Commit 2020 Predictions: Digital Marketing Trends

As 2020 rapidly approaches, we can’t help but think about the changes the New Year will bring. In an ever-changing digital environment, it’s especially important for us to be on top of the trends. With a pulse on what’s to come, we’ve compiled some insights on what to expect this coming year in digital marketing.

Kayley Greene
Digital Implementation Specialist

YouTube: Given that YouTube is the second biggest search engine after Google, there is a huge opportunity here to invest in advertising. There are 1.9 billion active users on YouTube every month, which means being able to get your brand in front of a very large set of eyeballs. Having this be a part of your marketing strategy is quickly becoming a critical piece of the multi marketing channel approach.

Voice Search: Google recently released a search algorithm update called “BERT.” BERT was created to help decipher the intent of searchers when using voice search. This is expected to impact about 10% of searches in a neural network-based technique for natural language processing pre-training. On the user side, this should help to cut back frustration due to not getting the relevant results they were looking for when using their voice to search the web (which is a trend that is expected to increase).

Artificial Intelligence: More specifically, a place where we see the use of artificial intelligence on the incline is Google Ads. In 2019, Google released many new strategies using AI such as smart campaigns, advanced audiences and much more. If you’re currently advertising on Google Ads and not taking advantage of or utilizing these strategies, it’s important to learn how or you’ll get left behind on this platform.

Justin Hallman
Digital Ads Specialist

Privacy, Tracking, and Data: There is legislation (like GDPR and CCPA) altering how digital tracking and information is used for marketers. These changes are ushering in alternative ways to track user’s behavior that is not only less invasive but also more helpful in identifying a user’s needs and wants. Agencies and companies need to be flexible to the changing landscape of data gathering. The goal is to leverage all the data we are given access to without abusing it or exploiting users, especially to the point where the public is feeling their privacy is being violated.

Platform Effectiveness: The word “omnichannel” triggers me, but we are approaching a time where understanding each channel and user flow is crucial to growing your digital presence. The whole omnichannel focus has sparked marketers utilizing a variety of different platforms but without proper attribution set up. Companies need to have a better understanding of the key demos that separate Pinterest from TikTok or Google from Bing and be agile enough to implement a new channel at a moment’s notice. That is only half the solution. The back-end part of this is attribution and understanding how those new channels help contribute to awareness, consideration, and/or converting.

Brand Affinity: Brand affinity is based on the mutual belief that the customer and the company share common values (I am looking at you Chick-fil-A and Whole Foods). This has been around for awhile, but now companies are positioning themselves to establish brand affinity digitally through marketing efforts. Brand awareness is important but brand affinity goes the extra step to influence how potential customers feel about it and respond to it, which makes all the difference. Essentially its use is to quickly move users from awareness to consideration using messaging, images, behavior, and more to define positive attributes and values that connect them to the end user.

Robby Leffew
Database Analyst & Digital Implementation Specialist

Google Business Profile Manager (GBPM): GBPM turned 5 this year! It has been and will continue to be, the fastest growing digital platform for businesses in 2020. Is this the end of websites? We don’t think so. Google will allow customers to purchase products, schedule appointments, receive quotes and much more all on GBPM without ever having to visit the business’ website. Valuable features are being added every month, so expect 2020 to be a big year for Google Business Profile Manager.

Meredith Oechsner
Digital Marketing Strategist

TV integration with Display: Device time on mobile was more than TV for the first time ever in 2019. In addition, “according to Nielsen, most television viewers are multi-platform multitaskers, with 88 percent of viewers saying they use a second digital device while watching TV and 71 percent saying they look up content related to what they’re watching mid-show.” (Source – this article summarizing Mary Meeker’s trend report.) This trend towards multi-platform viewing creates an opportunity to shift more ad spend into mobile, seamlessly integrate display and TV creative, and create a better omnichannel experience.

Site Speed: According to Google: “If page load time increases from 1 second to 3 seconds, bounce rate increases 32%. If page load time increases from 1 second to 6 seconds, bounce rate increases by 106%. Pages considered “slow” may be demoted in Google Search.” It will be critical in 2020 to improve page load times, especially for campaign landing pages, to keep users on the path towards conversion and continue ranking organically.

As digital marketing continues to evolve, so do we. If you need help implementing or improving your digital marketing strategy, reach out to us today!