Year 2020 is a challenging year for everybody across all fronts. A lot of businesses struggle to survive the unexpected changes. No matter what industry you belong to and no matter what your product or service is, you need an online presence to stay afloat.
Online presence is not just a website and a Facebook page. Seo Gold Coast Company is always evolving that unless you keep track, you will be left behind by competition.
Here are the digital marketing trends that you need to know to stay relevant in 2020 and beyond:
The youth have left Facebook
Facebook is not dead, but this once dominant force has lost the young market. According to Forbes, 41% of Facebook users are aged 65 and up. The Gen Z crowd has moved to the more visual, interactive, and friendlier platforms such as Instagram, Snapchat and Tiktok. A lot of users were also turned off by the proliferation of fake news, cyberbullying and political propaganda in Facebook.
A digital marketer whose audience belongs to the Gen Z group may find Facebook an effective platform. It will be a wiser marketing strategy to establish presence in Instagram, Snapchat or Tiktok where users are young and happier.
Kids love Instagram
Instagram is where you will find the younger market, particularly those under 30 years old. If your audience belongs to this age group, you should be in IG. One challenge you may find though is that in some countries, Instagram has removed the “likes” feature and this may be applied across the globe soon. We are yet to see what effect this will have, but Instagram is hoping that doing away with the likes may lead to an improvement in content quality.
Video Marketing is a Must
There was a time when text-based content can already produce results. This is no longer true now. People are generally lazy to read long blocks of texts; they prefer watching video. If you’re not doing video marketing yet, you better start now.
People are watching video more than ever and they’d rather watch you than read about you. You can take video marketing up a notch by doing live video where an influencer talks to viewers and answer their questions in real time. Videos inspire confidence because seeing a product is more believable than reading or hearing about it.
Content is still needed
While it’s true that video marketing is big, content marketing still matters. Quality in content marketing is always a given, but now context and targeting are also important. It’s not enough that the content is well-written. Google rewards content that anticipates a reader’s needs. If you are tasked to do content writing, know your readers well. Get a feel of what they want to know so that even before they ask it, you are ready with the answers.
Personalise your Email Marketing
Despite the presence of several messaging apps, email is still a major communication tool for business and personal purposes. This is not the time to set aside email marketing, but you should no longer be sending generic emails.
For email marketing to work, your emails must be personalised. If an email compels a reader to click your link and look at your product, you can send a follow-up email with a demo video or promo price. If he bites, you can continue building your relationship in a personalised manner.
Interactive Content will Grow
Interactive content is something that a reader can click on, swipe, or participate in. Examples of interactive content are quizzes and polls, augmented reality ads and 360-degree videos. These formats are engaging, and marketers find them effective in educating the buyers.
Customers like talking to Chatbots
Chatbots (chat robots) are AI software that acts as a front desk for customers. It answers customers’ basic questions in an instant. It allows personalised interactions without the need for human resources unless necessary.
A lot of businesses are using chatbots because it allows 24-hour “manning” of their store, customer’s questions are answered immediately and there is no need for actual manning. Customers also prefer messaging a chatbot over calling up a hotline. Chatbots will be here for a long while because businesses and customers alike favors them.
Voice Interaction will continue to rise
Siri, Alexa and Google will pave the way for other smart devices that will allow people to communicate with machines. This shows that talking is a preferred method of interaction of many and machines are catching up.
If you want to target voice search users, there is one important point you must remember. A typed-in query and a voice-searched query offers different results. In a typed-in search, the screen displays several results on a page while in a voice search, the user usually gets just one reply. If you want to get this solitary spot, use keywords that people will speak which is usually different from what they type. It’s going to be another learning process in buyer persona.
Get into Omnichannel Marketing
Market across multiple platforms such as email, social media, blogs, and apps. This is Omnichannel Marketing and it allows businesses to connect with customers in several ways. If a customer sees you wherever he is, you stay in his mind longer. This means better retention that you can leverage.
Using Messaging Apps for Marketing
Messaging apps are not just for social chats or family interaction. Because billions of messages are sent daily on Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp alone, businesses have taken interest in messaging apps. In the next 5 to 7 years, messenger marketing will most likely be the number one marketing channel. At present, marketing through Facebook Messenger gets 80 times more engagement than posts on Facebook News Feed. It allows companies to send personalised messages to a wide range of audience. And, this audience seems to prefer doing business with someone he can talk to immediately.
The way we do business now is different. There is a huge preference for buying goods and services online, both for convenience and safety. The internet can be challenging to navigate especially if you are used to dealing with customers face-to-face.
But, this is our reality now and we have to embrace it. It may feel foreign at first, but take inspiration from thousands of businesses that have thrived online. Take cue from them as you embark on this venture. There are practices that have been tried and tested. Let them be your guide while you grow with the changes.