specific interests. Microinfluencers may not have as many followers compared to the super influencers on Instagram, for example, but they’ll have more sway over a demographic or interest group, leading to higher engagement from a small, passionate group. Tapping into this potential requires identifying the niche groups that work for your business and brand, and the microinfluencers that can help you, but there’s a lot of ROI to be found here.
Social Commerce: If you’ve ever seen something on Instagram and wondered where to get it, behold the magic of Social Commerce. Instagram and Pinterest are two major platforms blending this hybrid of marketing and sales via social media. It naturally makes sense to showcase beautiful imagery and videos on platforms like IG and Pinterest, and then only take a few clicks to purchase that for yourself. Expect to see more streamlining like this, making the marketing and sales process even shorter.
Human + AI: Using automation and AI to build a more personalized experience isn’t anything new, but the combination of a human and technical touch is becoming more intertwined as we head into 2020. AI can act as a resource to aggregate data while the human point of contact can tailor and help personalize the process. As consumers expect near-instantaneous updates, constant points of contact, and customized personalization, it will take a blend of human and technological touch points to provide a seamless customer service experience.
By the end of 2020 we’ll see which of these trends really surface in the realm of digital marketing and which fall to the wayside. The biggest takeaway is to be where your customers are and provide them with the information they are looking for.
Whether you use enterprise level software with AI integration to do that or are still in the introductory stages of getting your CRM setup, there are small ways to break into each of these trends without spending your entire marketing budget. And there’s always the case for outsourcing your marketing needs as well.