Your customers spend over 69% of their media time on their smartphones. As we come more dependent on our phones and the internet for what we need, that number will continue to rise. This poses an opportunity for companies to discover new opportunities to reach, engage with, and draw in customers.
With these five digital marketing trends for 2020, you can get a step ahead of the competition.
Using these trends, you can boost your brand, attract more business, and improve your ROI for the new year.
Ready to get started? Keep reading to discuss the five digital marketing trends you need for success in 2020.
1. UX-Focused Websites
When people are looking for a product or service, they head online. An outdated website, however, can scare people off before they get the chance to learn about your brand.
Today, more companies are taking a user experience (UX) focused approach to website design and development. UX design prioritizes what your customers need to improve their online experience. For example, since more people are using their smartphones, you’ll need a mobile-optimized website in order to appeal to these users.
Otherwise, mobile visitors will have to zoom and pinch to read your content.
A complicated, tedious user experience can cause you to lose visitors. As a result, you’re losing potential sales as well.
When people visit your site but don’t click around, it can hurt your clickthrough rate (CTR) and bounce rate. Both analytics can impact your search engine optimization (SEO) and pay-per-click (PPC) advertising campaigns. With a low CTR and high bounce rate, your organic listings or PPC ads won’t display at the top of a search page.
Instead, customers will see your competitors first.
There are multiple ways you can improve UX on your website, including:
- Faster page load times
- Minimalistic web design
- Easy-to-use buttons and navigation
- Security
Improving UX provides your customers with efficiency and convenience. When customers are satisfied with their experience, they’re more likely to come back in the future. As a result, you’re improving customer retention and brand loyalty as well.
Conversion rate optimization can make your website more effective as well. By creating different opportunities for visitors to convert, you can gain new leads and potential business.
2. Personalization
Personalization is one of the top digital marketing trends this year, too.
90% of consumers find personalization appealing. In fact, 80% are more likely to purchase from a company that offers them a personalized experience.
Recent advancements in technology are making it easier for brands to personalize the user experience. As you collect information about your customers, you can determine what they expect from your brand. Then, you can create personalized content, ads, and marketing messages that better resonate with your customers.
You can use artificial intelligence to gather data and insights about your customers. Then, you can use automation to provide those website visitors with a personalized web experience. Tools such as chatbots can also help customers on your website by providing immediate answers to their questions.
You can also post user-generated content or use influencer marketing to forge a stronger connection with your customers.
When people find what they’re looking for, they’re more likely to convert from a visitor into a paying customer.
3. VR/AR & Video
One of the most exciting digital marketing trends for the year is interactive content, such as virtual reality videos. Instead of traditional, text-based content, more companies are using dynamic, engaging content to keep customers engaged. These include:
- 360-degree videos
- Live videos
- Augmented reality ads
- Embedded calculators
- Quizzes and polls
Many real estate companies are already using 360-degree videos to show off their listings.
Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) are both changing how companies reach customers. For example, makeup brands can use AR so consumers can see how different types of makeup will look on their faces straight from their smartphones. Then, these customers can buy the products they want from the company’s app.
Ikea and Amazon are also using AR so customers can see what a piece of furniture will look like in their homes.
VR, on the other hand, allows consumers to step into a virtual world. For example, Toms Shoes allows customers to see what it would feel like to visit Peru and give someone new shoes. This creates an emotional experience that can help companies boost sales.
Video Content
By 2022, video content will account for over 80% of all web traffic. Video marketing allows companies to better connect with customers. With people always on-the-go, video content is easy to consume and often more entertaining than lengthy blog posts.
4. SERP Position Zero & Featured Snippets
SEO allows companies to use search engines like Google to attract website traffic. However, Google’s algorithm changes throughout the year. To keep up with recent changes, more companies are prioritizing SERP marketing and featured snippets.
SERP position zero is the spot above Google’s organic listings as featured snippets. In this space, you’ll see content such as instructions, recipes, quick answers, and more.
You can optimize your website content for SERP position zero by formatting your content differently. Think about the snippet you want to appear for. For example, try answering a customer’s question.
Then, place the most important information at the top of the post.
Optimizing your content for SERP position zero will help you appear in front of more people, boosting your brand.
5. Voice Search
Voice search is also changing SEO strategies this year. As more people rely on voice assistants like Siri, Alexa, and Google, they’re changing how they search online.
Think about how your customers are asking questions. Then, write in a way that responds to those questions. Use your customers’ search queries as your SEO keyword.
This digital trend has led to the emergence of conversational marketing.
Conversational marketing creates a one-on-one connection between you and your customers. You can use conversation marketing to enhance your website bots to enhance the UX on your site.
The Perfect Marketing Vision: The Top 5 Digital Marketing Trends You Need in 2020
Forge a stronger connection with customers this year. By using these five digital marketing trends, you can boost your brand and watch your business grow.
Book a free consultation with our team today.