Due to irresistible quips about 20/20 vision, numerical symmetry and auspicious new decade status, 2020 is drawing more than its fair share of year-end marketing predictions.
Needless to say, more and more digital investment is overwhelmingly where budgets are headed. And what else can we see on the horizon?
We plowed right on through to page four of Google search results to find out whether a consensus could be drawn among the 2020 trend titles. What would you add or delete from this list?
Here are a few popular predictions for digital marketers in 2020:
- A real live Gen Z (1997 > 2010) will pull up an office chair beside you at some time during the decade that begins on Jan. 1, 2020.
- Use of voice-activated search will soar, so build out your long-tail keyword phrases now.
- Video, video, video. (Nothing new here…)
- Social commerce, also known as shoppable posts, will be the norm, providing a sales funnel shortcut. It will be supplemented by other types of interactive content: AR/VR, 360-degree videos, quizzes, and polls (shareability increases distribution and awareness).
- With attention spans so limited and the volume of content so great, getting noticed will require an ability to surprise, delight, humor, or otherwise provoke an emotional response.
- Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning is everything. More and more personalization, conversational marketing, sophisticated chatbots, chat messaging apps, segmented mailing lists (fewer B2C phone interactions).
- Micro-influencers with authenticity and authority among targeted audience segments will continue to gain over celebrity and influencers with big numbers.
- Attention! Website accessibility free of barriers for users with a disability will be assessed and ranked by Google algorithms.
- Consumer privacy. The EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and California’s Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) reaffirm the need for businesses to focus on privacy when managing data.
- Google Ads Smart Bidding uses machine learning to set bids at auction time. Read more from Google here.
- In 2020, 5G-compatible devices will enter the market in volume, enabling new technology such as self-driving cars and the internet of things. In the US, 74% of mobile contracts are expected to be 5G by the end of 2025.
- Blockchain…it’s anybody’s guess.
