Top 15 Latest Digital Marketing Trends (Updated)
Are you aware of these new digital marketing trends that are going to completely transform digital marketing? Find out here. Digital marketing is one of the most rapidly evolving spheres in the business world. On one hand, it is a relatively new trend in the marketing world itself, but on the other hand, trends in digital marketing are rapidly emerging with the development of communication technology. High-speed internet is reaching every corner of the country and people are adopting new ways of doing old things like entertainment, shopping, banking, learning, and more. Digital marketing has become an integral part of the marketing strategy of every business. It is crucial in achieving the target revenue, delivering KPIs, lead generation, reaching expansion goals, and so on.
There are many advantages of digital marketing that businesses realized way earlier. It is cheaper, it is specific, it leads to higher conversion rates, and it is especially great for small and local businesses.
However, many businesses that are using the same techniques they used 5 years ago might have seen dwindling returns on their digital marketing investment.
That’s because it’s not 2015 anymore. This is 2020. New features of digital platforms have emerged swiftly to keep up with changing landscape of consumer behavior and offer them an improved and more refined user experience.
Google’s search engine algorithms have changed a lot since then. It is now using artificial intelligence and machine learning to suggest better results to its users.
There are loads of other features that Google has introduced which can be integrated with the business’ website. But search engines are not all.
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There are new technology features that have become mainstream just because of high-speed internet.
Digital marketing strategies have become more complex and advanced today. It’s not just about SEO and social media engagement anymore. Although they still form a big part of it, companies just need to do more to stand out.
If your company is still using the same strategy it was using in 2015, it’s time to go back to the drawing board and formulate new strategies keeping in mind the new trends in digital marketing.
Your digital marketing strategy must be updated and taking advantage of the newest trends to avoid your business losing out to competitors.
But you don’t need to worry because, in this article, we are going to list all the new trends in digital marketing that are going strong in 2020.
Predictive lead scoring
Artificial intelligence and machine learning have helped search engines, especially Google understand more of consumer behavior when it comes to lead generation.
Algorithms and bots can now predict with very good accuracy which users are more likely to convert to actual sales. This is called predictive lead scoring.
It is not needed anymore for you to manually think and find out which customers are more likely to buy a product.
They use data analysis to drive customer acquisition and retention, to drive sales and growth for the business.
This trend helps identify customers who are more likely to close by providing all of them a score. These customers are the ones that are on your contact list.
This score is based on user behavior on various search engines, browsing history, e-mail engagement, social media behavior, and other demographic factors. The higher the score, the more likely is the conversion.
There are many CRM tools and software in the market today that can help your business benefit from the digital marketing trend of predictive lead scoring.
Detailed videos
More than half of the customers would prefer video content over an article describing a product before buying it. There s already a barrier of distance that the customer cannot cross when making purchases online.
It is best to provide an interactive product demonstration as possible to the customers. This will build more trust in the product. It is also the best way to show the various functions of the product.
Written articles about the uses and specifications of products are not as effective as professionally made videos. A good product video should contain proper detailed information about the product like
- its primary use
- what is the benefit to the customer
- how to use all functions of the product
- what is the cost
- where to buy it
There are various benefits of both long and short videos. Product description videos should be as long as required. Because the customer is expecting more information.
With short videos, it is easier to attract the user, but whenever the user is looking for detailed information, they always prefer long videos.
3-4 years ago, a lot of new videos were less than 5 minutes long. This was great for channels on Youtube where most users were looking for new and interesting content. But this did not turn well for videos that did not need to attract viewers, rather they were needed by the user.
Short-form videos are more successful on social media platforms where the user’s attention span is shorter. A long video was not watched completely and this impacted the visibility of the content. It also generated fewer likes and views than short videos.
When a user is deciding on a potential purchase, it is essential to provide them as much information as possible. Only a long product video can do that.
You should not worry about likes or views. The only metric you should care for is engagement. Think of long videos as effective as long blog posts.
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Importance of local SEO
In the last 5 years, there has been an increase in trend for search queries that contain the term “near me”. This means users are increasingly searching for local businesses for instant assistance.
Another search term is “now”. Search phrases like this indicate that the user is ready to make a sale and is at a much-advanced stage in the buying cycle.
This is especially important for businesses that operate locally. Because when the customer is readily looking for businesses “near me” or “now”, they can only go to a local store.
Some examples of these searches include:
- “Grocery stores near me”
- “Mechanic near me”
- “Restaurants near me”
As you can see, the customer is ready to buy the product or the service in these searches. There is no other reason for making these searches.
Hence, this is a great opportunity that businesses should not miss.
However, to grab this opportunity, local businesses have to make sure they are optimized for local SEO and do what local digital marketing plans say as per the trends.
Local stores have to make sure they take advantage of these digital marketing trends and optimize their listing on Google My Business that is essentially a local business directory.
This will act as an extension of your main website that contains essential details like your address, distance, working hours, phone number, and customer reviews.
Voice search
Voice search is rapidly increasing among digital marketing trends in 2020. Searching with voice command has caught up especially with voice assistants like Siri, Alexa, and google assistant.
By the end of 2020, voice searches will share 50% of all searches made on the internet.
However, people have different styles of speaking their language. In a country like India where most people use non-English native languages in regular communication, it is hard to develop services for them.
But Hindi is one of the languages that is already supported by Alexa and google assistant along with Gujarati, Kannada, Urdu, Bengali, Marathi, Urdu, Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam.
This means search engines are taking the non-English market seriously and it has become viable to develop services for them.
Google Discover
Google Discover helps users find your content when they are not even actively searching for it.
On the newer devices, Google creates a feed on the google app that is based on the user’s browsing pattern and interests. This is a new digital marketing trend that businesses can take advantage of.
Google Discover can become a source for respectable referral traffic to your website if you optimize your content for it. There is a big chance for the user to land on your website since the article is of interest to them.
User intent optimization
Keyword intent is the process of learning the purpose of a search made by the user. This new trend in digital marketing has made keyword-focused content a thing of the past.
Google search algorithm values content that is written keeping the intention of the user in mind and as a result, ranks it higher than other content creators that are just focused on keyphrase stuffing.
With recent updates to the Google search algorithm, user intent optimized content is ranked higher which makes it necessary for businesses to comply with this digital marketing trend.
For this, content creators need to understand the purpose of the user in making the corresponding search. Instead of taking the literal meaning, they have to understand what the user desires when they make a certain search.
They need to understand how users talk when dealing with a situation and what do they need while they look for solutions.
With this new trend in digital marketing, keyword-driven content will soon lose rankings to content that is created by understanding the actual meaning and intention of the user.
Mobile SEO
This is a no-brainer. Any business that is not following responsive design and mobile SEO in 2020, deserves to lose its leads to the competitors.
It has already been two years since Google announced that websites need to be optimized for mobile viewing as mobile searches have come to dominate overall searches made on search engines.
This is not one of the new digital marketing trends but there are still many businesses that have not complied with this trend.
Every website needs to be designed while also keeping mobile users in mind. Website themes that do not follow responsive design must be changed.
If mobile users visit your website and they find that the website experience is not good, they will leave quickly and this will hurt your rankings on the search engine.
You should focus on website loading time and keep it as short as possible. Images should be small but sharp. The user interface must be smooth. All elements of website design must be followed and transformed for mobile viewing.
Minimalist web design
There is a very short time between a user landing on the website and making a purchase decision or leaves the website. in this port window that lasts a few seconds, the website has to provide what the customer is looking for to finally complete the purchase.
Ideally, a website must contain more visuals and images and less text. Text is harder and takes more time to process for a normal user.
The website design must be smooth and minimal. It must not overwhelm the user and this increases the bounce rate.
Keep fewer options, clear paths less clicks to reach the most used part of the website, essential information readily visible, clear calls to action, and so on.
Podcasts
Podcasts are certainly not new and have been around for a few years. But the popularity of podcasts has increased vastly due to a few reasons.
Podcasts can be listened to while doing other manual work like walking, commute or working out. This makes it simple to consume content while multitasking.
It is highly content-oriented and most users listen to a podcast completely. This engagement leaves behind any other form of media even video.
Podcats are highly preferred by people who have a strong interest to learn and know more.
Businesses can create their podcast. This may be on any subject that is relevant to their industry.
They can also get featured on one of the popular podcasts or give an advertisement on it.
Other social media platforms
Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are certainly the big players in the social media space. But they are not the only platforms.
Other platforms are trending among the new generation of users. TikTok, messenger, Snapchat, and even WhatsApp are hugely popular platforms with great potential for marketing.
WhatsApp and messenger have more active users than Facebook itself, although they are both owned by Facebook.
Each platform has a unique demographic and users of certain interests. For example, users on Tiktok are mostly teenagers while WhatsApp has people of all ages and demographics, divided into groups.
Let us take the example of Tiktok. Here businesses can create videos that can last 15 to 60 seconds, however, shorter video is advised on this platform.
On Whatsapp and messenger, businesses can promote content and provide customer support. They can also use various groups to spread awareness.
Advertising on these social media platforms is one of the new digital marketing trends of 2020. These platforms are optimized for showing ads and provide analytics to advertisers to manipulate a campaign in real-time.
It is also necessary to understand that just because a platform has a large number of users does not mean that platform is right for advertising your business,
There are also other platforms other than the mentioned ones. For example, Reddit, Quora, music apps like Spotify, etc.
Live videos
Live videos are gaining huge popularity over various channels. Most users prefer to watch a live video than read an article. This is one of the up-and-coming digital marketing trends today.
All social media platforms have a live stream feature on their apps. These include Instagram and Twitter too.
50% of social media users watch at least one live video stream every week. Out of those, half of them watch at least one live video stream every day. This is a great opportunity for any business.
Most platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, and Twitter make it very easy to start a live stream session. The live stream feature is integrated into the app.
Even platforms like Reddit that can not exactly be termed social have a live feed feature.
Through live video, you can actively engage with the audience. Through the comment section, the audience can post comments and requests in real-time.
The best part about this feature is that it is free.
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Social media “stories” feature
Social media is not new but many features in social media apps can be termed as new digital marketing trends.
The story is a feature through which you can post multiple content as part of a single content. For example, on Instagram, you can post a group of photos that form one story or have a binding theme.
Most stories’ posts are from businesses. This is because stories feature is a great way to feature products and their uses.
This feature makes posts more engaging and interesting to the users. You can also provide extra behind the scene information that incites the curiosity of the users. You can also post user submissions or reviews.
Every social media user has found at least one new product on the app itself. Most of them are interested and show signs of knowing more.
Online forums and communities
Most users prefer to look for reviews and feedback from other users before buying a product.
Although posting sponsored reviews on Amazon is not allowed, you can sponsor users on other communities to post reviews for your product.
There are many online forums for all kinds of markets. One of the examples is a forum for bodybuilders. Businesses can promote their fitness products like gear and supplements on these forums.
There are also other online communities on popular sites like Quora where you can post questions or answer others’ questions and promote your product simultaneously.
Posting on these communities is often free and few communities do not even have moderators to fish out promotional posts.
If you find a lack of communities in your industry or niche, you can create a community of your own. You can attract customers via inbound marketing.
Social media buying
One of the newest trends in digital marketing is that you can buy products directly from social media apps like Facebook and Instagram, on the app itself.
Even Pinterest has recently rolled out its new feature where users can buy items that support the action.
The advantage of this is that the buying process can happen faster within fewer steps and this increases the conversion rate.
Businesses can make specialized stores in these apps where users can browse through other products and make a purchase without even closing the app.
This is an especially great feature for companies that sell to the younger demographic. This is one of the new trends and although unverified for results, you can reap the benefits of being an early bird.
Changing PPC
PPC or pay-per-click may not be a new trend or feature but it is certainly subject to great improvements. It is a highly contextual form of advertisement where the user pays only for clicked ads, thus ensuring the interest of the customer in the product.
But many companies understand the cost-effectiveness of PPC marketing. And this makes the bid value high for many keywords and niches.
Not all trends are favorable when it comes to digital marketing and this trend may not be favorable to your business if PPC marketing forms a big part of your marketing budget.
Dealing with this trend requires better bid strategies and smarter logical marketing decisions. This will need the services of a PPC expert.
Summary
In this article, we read about various trends in digital marketing in the year 2020. This article must have surely given you enough knowledge to prepare and plan for a marketing campaign that improves your position in the industry and supports growth.
With the new trends in communications technology and innovations, digital marketing is evolving at a rapid rate. New knowledge becomes obsolete in a matter of just a year.
In this competitive and ever-changing landscape, the businesses that can adapt and employ the newest strategies to stand out, will survive for longer and see their growth.
Businesses must adopt the new trends mentioned here and realize the nature of today’s marketing world.
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