What can we expect from Digital Marketing in 2020?

Kicked off my 2020 diary of marketing events at General Assembly this week by hearing about the upcoming marketing trends we can expect to see over the next 12 months. I wonder how many of them will lead to success?

Before getting stuck into 2020 (how is it already 2020?!) an interesting point was raised about 2019 – ‘Marketers are social media addicts’ and ‘not normal folk’.  Social media marketing is STILL growing, but is this a result of customer demand or is it a result of the marketers being younger, more mobile and obsessed with social media? 

Personalisation was a word that we saw a LOT of in 2019, it was a big trend. Especially in terms of an idea of what customers wanted – but not many brands managed to do it justice. It was also argued that this trend was actually created by the marketers themselves – again showing that last year trends weren’t so customer led. 

So, what did they predict for 2020? 

#1 Strategy is back! 

Over the last few years we’ve been too obsessed over tactics to really consider strategy – we’ve been overlooking the principles of basic marketing (identifying the customer need and creating a strategy) by fast-forwarding to the doing & delivering. Marketers have got caught up with the real time data of digital instead of looking at the longer-term interactions and engagement that creating a strategy can bring.

With this in mind, a big trend will be looking for marketing effectiveness and adopting a 2-speed approach with strategies to ensure customer needs are met, both long & short-term. 

#2 Brands Championing Activism & Purpose

We’ll see more companies following in Patagonia’s footsteps (if you're not sure what they're up to, I'd definitely recommend checking them out!) – some are doing it well, others, not so well – another example is Starbucks, I'll let you decide if they're doing it well...

"To inspire and nurture the human spirit–one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time."

With this as their mission statement you might question why they are often in the public eye for not paying their taxes….

For this trend to be successful, businesses need to place purpose ahead of profit and ensure all aspects of their businesses are striving towards their mission statement.

#3 The rise of AI 

This is not a new trend, but it’s fast growing and it’s an incredibly useful tool to help predict customer behaviour, saving marketers crucial time whilst also making their campaigns more effective – for example the use of the Watson Tone Analyzer. 

#4 Voice Search 

Again – not new. Many people are already using it and seeing its benefit, but it’s expected that we’ll see (or hear!) a whole lot more of it over the next 12 months. 

It offers marketers a great opportunity to make it easier for customers to reach them and reach even more consumer touch-points. As consumers we constantly want to know more, and we want that information to be readily available to us, not just through a company website. It is expected that by the end of this year 30% of website sessions will be conducted without a screen. 

#5 Interactive content takes off 

We’ve been seeing this grow over the last few months and 91% of buyers want to see it even more. Brands will be exploring this and giving audiences more shoppable posts, AR/VR, 360-degree videos, quizzes, polls…the list goes on! And with 72% of Instagram users having already purchased a product through a shoppable post, we can assume it’ll have a positive response!

#6 Video killed the content stars 

Video, Video, Video – another word we saw a lot of in 2019. Well guess what? It’s here to stay! More and more brands are incorporating it into their marketing strategy & why wouldn’t they when 90% of consumers say it helps support their purchasing decision? 

Looking through these trends, I’m not sure any of them come as a surprise – so here’s to another year of hard work from the marketing industry and some incredibly campaigns! Is there anything you think is missing from the list?