Top Expected Trends of 2020

Each year comes with new trends or old ones change and evolve in the marketing industry. Determining trends is important for a company because it gives it the ability to focus on major issues.

A trend could explode in a matter of hours due to social media competing with mass media. It is believed that the following trends will be expected throughout 2020:

1. Conversational Marketing

2. Voice Search Optimization

3. More Direct Communication

4. Deep Dive into Research

5. More Demand for Facebook Ads

6. Growth of TikTok

7. Intent Data

8. Data-Driven Storytelling

9. Marketing Silos Finally Breaking

10. Sensory Immersion

11. Brands as Executive Producers

Conversational Marketing is engaging with customers in real time rather than having them wait for a response. It is believed that conversational marketing will become the standard for digital marketing and will move in the direction of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Artificial Intelligence is the simulation of human intelligence processes by machines, especially computer systems.

Voice search is becoming increasingly popular. Users are using voice search assistants like Google Assistant, Siri, Alexa and Bixby to answer their questions. Optimizing your website for voice search in 2020 will be of great importance.

The industry is shifting focus toward direct and personal customer connections as compared to the broad and impersonal connections that most social platforms offer. Old tools such as text messaging platforms are resurfacing and offering customers personal and direct connection that they are looking for with their favourite brands. This is seen as a major focal point for brands and agencies.

For 2020 research will have the most impact and valued trend by efficiently using Artificial Intelligence, pulling natural language trends and combining incredible content writers.

It is believed that Facebook becomes more of a mature ad platform, budgets may begin to shift from existing digital campaigns to Facebook. This will continue to be a trend if return on ad spend (ROAS) can support the hypothesis.

TikTok is moving at the speed of lightening. Users are gathering millions of followers and advertisers are scrambling to spend money on the platform. It is reckoned that ad bidding for agencies will be released, taking the platform to the next level.

Intent data is behavioural information collected about an individual’s online activities, combining both topic and context data. Topic data is when one searches for something or visits a website, they are expressing an interest in that topic. Context data is all about gaining insight into who the person is that is taking the action in question. Intent data will begin to rise in importance by offering marketers the ability to reach the right prospects with the right messages at the right time in the purchasing journey. Great potential is seen by combining intent data with high-quality, business contact data to empower marketers to truly take their data-based marketing campaigns to the next level and initiate stronger impact and return on investment (ROI).

Data storytelling is the process of translating data analyses into layman’s terms in order to influence a business decision or action. With the rise of digital business and data-driven decision making, data storytelling has become a much-talked-about skill. Data-driven storytelling will be significant. Big data is changing businesses. Big data is a term that describes the large volume of data – both structured and unstructured – that inundates a business on a day-to-day. Using big data will accelerate by helping to understand trends and hot topics, identifying white space and creating engaging content.

Marketers will begin using multi-channel strategies to compliment each other. Television will compliment web traffic and sales, social will compliment retail transactions, direct mail will compliment email and display.

In a world where everyone has a personal computer, getting attention requires going beyond engaging just one touch point. Brands are building interactive marketing experiences that engage each of the five senses, deepening impact beyond what’s possible from only a screen.

An anticipated trend within the branded content world is brands becoming executive producers of premium content. As executive producers they help find content that connects with brand values.