Marketing has long been an evolving landscape, even more so since digital marketing strategies have become the most proactive way to connect with consumers. It’s now more important than ever to stay in tune with the latest digital marketing trends, especially for small businesses. Following are 5 digital marketing trends you should pay attention to and implement in 2020.
1. Purpose Driven Marketing
Connecting with a consumer’s conscience and emotions is more important than promoting a new product or awesome deal. The best approach to digital marketing today is to use purpose driven marketing, targeting your audience based on their needs, wants and even generosity of spirit. Consumers are loyal to companies that have a purpose and more likely to associate with a business that has a cause. Partnering with charities, nonprofits, or offering a “give back” program can provide a business with a powerful presence by aligning their objectives with the priorities and values of their consumers in mind.
2. Influencer marketing
This form of marketing is a highly effective way to reach relevant target audiences. Studies have shown that consumers trust the recommendations of their peers over advertising network, which in today’s digital world aren’t necessarily a surprise. In 2020, marketers will be choosing to go after what is referred to as “micro-influencers” as a digital marketing strategy, influencers with a target audience of between 1,000 to 100,000 (instead of millions). Micro influencers are four times more likely to have loyal followers, generate more comments per post and improved ROI without using paid ads.
3. Social Media
Social Media platforms are increasingly thinking out of the box and exploring strategies for their members. In 2019, even LinkedIn grew in popularity as a place to publish influential content. This is especially advantageous for B2B digital marketing strategies. Instagram and Snapchat are improving their platforms as well, including linking features that allow members to swipe to read relevant articles. Facebook’s Instant Articles feature has also become increasingly popular, with growing numbers of content marketers using it to directly publish their articles to the Facebook App. Content marketing isn’t just about creating great content for websites and landing pages. It’s about getting it in front of consumers when they’re actively looking for it – social media is an effective way to do it.
4. Virtual Reality
Chances are good that in 2020 virtual reality is going to become commonplace. This expected trend serves as an indication of the importance of checking out visual content. Incorporating video and interactive graphics on your website, etc., now is a good starting point for exploration into virtual reality marketing opportunities down the road.
5. Live Streaming
Generic, impersonal marketing isn’t going to work for consumers any longer because they expect genuine human connections from the businesses they work with. Digital marketing savvy businesses today are using live video streams to develop real-time human connections with their target audiences. Whether it’s holding Q&A sessions, streaming product reviews, product launches, or webinars, live video is becoming a proven small business marketing strategy, one that shouldn’t be ignored.
Digital marketing is a juggling act, but it’s important to pay attention to and incorporate the trends. If you do, you can count on a successful year for your business. Don’t have the time to implement them on your own? Then you should consider hiring a local CT digital marketing agency to help you.