Digital marketing Trends In 2020

Every business should capitalise on the advantages that a good digital media strategy brings. Digital Marketing includes techniques that involve the use of mobile devices, the internet, social media, search engines and other channels that are used to reach consumers. These consumer touchpoints should not be ignored, as they are all valuable to capture your audience’s attention and harness customer loyalty.

Within 2020, the use of digital marketing has been hugely accelerated, where Mckinsey and Company argues that society has covered a “decade in days” for the adoption of digital since the beginning of the pandemic. This is why it is more important than ever for companies to utilise their website and social media strategies to drive their sales. Digital marketing is influenced by everchanging trends that may make it difficult to keep up. Luckily, we have summarised some of the key 2020 Digital Marketing trends every business should know.

1. Age groups: Facebook vs Instagram

Facebook is often seen as the social media giant that epitomises how people stay connected. However, this is no longer the case with newer, upcoming social media platforms appealing to younger groups such as TikTok and Snapchat. In fact, Forbes shows that 41% of Facebook users are over the age of 65. This means that Facebook is appealing to a different demographic. Gen Z have had a disconnect with Facebook after the 2018 data breach scandal which highlights privacy concerns and mishandling of information.

This trend emphasises the need for businesses to understand their audience, and use this to select the channels used to communicate to their customers effectively. In doing this, firms with a younger demographic audience would choose to prioritise Facebook advertising less.

In contrast, Instagram has become the most popular app amongst Gen Z. The app has surpassed one billion users and is mostly used by people under the age of 30. The rise of Instagram Influencers and Instagram Reels has also made Instagram a powerful marketing tool that should be utilised by businesses. However, the recent feature where Instagram has disabled the amount of likes that a post receives may pose a threat to measuring the engagement of specific influencers and accounts.

Insight: cater your social media approach to the demographics of your audience

2. Chatbots will dominate customer service

With brick-and-mortar stores becoming less popular due to concerns of transmission and social distancing restrictions, online customer service has become a main selling point for firms. Chatbots are a form of Artificial Intelligence (AI) that allows you to communicate with your consumers quickly, providing automated answers to questions asked on your website in real time. These responses usually occur in the form of text chat windows, but are also available in verbal interactions. Chatbots also have the ability to continually improve. With machine learning, they are able to use previous customer interactions to understand consumer needs and alter their responses accordingly. This AI provides 24 hour customer service and instant responses to inquiries.

Insight: A great trend for firms that are looking to deliver excellent customer service by addressing their consumer’s questions or queries instantaneously.

3. Content Marketing and SEO

The quality of the content you publish is more important than ever. As anyone is now able to publish content, unique and accurate information is the best way to stand out. Search Engines such as Google have been continuously improving their search algorithm to provide results that are the most relevant to what consumers are searching for. For this reason SEO is extremely important to ensure your business is seen. On top of this, Google associate’s your website with an authority score to determine how trustworthy and reputable enabling it to rank reliable content highly.

Insight: The keywords used in your content writing and the quality of the content produced will determine how easy it is for consumers to find your webpage.

If you are looking to implement the insights that these trends bring into your digital media strategies, consult a Digital Marketing Agency first!