With technology and trends constantly changing, the new year is a great time to evaluate your current digital marketing strategy and look for new ways to expand brand awareness and stay in your customers’ minds. From social media to customer engagement to content marketing and more, here are 10 digital marketing trends to look out for in 2020.

10 digital marketing trends to look out for in 2020

Visual Content

2020 is the year for going beyond plain text and instead using visual content to attract readers. After all, the brain processes images faster than text. Try incorporating content such as videos, infographics, or photos to help communicate your messaging while capturing your audience’s attention. While recorded video is great, if you plan to use video in your marketing strategy, consider also going live on your social media platforms.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Your business doesn’t have to seem like it’s out of a sci-fi movie in order to make use of artificial intelligence, or AI. Chatbots are a great way to utilize this technology to improve your customer experience. For example, chatbots can be used for customer support, allowing customers to interact with your business in real time and get answers to their questions regardless of the time or day. Chatbots can also communicate in a way that’s similar to instant messaging with a human, making the experience seem more personalized than simply scrolling through a FAQ section.

Personalization

Speaking of personalized experiences, people today want content that’s tailored to them. Make sure to use targeting when running digital ads so they’re more likely to reach people who feel the content is relevant to them and their interests. If your messaging is reaching the wrong people, it’s going to be less effective in converting those people to customers. Similarly, when utilizing email marketing, consider sending specific email blasts to subscribers based on behavior so your message is more likely to resonate with the readers. Finally, use a conversational tone; no one wants to feel like they’re being bombarded with sales pitches.

Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing helps generate brand awareness and grow your customer base by using influential people in various niches to share messages about your products, services or brand. It’s an effective form of marketing because the messages seem more authentic than traditional ads, and often times an influencer’s followers are likely to trust their opinions and recommendations. Influencer marketing is a growing industry that you’ll definitely want to consider this year. If you do, be sure that you work with influencers who align with your company values and whose followers fall into your target audience demographics.

Social Media Stories

You already know that video and other visual content is expected to be an important part of your digital marketing strategy this year. One way to utilize such content is on social media in the stories sections, such as Instagram Stories, Facebook Stories, and Snapchat Stories. With these stories housed at the top of the screen, they’re easy for users to find and view. Depending on the platform, you can even use certain features to increase audience engagement, such as asking questions or holding polls on Instagram Stories. You can even include a geotag to show up in your location’s story and have your content shown to people who may not already be following you.

Content Marketing

Content marketing continues to be an important way to increase brand awareness and engage your audience. When you share content that entertains, informs, or inspires, it positions your company as a subject matter expert in your field; when people want to learn more on a specific topic, they’ll know to come to you first. Content can also help you reach other goals, such as driving traffic to your website or encouraging readers to subscribe to your email newsletter. Plus, with people using ad blockers, content is a great alternative for ensuring your message gets in front of your target audience.

Interactive Content

Speaking of content, using content that’s interactive is a great way to catch your audience’s attention. Instead of an all-text blog post, for example, try sharing online quizzes, polls, calculators and more – anything that gets the reader interacting with your content. Not only is this sort of content more engaging, it also encourages readers to stay on your content for longer amounts of time, helping to make your brand name and messaging more memorable.

Long-Form Content

Long-form content is also expected to do well this year. Blog posts and other content that are longer in length are able to dive more in-depth on topics, which provides more value for the reader and helps position your company as a subject matter expert. Well-written, long-form content also provides more opportunities to include relevant keywords, and studies have shown that longer content is more likely to get backlinks, increasing your potential to rank higher on Google’s search results pages.  

Shopable Posts

Shopable posts – such as those on Instagram – make it easier for users to purchase items that catch their interest. Being able to make purchases without leaving the app is not only a convenience for the user, but also helps reduce the likelihood that the customer will abandon the purchase. Shopable posts can also be a great way to reach new people who may not have otherwise heard of your brand. 

Focus on the Customer Experience

Even if you offer great products or services, the experience you provide your customers can determine whether or not they become repeat customers. Make sure you and your employees provide helpful and friendly service, and be sure your store – whether brick and mortar or online – is easy for customers to navigate and find what they’re looking for.

When it comes time for customers to check out, make sure the process is quick, simple, and includes security measures to keep customers’ information safe. When you share content via your website, social media platforms, email and more, make sure the content is tailored to your customers and focuses on providing them value.

Remember, it costs more to attract new customers than it does to retain current ones. Happy customers may also turn into brand advocates and influencers, helping to spread the word about your brand in a positive, authentic way.

There’s a lot to know and do when it comes to digital marketing. The good news is, you don’t have to do everything yourself. The Healthy Dash of Social team can assist in all areas of digital marketing, including content creation, social media management, influencer marketing, and much more.

Visit our website to learn how we can help you succeed with marketing.