Zahra Khan

7 Digital Marketing trends you need to follow in 2020 Uncover the digital marketing trends that are going to make or break your business in 2020 The coming year is going to witness a broadening in companies becoming more reliant on digital marketing than ever before. The digital marketing trends in 2020 are going to be unprecedented, due to the unforeseen loss of live marketing events and a shrink in traditional face-to-face business. The strategy for resilience is to develop contingencies to reduce the damage. In particular, traditional B2B marketing trends are most likely to be affected as they do not rely on digital growth; instead, their circle of trade is reliant on network building, trade shows, and live events. Before "COVID 19," tools and technologies such as; Voice Search Engine Optimization, ChatBots and artificial intelligence seemed like ambitious ideas. Today, they are indispensable digital marketing trends of 2020 that all businesses must adapt to. Many companies have jumped the digital marketing bandwagon and are already creating killer marketing campaigns. However, others are still not digital-native, and considering the fast pacing consumer demands, consumer behavior, and change in digital marketing patterns keeping up and connecting with audiences seems almost hypothetical unless you have the right marketing technologies (internal linking). Here are 7 digital marketing trends you need to follow in 2020 for a thriving business: 1. Social Media Ephemeral content Social Media has played an integral role in people's lives and a significant part in the reshaping of the cyberspace. Marketers and online businesses have flocked their way to social media to connect with their target audience because social engagement with customers is linked to creating buyer relationships and increasing revenue. There are 3.8 billion social media users across the world. However, there is also an overload of content. To stand out and succeed, you must have a compelling, clear and concise social media marketing strategy keeping it in line with the digital marketing trends of 2020. Social Media use 2020 Data published by Hootsuite. The social media trend leaning over for the past two years and will likely continue to dominate in 2020 is social stories. Ephemeral content was first introduced by Snapchat, which allowed you to post an image that will disappear after 24 hours. Right now, Instagram is leading the fad. 64% of marketers have already incorporated the trend in their social media marketing strategy for 2020 or plan to do so. The benefits of incorporating stories in your social media marketing strategy 2020 include: Increased engagement with your audience Maintain audience visibility Reach out to a younger target consumer base Cost-effective marketing How to incorporate stories in your social media marketing strategy? Polls Quizzes Open-end questions Share links 2. Visual Search Visual search is a newly surfacing development in the world of technology. In 2020, it will revolutionize how consumers search and purchase products/services online. As the E-commerce industry continues to evolve, marketers are striving to make online shopping and retail immersive. In the year 2019, only 8% of marketers built image search for their search inventory by the end of 2020; this number is likely to rise to 30%. Amazon, Google, Bing, and Pinterest have already incorporated visual search as a part of their search tools. Pinterest lens The Pinterest visual search tool allows the user to capture an image of an item they wish to buy and search on pinboards where to find the product or similar products. The Pinterest visual search library now consists of 2.5 Billion home and fashion objects that are identifiable by the lens. Google lens Google lens allows users to search objects and landmarks through a camera app. The Google lens will enable you to take pictures of fashion and home goods and find them online or search similar products they have extended their library to include; books, business cards, landmarks, billboards, paintings, and animals. Bing Bing allows you to focus on a specific object within an image, for example, you can upload a picture of your friend and focus on your friend's jacket that you like, Bing will revert to you with details of the clothing or find similar products along with the price and where you can purchase it. Amazon Amazon is the market leader of E-commerce. Amazon suggests that soon keywords may be a thing of the past, and E-commerce will be heavily dependent on images. So, instead of having to type a product that you are searching for, all you need to do is snap a picture, and Amazon will provide you matching results. 3. Chabot's Chabot's are ideal if you want to keep up with the B2B marketing trends of 2020, according to research, 80% of marketers want to incorporate Chatbots into their digital marketing strategy for 2020. The advancement in artificial intelligence allows Chatbot support software's to create an interface that simplifies numerous support functions at the workplace. The latest technology will enable chatbots to engage with consumers in a manner that is close to having human interaction, which means that customers will have someone to answer their queries 24/7. They are highly efficient virtual assistants that offer quick responses and excellent customer service. Moreover, chatbots are expected to save businesses a cost of 8 billion by the year 2022, that's why they are a part of B2B marketing strategies 2020 for so many companies. 4. Artificial intelligence and Machine learning According to research, 41% of top businesses are using Artificial intelligence as part of their digital marketing strategy in 2020. Artificial intelligence is being used for numerous support functions, from potential fraud flagging to generating keywords and even scheduling meetings. Machine learning and Artificial intelligence allow businesses to process large amounts of data that will be highly time-consuming and complexed for humans. It is not designed to replace people but to assist them in providing a better, quicker and efficient user experience. The rise and rise of artificial intelligence Source of information: https://bit.ly/30Tv23U B2B applications of artificial intelligence: Automated email marketing Automated marketing campaigns Image recognition Asset management Data optimization For a successful digital marketing strategy in 2020, marketers should ask themselves how artificial intelligence can become a more active part of their business. 5. Google Ads Smart Bidding There is so much content, and completion on social media that organic reach is now suffocating, business marketing trends in 2020 would see a rise in paid advertising. In particular, the smart bidding feature of Google ads is likely to be the most budding Google trend of 2020. According to Google smart bidding is: To put it simply, Google Ads smart bidding will allow marketers to hand over control of their pay per click to Googles artificial intelligence system, the system will optimize the budget they provide to maximize their return on investment ( ROI) and this is forecasted to be a high in demand Google trend in 2020. While smart bidding handles core functions such as generating new leads cost-effectively and getting a substantial return on advertising spend. Marketers can focus on other core marketing strategies of the business, such as copywriting or analytics. 6. Influencer Marketing Influencers on social media can gain the attention of their followers by sharing content that is engaging, relatable, entertaining, or educational. Brands that believe the influencer shares the same values as themselves will partner with them and build a marketing campaign to drive their brand voice. A report conducted in 2019 claims that 90% of marketers plan to increase their investment with influence marketing because they believe it is a great strategy to create trust in brands. Furthermore, it was found that 63% of consumers trust the opinions of influencers rather than the claims of the brand itself. In 2019 Adidas created their own influencers by recruiting street footballers for the promotion of their football trainers the channels they used to market their products were Instagram and YouTube. They successfully managed to use the art of storytelling to capture the attention of their audience. The campaign managed to attain 41 Million views across YouTube and IGTV. Influencer marketing is going to be a top trending digital marketing strategy in 2020 with big brands such as Adidas, Gucci and Amazon already jumping the bandwagon. 7. Marketing Analytics Tools Monitoring digital consumer behavior is an essential metric that all marketers stand by and also an integral part of a conscientious digital marketing strategy. However, keeping up with the wealth of data, the fluctuating preferences of consumers and the fast pacing digital transformation seem practically impossible. Collecting enormous amounts of data on marketing and analyzing it will take forever, so more and more businesses integrate marketing analytical tools (interlink) to monitor and run effective marketing campaigns. There are many software (interlink) and tools that offer a wealth of information concerning consumer behavior to help marketers reach new costumers, grow their business and keep up with digital marketing trends. Despite having a wealth of resources on hand it is impossible to predict the next big thing in the world of digital marketing, these marketing analytic tools will help marketers resonate with their audience and keep on top of changing marketing trends and this is why in 2020 more businesses will rely on marketing tools to analyze data for them. Wrapping up Technology is changing the way we live, what we once expected from only large businesses and service providers we now expect from all companies. The success of a business depends heavily on its digital marketing transformation and in 2020, this will become an even more critical and in-demand trend. Companies that want to succeed in 2020 must create a mature digital marketing plan for the upcoming year by incorporating tools, software’s and other resources in their marketing strategies.