While the digital marketing industry is always changing, 2020 promises to be an especially exciting year for social media marketing, content marketing and SEO. Here’s a forecast of what’s in store for the year ahead.
Digital Marketing in 2020
Here’s a forecast of the top four digital marketing trends for your business in 2020:
A New Kind of Content
It should come as no shock that content remains of the utmost importance in digital marketing, but in 2020 we’re expecting audience interaction to bring about the biggest change to content marketing.
The digital generation gets bored easily and is, therefore, always looking for the next big thing. And, that’s why it’s no longer good enough to put content out there to sit and gather virtual dust. Companies will need to make their content interactive to be noticed.
Interactive content is engaging, stands out, keeps eyes on your page for longer and is more likely to be shared by audiences. Plus, there are limitless ways to make content interactive including:
If executed correctly, interactive content won’t just keep audiences around for longer, it will also help marketers to gather important information about audiences, which will allow them to create highly personalised content (see below).
In addition to making content more interactive, creators will also need to focus on personalising content for unique viewers. With all the digital noise around, audiences are becoming more adept at tuning out generic content. This is forcing content creators to shift drastically to focus their energy on personalised marketing efforts to individuals rather than mass audiences.
The good news is that many forms of digital marketing lend themselves well to personalisation. The key in personalisation will be in executing the following successfully:
Success awaits marketers who send a sincere, personalised message to the correct audience.
Recognisability and Influence
While these factors are hardly new to marketers, brands will face increased competition from individual influencers to gain trust from audiences. Social media, blogging and vlogging are the playgrounds of influencers. But, even traditional forms of marketing are increasingly being taken over by influencers and smart brands are making use of virtual stars to push their messaging.
The shift in influencer marketing continues to be focused on micro-influencers. While they may have smaller follower counts, they still exert a strong influence over those who trust them. This trend is leading to smaller businesses making use of influencers to communicate their messages.
Featured Snippets (Search Engine Results Page Position Zero)
SEO might not be going anywhere soon, but number one is no longer the top spot in SEO rankings, position ZERO is the new top dog in organic results. These featured snippets (along with a link to the source page) appear first above other results, and they are going to be a massive draw for audiences.
Brands need to optimise their content to earn this illustrious position by creating really good content and ranking in the top 10 positions organically. Sound HTML code, short sentences, list format and use of keywords also contribute to earning the top spot.
Need help with your digital marketing strategy? Then contact WSI OMS today.