5 Digital Marketing Trends You Need To Know In 2020

Oh boy, is that the time? Where have the months gone? It feels like yesterday we were consulting our crystal ball and jotting down our marketing predictions for 2019. Now here we are again, as the new year looms over us with excitement and anticipation in equal measure.

2020; it sounds futuristic, doesn’t it? But in reality, it’s just one turkey-filled week away. People have been predicting what 2020 will bring for a long time. From 1957, when Popular Mechanics asserted that pneumatic tubes would replace roads. To 2014 when Michael J. O'Farrell's book, Shift 2020, forecasted that telepathy and teleportation would be possible - not quite, guys. 

It’s clear that the upcoming year is likely to look very different than the futurists had hoped. And you don’t need to be telepathic to know that you shouldn't trust every prediction you hear. But when it comes to marketing predictions, we’ve got the data to back things up! 

So, here are Hurree’s digital marketing trends for 2020: 

1. Voice Search Commerce

If you haven’t heard of Voice Search by now, you must be living under a rock! Today's tech companies are building smart assisted mobile technology as standard. You’ll find your new best friends Alexa and Siri hanging out in your smartphones and smart speakers. 

Smart assistants enable their users to perform search queries, request task completion or even ask to hear a joke - all with the power of speech. The use of voice search has been rising rapidly over the years. In fact, it’s estimated that half of all online searches will be voice-based in 2020! After all, these robotic buddies are becoming commonplace by making our lives easier with initiatives for offices, healthcare spaces, calendars… and so on.

Related reading: The Essential Guide to Marketing Strategy

One voice search innovation set to be dominant in 2020 is voice commerce or v-commerce if you’re short on time. The emergence of v-commence is being dubbed as “phase two of voice tech”. The practice is already gaining momentum as 6 out of 10 smart speaker owners have used voice to make a purchase in the last year!

Artificial Intelligence (AI) firm, Jetson, are pioneering in the v-commerce software space. They state that their product can deliver higher-quality service experiences whilst increasing revenue. Simply upload a product catalog into Jetson's software and your customers can make transactions up to x3 faster. 

Source: Jetson.ai

2. AI-powered in-video personalisation 

It’s no secret that personalisation and video content are two of the most effective marketing tactics around right now. Users watch 500 million hours of video on YouTube every day, and we’re never done shouting about the positive power of personalisation, I mean, how does a 5-15% lift in revenue sound to you? 

For a long time, however, video content creation has been a costly and time-consuming task. Generic videos need to fit a wide audience and thus require a broad tone and a universal voice. And adding personalisation to your videos? You must be joking. While effective in theory, the practice of personalising each video for one-to-one consumer content would take warehouses full of content creators and hundreds of hours... No, thanks. 

Enter AI-powered video personalisation. By leveraging automation technology and audience data, you can create multi-use video content that is personalised to each individual user. It’s as simple as entering designated fields within the video that allow for personalised elements to be inserted.

Source: Vidyard 

Using audience data such as name, date of birth, location, purchase behaviour, etc. to create scalable videos saves time, increases engagement and, importantly, delivers value to your users. After all, 80% of customers are more likely to make a purchase after receiving a personalised experience.

One company that has seen huge success with personalised video content is Spotify and their Wrapped series. This December the platform sent its 217 million users a fully personalised video of their year in music. Using their listening data, Spotify creates a sensational user experience. Spotify states “With more listeners and better data, we were able to give fans a tailored experience, showing that Spotify really gets them.”

Unlike Spotify and their huge team of content developers, you’re likely to require a video personalisation platform to help you create your fabulous relationship-building videos. But don’t fret, there are plenty of affordable options out there such as Vidyard or IdoMoo. 

3. Interactive Content + Content Experiences

Have you ever poked a screen with your finger assuming it was touch-reactive, only to find that it wasn't? Embarrassing, isn’t it? You’re not alone. With the rise of mobile technology, we’re more attached and intertwined with these magical machines than ever. We want to interact with our technology and we want our technology to react instantly.

This sentiment extends to the content we consume, as research shows that 91% of consumers are actively looking for more interactive content online. Luckily, creating interactive content is easier than ever. Even a simple Instagram story post has the potential to become an interactive playground. By integrating polls, quizzes, music streaming, emoji-reactions, and Q&As into your content, you will increase your interactivity and improve your user experience.

E-commerce businesses can also create shoppable posts, streamlining the social shopping experience. Additionally, click-to-buy images increase impulsivity and satisfy modern consumers' need for speedy transactions.

Source: Natori 

Since it’s 2020, the interactivity won’t stop there! We’re heading to the fourth dimension with Virtual Reality (VR) marketing set to become a top interactive tactic in 2020.

If predictions are correct, in the new year ⅓ of all global consumers will be using VR. 360-degree imagery, virtual tours, concerts, and gaming experiences are all potential interactive goldmines. With its immersive approach, VR transforms storytelling into story-living. 

Command 100% of your audience's attention in 2020 with interactive VR content experiences.

4. 5G Roll Out 

With all these interactivity and virtual reality demands from consumers, you’ll need to ensure your content loads quickly. Nothing loses a sale faster than buffering before, or midway, through your content. Well, don't worry, 2020 is the year that 5G mobile data will roll out further than ever before.

The UK’s first 5G mobile network launched in 2019 with EE, bringing 400x faster connections, a reduction in latency, and the ability to connect more devices to the network.

It’s not the 5G technology itself that marketers should be getting excited about, it’s what this will enable... Faster streaming, faster downloads, more complex VR and AR (Augmented Reality) experiences, better integration with voice-assistant speakers, Smart Cities, Smart Homes... The list goes on.

Expect a dramatic increase in the global usage of mobile; 2020 will be the year of 5G and will see more mobile usage and cheaper data than ever before. 

Source: Intel 

Furniture retailer, IKEA, are already experimenting with 5G to revolutionise their interactive content. Creating a virtual interior design app, Place App, using AR technology. The app will allow customers to transform their dull living room with IKEA products through their mobile. Users will decide which items fit their room, match their carpets and suit their style, all without leaving the sofa! Amazing.  

The complete roll-out of 5G is set to take up to 7 years and require huge infrastructure investments within the UK alone. But if and when the updates are completed, the marketing potential will be huge. 

5. Smart Bidding With Google Ads 

Google moves quickly, very quickly in fact. So don’t feel bad if the thought of setting up an advertising campaign with Google Ads leaves you feeling the dread... It’s complicated, but there are ways that Google is trying to make things easier and more effective for you. One way is Smart Bidding.

What is Smart Bidding you ask? Well, Smart Bidding is an umbrella phrase used by Google to describe its automated bidding strategies. These include Target CPA, Target ROAS, Maximise Conversions, and Enhanced CPC (eCPC).

Source: Google

In Google’s own words, “Smart Bidding uses machine learning to optimise your bids to maximise conversions and conversion value across your campaign or bidding portfolio.”

Smart Bidding is smarter, faster and more effective than any manual bidding strategy because, well, machines don’t take lunch breaks or sleep. Smart bidding will work around the clock to ensure that your campaign tailors bids uniquely to each user’s device, location, language, browser, etc. and maximises your budget.

It’s so good, in fact, that PPC commentators are predicting that, in 2020, it will overtake manual bidding processes altogether! Which means, you need to get to grips with this tactic before Google, potentially, gives manual the boot!

Summing Up

So there you have it, our predicted digital marketing trends for 2020. There’s just time now to reflect on our year so far. And what a year it’s been; 2019 has seen innovations, commiserations, and celebrations across the globe. We at Hurree hope that you have reached all of your marketing goals this year and that our content has played a small part in getting you there!

To make sure you continue smashing your targets in 2020, implement some or all of these big trends. And don’t forget to have a refreshing break over the holidays, recharge those batteries and come back ready to take on the world.

Happy holidays and have a wonderful New Year from all of us at Hurree!

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