Technology is transforming the future of digital marketing. Customers are getting savvy and want a personalized experience. The way brands analyze customer data and interact with their audiences has been changed through big data, artificial intelligence (AI), marketing automation, visual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), internet of things (IoT), immersive technologies, and smart tech.
Earlier, digital marketing was limited to search engine optimization (SEO), social media marketing, pay-per-click advertising PPC, and more. Modern technology is continuously evolving and with it, digital marketing is also witnessing a dramatic shift.
- Worldwide digital ad spend is predicted to reach over $375 billion by 2021. (eMarketer)
- The global digital software industry will grow by $74.96 billion by 2020. (TheDrum)
- By 2020, businesses will spend $110 billion on digital advertising in the US. (eMarketer)
- Global social media ad spend reached $84 billion in 2019 – the first time social media spend outperformed print ad spend. (Zenith Media)
For effective digital marketing campaigns, you need to stay cognizant of the latest trends and techniques of digital marketing.
Here are the top 10 digital marketing trends and innovations that you need to consider in 2020.
1. Voice Search
Voice search will be one of the major online marketing trends of 2020. It is estimated that 50% of all searches will be voice searches in 2020. More than 25% of adults in the US have a smart speaker like an Amazon Echo or Google Home. Voice-activated search, like Siri, is used by 31% of smartphone users worldwide at least once a week.
Voice search can no longer be ignored by digital marketers. You can optimize your site for voice search in many ways. One of the most effective ways is to use long-tail keywords rather than shorter keywords.
2. Shoppable Posts
A huge part of online marketing is social media. 60% of Instagram users find new products on Instagram and 70% discover new products on Pinterest. Platforms like these have made it easy for merchants to sell their products through social media.
A native integration can be used by ecommerce stores to create shoppable posts and it is an effective way to drive traffic to product pages.
3. Immersive Tech Like AR And VR
Currently, one of the top marketing trends includes augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR). However, it is predicted that AR will outpace VR in 2020. Big companies like IKEA are already using AR. AR along with the IKEA app allows customers to see what a piece of furniture would look like in their space before purchasing.
4. Interactive Content
One of 2020’s top marketing trends will include interactive content. 91% of buyers seek more interactive content online. This type of content shareable because people love to interact. This helps and increases brand awareness.
In 2020, content marketing will provide people with more interactive content like shoppable posts, AR/VR, 360-degree video, quizzes, polls and more.
5. Smart Bidding In Google Ads
Even though automation is nothing new in the digital marketing landscape but automation and smart bidding is expected to become a norm for many PPC account managers due to the recent Google Ads updates announced at Google Marketing Live.
The updates will allow you to choose conversion actions at the campaign level making optimizing your bids better than ever.
6. Personalization
Personalization is appealing to the customers. Traditional advertising and generic commercials are now proving to be ineffective as people are tired of seeing generic ads and even pay extra for services to avoid ads. This makes personalized advertising an important trend in 2020.
You can personalize your online marketing efforts using segmented email lists. Plenty of email marketing tools and marketing automation tools are available to make list segmentation simple and easy.
7. Position “Zero” In SERP
There was a time when the position one in the search results was highly coveted. Now it is position zero. The top spot is now the featured snippet of text or “#0” position that appears before the search results.
The question or search query is answered in this prime-time ranking spot and a link that goes to the source of the information is also provided.
8. Influencer Marketing
Companies no longer consider only big celebrities or “internet celebs” to be influencers. Now people with much smaller social media following are approached by companies.
Find people who can reach your target demographic and sponsor them as brand advocates. Those brands that leverage influencers to spread their message see eleven times higher ROI compared to using other digital marketing methods.
9. Content Marketing
Yes, content is king in 2020 also. Quality content shows your potential customers your knowledge and expertise. It is also helpful vis-a-vis search results. Never stop creating content and focus on creating interactive content in 2020.
10. Page Speed
Page speed continue to be important to your website’s success in 2020 as well. If your website doesn’t load in four seconds 25% of users will just abandon it. It frustrates the visitors of your website so much that they’re not likely to come back. Improve your page speed if you want to improve the performance of your site in 2020.