10 Digital Marketing Trends for a new Decade
Words: Jessica Turner, Managing Director of Confab
It’s the turn of a new decade and 2020 brings with it new digital trends to look out for and adopt within your business in order to improve your digital marketing Durban efforts and gain the competitive edge you’ve been desiring.
In this article, we look at and unpack 10 digital marketing trends for a new decade, but before we do it must be said that one of the keys to success for many businesses we believe will be to build upon and invest more resources into the digital channels and marketing methods that have already proven successful for you. Whilst staying ahead of the curve is vital, so is the ability to remain focused on what is working for you without becoming distracted by every new wave of digital fads.
1. Instagram does away with number of likes that can be seen on a post, will Facebook follow?
The like has been dying a slow death for a while, but in 2019, it officially went to the grave on Instagram and now the question remains, will the ‘Facebook Like’ also rest in peace sometime soon? What is interesting about the disappearance of the infamous ‘like’ is that it is synonymous with that fact that brands are moving away from mere engagement as their primary metric of success, but are investing more effort and budget into increasing reach, lead generation, brand building and bottom line sales
2. Social conversations are shifting to private channels
Over the past few years there has been a shift away from public communication forums to more private ones which poses some interesting questions around the traditional approach to social media. Customers are wanting to be connected with one-on-one and are looking for the human touch in an increasingly digital world. Is your brand ‘human’ enough on your digital platforms?
This also presents a fantastic opportunity to explore (if you haven’t already) serving up advertising content on private messaging forums such as Facebook messenger advert placements as well as LinkedIn InMail which we’ve seen wonderful successes from for our clients.
3. Businesses are developing long-term vision and strategies for how social will transform their organization
Marketers are now seeing social media as less of a nice-to-have and more of a strategic growth tool for their businesses. The power of social has been proven for over a decade and is not going anywhere anytime soon, a fact that cannot be denied. From brand building to converting leads into customers, social media channels are one of the few marketing mediums that leave their fingerprints on each stage of the customer lifecycle and business large and small are shifting their focus from short-term campaigns to long term strategies for business transformation and growth.
4. Marketers are moving from ad-hoc social promotion tactics to structured campaigns
A ‘boost’ here and there is not the success tactic your business should be adopting in 2020. Marketers who are serious about seeing results from their social media advertising need to move away from an ad-hoc advertising approach to a well thought-out and well planned campaign approach. This will not only assist in achieving objectives but improve budget optimisation.
5. Maximise on what is working rather than being distracted by every new innovation
Whilst it may seem ironic to include this in an article on new trends, it must be said that something to avoid in 2020 is getting lost in a sea of so-called ‘new innovations’ and chasing every one of them. This year, focus on maximising on what is currently working for your business instead of looking for new ‘quick fixes.’ Whilst interesting new innovations can and should be trialed, opt to use more conservative budgets and resources for testing these out.
6. Shoppable posts
‘Social Commerce’ as it’s now affectionately known is something not to be missed by any businesses that sell anything online. With the launch of Instagram Checkout in 2019, it’s now simpler than ever for your customers to make purchases without navigating away from the social networks they saw your product on. Make sure your social networks are properly linked to your online store, start tagging your products in your posts and the sky’s the limit for your social sales! Need to set up your Instagram and Facebook store? We can help.
7. Predictive Marketing
According to GlobeNewswire, the market size for ‘predictive analytics’ is expected to reach $10.95B in 2022. Predictive marketing uses the abundance of data available to brands around their customer’s buying habits which is gained from looking at all the interactions your customers have with your brand, then predicting their future purchasing habits and decisions and ultimately using these insights to market to your customers accordingly. A hefty investment into research and development of technology that assists with predictive marketing is being made by numerous industries in 2020 and beyond.
8. Voice Search
Just caught your breath after fully optimising your website for text search? The next SEO mountain to scale in 2020 is voice search! With takeover of smart devices (smartphones, smarthomes etc) and the usage of these devices to conduct Google Searches, voice search has been steadily growing and this will be the year to identify key voice search trends and make sure your business is adapting.
9. Branding will be a top differentiating factor and a moat for businesses
There’s no denying that in our digitized world, it’s becoming harder than ever for businesses to gain an edge over their competitors. A key 2020 prediction is that one of the top differentiating factors which will set businesses apart from their competitors is their brand (in particular their brand identity, brand story, ethos and quality). What sets top brands apart from their competition (think Nike and Apple) is not that their products or their marketing strategies are necessarily better than the competition, but they have built a brand persona made up of strong visuals, an engaging brand story and core values that their customers identify with and make ongoing purchases to ensure this brand remains part of their own lifestyle and their own personal ‘story.’
10. Personalization is the new marketing
Personalised marketing can be defined as the use of specific collected data, data analysis and automated tech to serve up personalised content to various consumer segments. We are living in the ‘age of the individual’ and consumers are become harder to impress. Brands need to rethink their ‘one size fits all’ approach to marketing and start using smart insights and technological advancements to better understand and communicate with the individual. For example, your brand’s GenZ customers (those born just after the turn of the century) have strong desires for authenticity, privacy, quirky humor and content diversity. How are you delivering content that is more personalised to the needs of this consumer segment in 2020?
The turn of the new decide presents an exciting opportunity for brands and businesses to shake up their marketing strategies for greater success whilst maximising on methods that have already proven successful. If you’re looking for the competitive edge in 2020 and need a strategic partner to help you navigate the ever-changing digital landscape, feel free to book a consultation with us.