What will we see in new marketing trends in the new year? 2020 brings a fresh start for many, new years resolutions and a chance to try some different marketing strategies for your organization.
I asked the team at Vivid Image to share their predictions for what we might see appear in marketing in 2020. It is always fun to look back at our predictions once the year is over to see if our guesses came true. Check out the 2019 predictions and see what actually happened!
Social Media & Video
- Niche social media communities gain popularity, such as Facebook Groups. Facebook Groups feel more intimate than sharing something publicly with all of Facebook. When people with similar interests join a group, a sense of community is built on a different level than a Facebook Page. Since successful groups are more about collaboration and learning from each other one-on-one, there is naturally more engagement, which helps to beat Facebook’s algorithm. Brands can use Facebook Groups to bring their tribe together, collect and inspire ideas, and ultimately get more organic reach than a Facebook page.
- Social messaging will likely become more common — For example, receiving personal marketing messages with coupon codes, discounts, etc.
- Instagram popularity increases, especially by organizations trying to reach a younger population.
- LinkedIn is adding new options and tools which will gain the attention of people and businesses working to expand their influence.
- Video marketing will get even bigger. Short videos, long videos, sales, educational, advertisements. Videos share an authenticity that people find compelling.
- We’ll hear more about the rise of TikTok, a video-sharing social network service, in popularity.
Videos get 3X more engagement on Facebook. However, 85% of people watch Facebook videos with the sound off. Videos get 38% more engagement on Instagram than image posts. 60% of Instagram stories are watched with the sound on!
Compliance and Accessibility
- The concern over personal data protection will continue to be a focus, and we may see congress pass some type of nation-wide legislation similar to that of the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) and CCPA (California Consumer Privacy Act) that places rules around consumer data collection, consent and use.
- There will be a much greater push for websites to be accessible, especially on mobile. There will continually be more and more lawsuits and cases against companies that have barriers between their customers and their products, even if there are no official accessibility laws passed this next year.
Search Marketing
- The prevalence of machine learning-based automation will continue to increase, especially in the PPC(Pay Per Click) realm. Google could completely go away with manual bidding in favor of only fully automated bidding strategies.
- Optimizing more for voice search; changing SEO practices to address this. More people are adopting Alexa, Siri and Google Home.
- More additions, changes, features will be added to Google My Business. We expect to see this continued changes each month over the coming year. More now than ever it is important to make sure your business has your Google listing claimed and optimized to get your best search results.
- Artificial Intelligence (AI) will emerge in marketing programs more than ever. Watch for it appearing more and more specifically in email marketing programs to improve personalization, automation and segmentation.
Design
- Minimal menus/navigation area: So minimal that they are simply a menu or hamburger icon. You want to make it as easy as possible for people to navigate.
- Bolder, futuristic color palettes: These are eye catching and exciting. Also using more neon colors as accents to grab a users attention.
- Hand drawn, imperfect elements: They are saying this trend adds a welcoming, human character to websites. Something such as hand drawn icons add a positive, emotional note.
- Micro interactions: Similar to the heart that pops up if you double tap a photo on Instagram to like it. It’s something small, but a nice surprise interaction for the viewer. Adds a little extra “something” to the experience.
Marketing Programs
- More subscription based services will appear as small businesses figure out how to capitalize on this trend in new and unique ways that people love the convenience of. Here is an example from a restaurant. Another example is from Paws Inn Resort, a dog boarding kennel that is debuting their new Sirius Membership option in 2020, giving pet owners who subscribe more advantages and special perks.
- Influencer Marketing – Recommendations and referrals are increasingly important in marketing as traditional sales and marketing avenues become less trusted.
- Measurement becomes more important in every marketing program. Accountability and performance are important. What is the value of your lead? Was your investment worth it? When you can measure your marketing and know beyond a shadow of doubt what is bringing in revenue, wouldn’t you continue to invest that marketing channel?
We’ll keep our eyes peeled to see if our 2020 marketing predictions come true. Keep watch!
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