Trends in Digital Marketing Strategy for 2020

When creating a digital marketing strategy, companies need to pay close attention to world trends, technologies, and techniques. However, it is not easy just to read about upcoming digital marketing trends or follow a list of best practices and make a successful strategy. Companies need to think outside of the box and learn how to take advantage of the newest trends that will turn out beneficial for their businesses. Marketing managers need to know that every business is different and that digital marketing strategies must be unique for each company. Therefore, the company’s digital marketing goals must always be aligned with the company’s overall goals.

Following the world trends in the digital marketing strategy is beneficial for each company that wants to be one step ahead of its competition. Technology improves on a daily basis and companies need to follow the latest trends in the world of digital marketing if they do not want to fall behind. A successful digital marketing strategy for 2020 includes the following seven most important trends:

The Experience of the Customers
Employee Commitment
Voice Search and Interaction
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Position Zero
The Domination of Visuals
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
The Popularity of Live Video

1. The Experience of the Customers

The newest trend in the creation of a digital marketing strategy refers to the focus on the customers and their experience. Companies can no longer rely on attracting customers through their old marketing strategies. Instead, they need to direct their attention to providing an excellent experience to the customers in order to get them to come back and continue purchasing their products or using their services over and over again.

Nowadays, with the rise of the popularity of online content, customers can read about other customers’ first-hand experiences with the products they want to buy or with the services they want to utilize. Customers are no more passive entities that only believe in what they see in commercials. Instead, they are active researchers who google the internet and gather the information they need. Therefore, companies must begin thinking about offering their customers something that is more valuable than the information they will get online.

Customer experience, also known as CX, is a trend on the rise that companies need to pay attention to, especially if they want to develop a successful digital marketing strategy. By doing so, a great CX will contribute to more satisfied customers and will increase the number of newly-acquired customers. Companies need to focus on their efficiency, knowledge, and friendliness in the online services they offer. Furthermore, they need to enable easier online payment options if they want to improve the overall digital customer experience. To boost a digital marketing strategy, companies must also get up-to-date technology, provide an easy-to-follow mobile experience, create a brand image and make the customer experience personalized and designed according to the latest trends.

2. Employee Commitment

A trend in the digital marketing strategy is to keep the employees in the company satisfied but also committed to and engaged in their work. Companies that already implement the trend of keeping the customer experience on a high level, need to also pay attention to their employee engagement. In addition to the efficient and friendly service provided by the employees, they also need to show a good attitude, knowledge, and amiability towards the customers.

The face of the company is represented by its employees, therefore employers need to direct their focus on the communication between employees and customers. Getting the employees to love their job will ensure employers that their business will achieve success. For instance, when marketing managers create a digital marketing strategy, they need to love what they do in order to make the strategy a successful one. If they do not feel passion for their job, the strategy will not turn out beneficial for the business in the end. Employers need to make sure that their employees are committed to the company and its mission and values. Therefore, they need to make the employees feel happy at work and as an important part of the company.

3. Voice Search and Interaction

Voice search and interaction is one of the digital marketing trends for 2019 that plans to continue growing in 2020. Companies need to implement the voice search trend in their content and digital marketing strategy for 2020. Both voice search and voice interaction will continue to improve due to the increased usage of personal assistants such as Alexa, Google Assistant, and Siri.

The voice search affects mostly the SEO content strategy of a company because the written search will not be the same as the voice search. In other words, the keywords strategy made for written search will not be valid for voice search. As a solution to this, companies will have to either combine both searches and make one keyword analysis for both of them, or make two separate keyword analyses and optimize the content for both. The best option is to optimize the content for both written and voice search.

4. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Position Zero

As mentioned in the previous paragraph, the voice search trend will affect SEO and the content strategy which forms part of the digital marketing strategy. In 2020, people will begin to change the way they use search engines such as Google. Therefore, businesses will no longer primarily need to aim for getting in the first place in the search engine results pages (SERPS). Google is constantly making changes, so the search and browsing behavior is also changing consequently. Furthermore, businesses will need to focus on getting at the top of the SERP, right above the organic results.

The featured snippet which is located at the top of the SERP is called Position Zero (also known as “Quick Answers”, or answer box). To get in the Position Zero, businesses need to work on their organic SEO. Google generates the results organically, searches for offered answers to the question programmatically, picks the best one and displays it in the Position Zero of the SERP. To be even considered as a candidate for the Position Zero, businesses need to be ranked in the first five results of the first page of search results. Moreover, the information must be relevant and it is a great advantage if the content is displayed in formatting useful for the searchers.

5. The Domination of Visuals

With the rise of voice search over the written search, the visuals and design become as important as the written content. Therefore, the newest trends for creating a digital marketing strategy in 2020 require companies to include more and more visuals in their articles and websites than before. Proof that people like more visuals than written content can be found in the increased usage of image-focused social media platforms such as Instagram and Pinterest. Visuals nowadays are considered as the preferred option because it is easier to remember a visual than an entire written article. Therefore, including visuals, images, infographics, and videos in addition to the text on your website will bring advantages to the company’s digital marketing strategy in comparison to the competition.

Visuals in an article on a laptop — Image source

6. Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Believe it or not, artificial intelligence (AI) will help with the development of a digital marketing strategy in 2020. So far, AI has marked an extreme advancement in the past few years and it has delved into many parts of the companies. AI is the technology that contributed to the existence of voice search, smart assistants, chatbots, etc. The number of businesses that use AI for these purposes has increased over the years. In 2020, businesses will continue implementing AI in the digital marketing strategy of a company, thus creating a better customer experience and a database for the company’s customers and their needs. However, companies need to remember that this technology can serve as an enhancement of human efforts, not as a replacement of the human force entirely. Read more about the battle of the future between machines and humans.

7. The Popularity of Live Video

When creating a digital marketing strategy, companies need to know that videos are an inseparable part of the strategy, if they want to follow the latest trends. In the last few years, videos were very popular among consumers who wanted to learn more details about new products. However, in 2020, people are expected to watch more live videos than pre-recorded ones. And why is that? That is due to the fact that people have an inner desire to always be the first that get new information. Live videos give the audience the opportunity to actively participate in the fresh and exciting news they are about to watch, rather than just sit and passively watch pre-recorded videos. Nowadays, Facebook and Instagram are the two social media platforms that have an audience that is actively participating in live videos. And this is just the beginning.

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Trends in Creating a Digital Marketing Strategy for 2020