Top Digital Marketing Trends

Top Digital Marketing Trends

It’s crystal ball time!  That time of the year where we look ahead into 2020 and see what we think will be the big digital marketing trends.

Content trends

At the heart of any digital marketing strategy is content so what are the big trends coming in content that you need to look at and consider adding?

Greater emphasis on visuals

Any time you read stats about adding an image to something, you will see that people respond better when there’s something more than words to look at.  In 2020, this could go one steo further with the use of what Search Engine Journal calls ‘next levels visuals’ within content.

But what kind of thing does this mean?  One example is using a GUF rather than a statis image.  Another is to use augmented reality to add another dimension to images.  We’ve mentioned video but even things like moving slide share presentations within content could be worth considering.

Visual storytelling

This ties in with both the previous content trend and the big emphasis on video.  One survey from HubSpot found that over half of age groups between 25-44 wanted to see more video content from brands they follow.  This shows that visual storytelling is a key way to keep people engaged.

Visual content tops the charts in terms of keeping people’s attention too.  62% of people watch an entire video versys only 44% reading a whole email and 25% reading full long-form content pieces.  Long form content might be key for SEO but making that content into something visual is key for reader engagement.

Purposeful content

We’ve all been guilty of it in the past – creating content just to say ‘I made some content this week’ and not really being purposeful about it.  I’m being purposeful in creating this content as last year, the 2019 version was my top post all year long.  So I know my readers love to read about trends and keep checking it out all year long.

In fact, 90% of the top digital marketers put what their audience want to read above what they want to create.  Not only that but by fulfilling their needs, you have a better chance of appearing higher on search engine results – because you are talking about topics or answering questions people are asking.

SEO trends

Predicting what Google will do is a bit like predicting the weather.  You know there’s a good chance of snow in winter but you have no idea exactly when it will appear.  You know Google will make changes and some of those could affect your strategy negatively or positively but what and when is still a mystery.  However there are some strong predictions about search engine optimisation trends to spy out.

Voice search

Moving from the background to the foreground is the importance of voice search.  Who owns a voice operated device?  Or uses something like Siri on their mobile phone?  We have two Amazon Echos in our home with a third on the shopping list.  And we all have smartphones with a voice assistant at the ready.  Even my Mac can respond to a whole range of voice commands.

Stats predict that as much as 50% of searches will be by voice in 2020.  This means digital marketers need to be aware of this and start to create content with it in mind.  Sure, you can’t write all of your posts for voice search because it tends to short, sharp answers.  But you can incorporate ways for it to feature and gain that extra exposure.

Semantic search

Latent semantic indexing has been around a while but it is becoming even more important as Google gets smarter.  This is where words are underwood in the context of other terms to give a more accurate search result.

If you use a tool like LSI Graph, you can see this in action.  Type in a phrase like ‘content marketing’ and you will see related keywords like ‘content marketing examples’ and ‘content marketing tips’ but you also see things like ‘online marketing tips’ and ‘content strategy plan’. 

These are related keywords that Google would understand as associated with each other.  By using them in your content, you can help increase Google’s understanding and have a better chance of showing up in a search.

Diversifying content

We have already talked about some of the different ways that people use content and it is worth considering this from an SEO viewppint.  In many cases, that first page of results no longer has just links.  There could be:

• Knowledge graph results (what Google knows about the term)
• People Also Ask results
• Video results
• Image results
• Related search terms
• Paid ad content

An example of the first page of search when looking for ‘New York City’

In amongst all of these may be 3-4 organic search results which means the chance of ranking on page 1 is a lot harder with just an organic link.  So it is worth looking to see if you can optimise for any of these elements and find an extra way onto that first page.

Using structured data

Structured data is the system that Google uses to organise content types.  Recipes are a good example while FAQ’s are one of the newer types.  There are lots of tools to use to add this depending on the type of structured data you are aiming for.  The key is to have the right Schema to give Google the information it needs and have a chance of showing up.

Visual search

While many of us search with words, the ability to use an image to search continues to grow.  Pinterest is at the forefront with Lens, a tool that lets you take a photo of something and see similar products on their site.  They also introduced Pincodes, a QR-cide like technology as well partnering with brands like Target to allow catalogue searches based on real world products.

Both Google and Bing are creating something similar while apps are popping up that are designed specifically to help you track down products based on a photo you snap.

Search engine diversification

Not many days go by where there isn’t a report on the news about breaking up the big tech companies, Google and Facebook being the most common targets.  While chatting about that is a whole different topic, the concept of search engine diversification is one that could become a relevant digital marketing trend in 2020.

What this means it is that it is worth exploring the other search engines and what it means to show up in their search results.  Yes, there are still other search engines out there – Bing is one example and there are many more.  As the battle over big companies and their monopolies continue, diversification of your SEO traffic sources might not be a bad idea.

AR & VR marketing (again)

I’ll admit I’m a little tired of hearing that this year will be the year that virtual reality and augmented reality will become mainstream.  It seems to have been this year forever!!  But some experts still believe that 2020 could be the year and it is worth keeping an eye on things to see if this does come true. 

Honestly, I’m still a little sceptical that we will need to optimise web pages for AR glasses but who knows!

Artificial Intelligence sneaks into life

No trend report would be complete without a mention of artificial intelligence.  We’ve mentioned voice search but the larger use of AI continues to grow, even if we aren’t always aware of it. 

From robots that police parking lots to devices that help us make our home smarter than we are, AI is sneaking into our lives in all kinds of ways.  But there are positive ones and ones that could help marketers. 

One example is a natural language processing software being used by Mastercard to create a Facebook messenger.  It analyses what you say, understands context and can reply like a real person.  Simulatanously useful and a bit creepy!

Some of the key areas in digital marketing that AI is predicted to influence include:

• Basic communication with customers
• Customer service chatbots (predicted to cover 25% of customer service in 2020)
• Product recommendations
• Email personalisation
• E-commerce transations

So don’t be afraid to look at the options and see if any of them could help with your strategy.  Or you could make your content AI-friendly!

Geo-fencing gets location specific

Showing people content based on their location isn’t anything new but geo-fencing goes one step further.  Let’s say you get the bus into town and search for resturants near me – geo-fencing means you will get results within a mile of where you stand.  But more importantly, yoi can get push notifications, text messages or other marketing from those restaurants when you make the search.

Stats are impressive – 54% of people convert from segmented push versus just 15% for broad, general messages.  And over half of people have push messages enabled on apps.  Offering special deals, offers or promotions when you are near a store can help to propel you into the door and may be worth considering for digital marketers with a physical store presence.

Influencer marketing continues to be important

Despite there being something of a downer on influencers of late in some places, people really still respond to it and that’s what matters.  92% of people trust consumer recommendations over advertising by a company and that’s why real people (i.e. influecners) are going to remain a popular marketing strategy.

AI will also factor into influencer marketing.  It will help companies find the right influencer and to root out those ones with loads of fake followers.  This will improve the overall quality of the system, both for the influecner and the marketer as well as the customer, of couse.

A glimpse into the future

I love trends to see what might be happening and also to look back and see what did.  This year, some of the trends are repeats from previous years but technology is moving to mean things like AI and voice search are prominent.  These offer new opporunties and new challenges for all of us.

What do you think will be the big trend in 2020?  And what trends are you factoring into your digital marketing strategy?  Tell us below!