- Marketing campaigns allow business owners to reach out to customers, encourages engagement, and boost sales.
- By 2020, voice search will make up 50% of all search engine queries.
- Google drives 95% of all paid traffic to mobile devices.
- Social media engagement increases on video content, which gets 1,200 percent more shares than regular posts.
- Your strategy should consist of various sections that merge to form your dream marketing campaign.
The year 2020 is right around the corner, and marketers are trying to find new ways to reach their target audience. We thought long and hard about the marketing trends that are going to pick up next year and gain strength as we head toward 2021. We are going to take a look at five of the biggest trends emerging in the marketing world and tell you how to implement this technique in your own small to medium-sized business.
Optimize for voice search
Voice search is one of the trends that many marketers saw coming, but few were prepared to tackle. Many marketers and business owners thought that voice search was going to end up a novelty item, only used once by the curious consumer. Now, smart devices from Amazon, Google Home and more have considerably changed the voice search landscape.
Experts estimate that by 2020, 50% of all searches will happen with voice instead of text. Due to this dramatic shift in search habits, marketers are starting 2020 off right by preparing for consumers that might find value on their website, but use their voice to navigate through Google’s search engine.
There are several ways you can prepare for the new year by optimizing your site for voice search. The priority for most marketers is the type of content they create, along with more appropriate search terms. Voice search will make a huge difference for consumers worldwide, but it’s particularly useful when it comes to local marketing.
A small shift in your keywords can produce significant results. The key is to identify user intent and use that thought process when you’re designing your keywords. For example, someone using a mouse and keyboard might search for "Seafood restaurants in Los Angeles," where someone using voice search might say something like, "Fish dinner near me." Deciding on user intent and implementing smart keywords that sounds more like spoken word instead of written text will make a huge difference for businesses in 2020.
Fine-tune mobile UX
Mobile UX is a significant driving factor in sales, user engagement and conversions. There are currently 3.7 billion mobile users worldwide, and that number is expected to climb to 5 billion by the end of 2019. The message here is simple: Consumers want content and brands that they can access while they are on the go.
If you haven’t made your mobile responsive site a priority, now is an excellent time to get started. There are plenty of reasons why optimizing for mobile isn’t just the smart thing to do; it’s the right thing for customers. We have an obligation to our consumers to deliver a top-notch experience that they can appreciate from their desktop, tablet or smartphone.
There are plenty of factors that come into play when you’re designing for mobile. Think about crucial design choices, like your checkout page. Do you require consumers to go through four pages before they complete their purchase? If so, you might be losing out on a large percentage of your mobile customers.
It’s also interesting to note that 95% of all paid traffic that goes through Google is shown on mobile devices. Imagine spending a ton of money on your marketing campaign, only to realize that approximately half of your audience is unable to access your site due to mobile design.
Create personalized experiences
Personalization is more important than ever before. Companies like Netflix and Amazon have mastered the art of personalization by building lists of products and tv shows for consumers based on their purchase and watch history. Business owners and marketers realized that this is an excellent opportunity to make personal, enjoyable experiences for their customers. There are a couple of different ways marketers are using personalization in 2020.
One of the most compelling examples of this is the innovations marketing services have implemented when it comes to how you can target consumers. Instead of looking at their information and making a split-second decision, marketing programs can analyze visitors behind the scenes – with their permission, of course.
The result is a richer experience where consumers are getting offered products and blog posts that are relevant to their lives. Not only is this an excellent tactic for getting consumers interested in your brand, but it’s also an excellent way to build trust with your audience.
Merge chatbots with customer service
Customer service and support teams are meant to help consumers when they have questions, but it’s also an excellent marketing tool for your business. In 2019, consumers demanded that companies respond to them within an hour; otherwise, the chance of them going to another company increased sharply.
Live chat is an essential feature for consumers that have complicated issues that requires someone with experience. You never want your customers to come away from a customer service experience feeling more confused than they felt when they reach out. The purpose of putting a live chat option on your website is to address issues and answer questions.
Business owners are now implementing chatbot agents to help website visitors with more general questions. For instance, if someone comes to your pet supply website and asks about dog collars on your chatbot, the AI will send them a list of results showing products tagged underdog and collars.
Additionally, some businesses are using chatbots to help consumers with common problems like password changes, delivery reports, and more. As more people get comfortable talking to chatbots next year, we expect to see an increase in the businesses that merge chatbots with their live support team.
Inject brand personality and engage
The best way to reach your target audience in 2020 is through consumer engagement. Businesses are now creating brand personalities to build rapport and communication with followers on social media. Until the “Sassy Wendy” campaign launched for Wendy’s fast-food restaurant, the company was losing sales and the attention of consumers.
Of course, your brand personality doesn’t have to seem so bold. You could opt for something a little more conservative, like a funny monster or a relatable character. The important thing here is that you create a personality that encourages your audience to share your content, direct message you on Twitter and comments on your blog posts.
When it comes to engagement, you should think about the type of content you’re posting on your social media channel. For example, video content has a 1,200% higher share rate when compared to other kinds of posts. If you want to launch a killer marketing campaign in 2020, you should include your product line and information in a video for more shares and engagement.
Conclusion
The role of marketers has evolved rapidly over the past decade. Technology has given us more resources than ever before to reach our customers. We have to make sure we are making smart decisions and focus on creating marketing campaigns that spread beyond one message or platform. You want your marketing to define your brand, and these tips will help you succeed in 2020.