Digital Marketing Trends for 2020

If you were to characterize all the biggest marketing trends for 2020, you could probably include them all under the category of 'More'. This means more web video, more outstanding content, more influencer marketing, and just more of everything that will help engage consumers with your brand. Some of the specific hottest trends for 2020 are listed below, and you should consider each of these for inclusion in your own digital marketing strategy for the upcoming year.

Social influencer marketing

It used to be that companies sought out those celebrities who could bring thousands of followers into the fold and influence them to make favorable purchasing decisions involving that company. As it relates to influencer marketing, 'more' means more of them, but not influencers with vast audiences. Instead, the favored trend will be toward working with influencers who bring in smaller and more dedicated followers who can be expected to appreciate the sponsoring company's products.Even influencer marketing has become highly personalized these days, and the target audience which they have influence over is expected to become smaller but more committed. By 2020, it is expected that the total spend on influencer marketing will reach $10 billion, and that should be a clear indication that it will hang around for a while.

Increased role of technology

There are some technological improvements on the horizon which are expected to have a serious impact on marketing next year. One of the first of these is 5G technology on mobile devices, since it is expected to transform how users access Internet content, and increase mobile usage even more dramatically than it has already. Artificial intelligence advancements will allow for much greater personalization in the area of digital video, and that will be something else that marketing gurus will have to account for.Voice search using smart speakers like Alexa and Siri will continue to develop and become more sophisticated, with developers focusing on improvements to accuracy and broader capabilities. There will also be advancements in connected televisions, which will allow users to engage more fully with ads on their TV sets and mobile devices, all of which will promote increased product placement carried by streaming video.

Ad engagement with streaming video

Video will be even more important in 2020 than it was in 2019, and last year marketing personnel were obliged to increase their digital budgets by 25% over the previous year. This means a similar hike can be expected for the coming year, because it will be necessary for advertisers to have a strong presence wherever their target audience also hangs out. At least 41% of all US consumers aged 13 and over watched streaming video every single day, while 74% of that same group watched streaming video at least weekly.Perhaps even more importantly, statistics show that at least 70% of all digital video viewers are willing to view advertising in exchange for being given the opportunity to view free content. In addition to increasing the number of videos used on your social networks and on your website as well, you'll have to consider Facebook Live and Instagram Live. Both of these platforms routinely achieve three times longer viewing than any videos which are not considered live. That means it's time for you to consider streaming and live video ads as part of your marketing strategy for the upcoming year.

Stories will become mainstream

When Snapchat originated the concept of My Story, it was with very little fanfare or publicity, but soon after that both Instagram and Facebook introduced their own version of Stories. Even YouTube has now unveiled its own version of Stories, which it calls Reels. And in the present time, TikTok has now emerged as a platform for creating videos on the fly and sometimes behind the scenes as well.These TikTok videos are far less polished, but it also gives them an authentic appeal which is somewhat lacking on the other platforms. Since Stories only hang around for 24 hours or less, it provides marketers with a built-in time constraint that creates a sense of urgency in users. With all the major platforms currently making use of the Stories format, and a great number of users participating in those Stories, it makes good sense for marketers to be involved with them also, because that's where the users are.

Micro-moments become popular

Micro-moments are those which occur when someone uses an electronic device like a smartphone for the purpose of taking some type of action to satisfy an immediate need. For example, people frequently make snap decisions on which restaurant to go to, what kind of purchases to make, or which specific destination they'd like to travel to.Capitalizing on micro-moments involves displaying an appropriate ad at the correct place and time to a receptive audience, so as to have maximum impact. In order to take advantage of this trend for 2020, you'll need to have a presence wherever users are looking for information at a very precise moment in time. The popularity of micro-moments means that marketers may have to re-think the traditional buyer's journey, which was previously characterized by awareness, consideration, and decision.That same customer journey today as influenced by micro-moments, has been compressed into a much smaller time frame where all three of those components are accomplished in an instant. Expectations are high for micro-moments, while patience is very low, because users are seeking instant gratification and satisfaction.In order to capitalize on the micro-moments trend, you'll have to alter your marketing strategy to identify those moments which users will be in 'have to buy' mode. Then you'll have to be prepared to deliver quality content for each of those moments, especially on mobile devices, so that it will become easy for users to quickly find all the information they need, and make a purchase.

Content experiences will rule

The point at which content and context merge is considered to be a content experience, and every piece of content is capable of evoking such an experience. Content experience is all about considering the entire user involvement, as they engage with content they're consuming. If you can successfully create content which engages your audience and evokes a strong user experience, you will have created the ideal content experience, with the potential of having your marketing campaign go viral.