In 2019, digital marketing techniques witnessed a huge leap, but in 2020, new disruptions are already exploding in the digital marketing space. In fact, the amount spent on digital marketing alone in 2020 is expected to hit $1.3 trillion.
According to a Smart Insights study, 4 in 10 businesses lack a well-defined digital marketing strategy. In fact, many companies are wasting billions of their digital marketing dollars on online ads that don’t hit their intended targets.
A digital marketing strategy is important as it enables businesses to experience high organic rankings, return on investment, website engagement and get quality leads from proper marketing channels and budget allocations.
Most companies don’t know where to begin from, which is why they end up wasting valuable time responding to unqualified leads, spam emails and unrelated phone calls.
Why Businesses Should Invest In Digital Marketing
Businesses should invest in digital marketing for several reasons, including but not limited to:
- Audiences seek out visual content that’s inherently digital to connect with brands. digital channels and touchpoints help deliver engaging communications.
- Analog approaches to internal and promotional communication seldom deliver the kind of results businesses need for success.
- Today’s mobile-centric mindset requires businesses to invest in mobile apps and mobile-optimized landing pages.
- Social media content is necessary to accelerate business success.
- Most companies across different verticals are on the digital transformation path. Failure to embrace digital and all that it offers could leave your business behind the pack or risk obsolescence over time.
- The Internet of Things (IoT) plays a crucial role in digital business strategies thus investing in IoT enables your business to exponentially accelerate commercial success.
- Digital advancements are increasing revenue boosts for many companies.
- Digital technologies are getting more sophisticated and influencing business revenues, which is why embracing digital is more of a necessity than a choice.
- There are more young people than ever before, which means there are more digital natives than in the past. Continually investing in digital ensures your business appeals to these digitally-inclined consumers.
Let’s talk about the trends that will gain popularity In 2020 –
1. Video Marketing
Incorporating video into your company’s digital marketing strategy for 2020 must be prioritized.
Consumers share brand videos that are impactful, which in turn improves conversion rates for businesses. Additionally, consumers are more confident about making an online purchase decision after watching product videos, while executives are more likely to visit your website or call upon viewing a video.
In fact, short videos are the most popular way for consumers to learn about new products.
Image: Wyzowl
Video marketing isn’t just about placing your content on YouTube; you can drive higher engagement by using other channels like Facebook live broadcasts or posting videos on other social networks.
Using video is also an easier and faster way of presenting information about your brand, and its offerings, especially for mobile users as they work well regardless of the device used.
Your business is more likely to drive organic search results with video marketing, as compared to long-form emails or product pages because people find videos more compelling.
It’s also easier to reformat your content with videos and get a transcribed text version for it that you could publish on your blog for better rankings. You could also upload the video to your social channels, rip the audio and create a podcast episode or use the video thumbnails for better open rates.
Other popular video formats that are trending because of their effectiveness are live videos, one-on-one or personalized video messages, video optimization for SEO, and 360-degree video content for an interactive experience.
Nearly 86% of businesses use videos on their website which largely spells the secret of their success. For example, Hong Kong Airlines uses 360-degree video content to give consumers a glimpse into their business class flight experience.
Image: Hong Kong Airlines
2. Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Most companies may be waking up to the dominance of AI in 2020 that’s promising to be at the heart of global industry and business in future.
For instance, some brands are using fully autonomous robots that read license plates, report any suspicious activities, and collect data to report to the vehicle owners. These robots patrol large outdoor and parking lot areas in a bid to predict and prevent criminal activities.
Image: Knightscope
According to Gartner analysts, AI technologies will be virtually pervasive in most new software services and products in 2020. In fact, it’s the biggest commercial opportunity for industries, companies and nations in the coming decades, so latecomers will find themselves disadvantaged in the next few years if they don’t start planning to embrace AI now. .
AI can analyze consumer search and behavior patterns, using data from several online sources to help your business understand how they find their products and services.
A good example is the AI-powered Howdy bot add-on for Slack that automates common tasks around the office, reviews their progress and follows up on them among other things. You can train it to ask team members certain questions too.
Image: chatbotsmagazine
3. Google Search Engine Alternatives
More than 92 percent of all search engine traffic comes from Google, compared to its closest rivals Bing and Yahoo.
Image: StatCounter
As the world’s most dominant search engine, Google may not experience a catastrophic collapse any time soon, but there are several search engine alternatives that are gaining niche popularity like privacy-conscious DuckDuckGo and other upcoming ones.
Marketers need to consider their audience based on where they place their content and optimize it for search engines other than Google.
4. Website Security
When consumers land on your site, they judge it for several things like speed, appeal, the information they need, and security.
Image: PwC
If your site doesn’t feel safe for your visitors, they won’t stick around, which means increased bounce rates, and over time, sliding SERPs.
Small firms experience breaches too, just like the larger firms do, which has reduced the percentage of consumers that believe in how companies handle their personal data.
Website security is a must in 2020. In fact, Google made HTTPS as one of their ranking signals, which means that your website will be flagged as unsafe if it doesn’t comply.
Ensure you have HTTPS and you could also add a security trust badge or seal to reassure your audience that you’re safety conscious.
5. Long-Form Content
Content running at least 3,000 words long not only offers the in-depth information audiences want but also allows you to establish your company as a thought leader and subject expert. Additionally, it gives you the scope for better keyword targeting.
Long-form content delivers 77 percent more backlinks compared to shorter posts, thus driving organic traffic to your company’s site.
Similarly, when bloggers spend time creating pillar or 10X content, they generate better ROI as it attracts more traffic, more social media shares and backlinks, high Google ranking, a lifetime of traffic, and reduced bounce rates.
Wrapping Up
Digital marketing is quickly evolving faster than brands can keep up, but staying abreast of emerging trends gives you a competitive edge.
These five digital marketing trends will continue ruling in 2020, which is why you need to analyze them based on what works for your brand and consumers, both online and offline.
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