Looking Ahead: The Future Of A Digital Marketing Agency in 2020

The digital marketing world is constantly evolving because it relies heavily on technology. As new technologies are introduced, businesses adopt them and the way that they market their products changes accordingly. Consumer trends are also in constant flux and digital marketing agencies must adapt to stay relevant.

Even in the last few years, we have seen new social media channels like TikTok growing in popularity and strategies like PPC are becoming more important than ever. 2020 is the beginning of a new decade and even though we have no idea what the landscape will look like in another decade, we can predict some of the big trends that will happen in the near future. This is what the future holds for a digital marketing agency in 2020.

Artificial Intelligence Will Change Everything

Artificial intelligence is one of the most exciting technological advancements ever, and it is likely to change our lives in a lot of ways, some of which we haven’t even considered yet. The digital marketing world is likely to change a lot as AI technology advances because it creates a lot of new opportunities for automation.

PPC (pay-per-click) advertising is an incredibly important part of digital marketing and the best way to find success with PPC is to use automation software to manage campaigns. Machine learning can help to manage bids and, compared to a PPC campaign that is run manually, automation software can deliver a 22% increase in conversions.

Currently, this automation software is using relatively basic AI technology. As the technology improves and artificial intelligence is able to do things like recognizing emotions based on your device usage, for example, ads will become more targeted than ever before and this will lead to an even bigger increase in conversions.

Chatbots Will Be Everywhere

You’ve probably already seen chatbots online because they’re already very popular. These great pieces of software can mimic a human being pretty well as long as you are only asking basic questions. There are some great digital marketing opportunities here because it allows customers to interact with the business and ask questions about products, but you don’t need to increase your staff costs. Consumers get a more personal experience, which is very important, and you can start scaling your customer service department back at the same time. In the next few years, chatbots will become the norm and most businesses will have one on their website.

PPC and SEO Will Integrate

Many people consider PPC and SEO to be enemies. SEO drives organic traffic to your site and increases conversions, while PPC campaigns make use of ads to generate inorganic traffic. In the past, many businesses thought that they had to choose one or the other, but in the future, the two will integrate. When managing SEO strategies, it will be more important than ever to consider SEO and PPC in conjunction with one another instead of considering them as two separate strategies. By sharing keyword information and search engine ranking information, digital marketers will be able to better identify position strategy. As the digital marketing landscape changes, it is more important than ever to integrate SEO and PPC.

Personalised Content Will Be Even More Important

Consumers already value content marketing over other forms of marketing, and that trend will increase in the future. People want depth and value in their advertising, not just a simple ad. SEO agencies already know the importance of content marketing when trying to boost traffic and improve search engine rankings. However, it is also an incredibly effective way to generate trust with customers and build your brand by positioning yourself as an expert in your field. If you want your content to be successful in the future, you need to double down on a lot of the trends that we are seeing right now. Content needs to be more focused and specialised so you can target a very specific target audience and generate more qualified leads. When publishing content, you have a much higher chance of success if you have a multi-channel strategy that covers a number of different social media sites, as well as your own website.

Visual content is also increasingly important because it performs better on social media and people are more likely to engage with it. Simple text posts are still beneficial, but videos and images will get more likes and shares on social media, which helps to expand your reach and generate leads.

Voice Optimization Is Key

When managing SEO campaigns, digital marketing experts must focus on voice optimization. Smart devices, like Google Home and Amazon’s Alexa, are becoming more and more common and so many of us have them in our homes. Performing searches is one of the most common uses for these devices, and if your website is not optimized for voice search, you may be missing out on a lot of potential traffic. The way that people speak is not the same as the way that they type, which means that common search terms will be different and you may need to adapt your keyword strategy. Google estimated that 50% of all searches would be voice searches by 2020, so it is essential that you keep up.

When using voice search, people are more likely to use full sentences rather than simple keyword chains. That means that long-tail keywords will rank higher than short keywords as voice search becomes more popular.

Social Media Influencers Hold The Most Authority

Influencer marketing is the modern version of word of mouth marketing, and it holds a lot more authority than any other form of marketing. People trust the opinion of an influencer more than they trust the assurances of businesses, so it is important to work with social media influencers as much as possible.

Influencer marketing is easier than ever because AI technology is automating large parts of the process. Software can sort through millions of social media images to identify the most suitable influencers for your brand.

As technology advances and the digital marketing landscape changes, digital marketing agencies must focus on these important areas.