The last decade was a break-out phase for digital marketing as a mainstay in most organization’s general brand positioning and marketing strategies around the world.
Whereas brands largely relied on traditional marketing media such as print (newspapers + magazines), electronic (tv + radio), and OOH (billboards, street poles, etc.), the onset, and growth of digital marketing has enabled and revolutionized the execution of both above the line and below the line marketing strategies with reduced budgets and to great results.
Shupav Digital captures the following as some of the most popular digital marketing trends that brands will look to leverage on in 2020 for better positioning and improved conversion marketing.
“People do not buy goods and services. They buy relations, stories, and magic.” – Seth Godin.
Employee Advocacy
Your employees are the drivers of the business/brand experience. They are your most valuable assets. How well are your employees advocating for your business online either through products/services updates, reviews, Q&A forums, company culture commentary, and employer-brand recommendations?
A recent customer experience (CX) survey by PWC shows that 46 percent of consumers will abandon a business whose employees are not knowledgeable, and bad employee attitudes are the main reason that drives customers and prospects away from a business.
Investing in strategic and sustainable employee advocacy programs at your business will, among other benefits, help you steer brand awareness and recognition, grow your digital organic sharing and engagement and support your conversion marketing strategies through the acquisition of new business leads/customers.
Video Ads
Whereas video marketing is not new, integrating videos across the marketing funnel will form a great part of the 2020 digital marketing trends. This integration ensures that all levels of the marketing funnel are targeted with relevant content to meet their immediate needs, whether to understand your brand and products or to act – make the purchase.
Compared to text or images, well-done video content is able to relay a lot of information about your brand in a short amount of time, complete with emotional cues that your audience can identify with and specific call to actions.
With the continued growth of budget-range short video creating platforms such as biteable.com, promo.com, and wochit.com, generating video content for your 2020 digital marketing strategy is much easier.
If you are looking to keep marketing your spend at a minimum, you can make use of your smartphones to create video content for your business platforms and those of your employees who will be participating in your advocacy program.
Content Personalization
Over the years, the average consumer has become more sophisticated and exposed to a lot of information on alternative products & services. Additionally, social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter have refined their policies and algorithms to ensure that their users (your prospective target audience) see the content that is most relevant to them by controlling the ordering and presentation of posts. This, in turn, affects the reach of your branded content.
Increasingly, consumers are looking for information, products and or services that directly impact them. Personalization, therefore, requires customized content for your target audience to ensure relevance and consequently increase your brand engagement and sales conversions.
For example, segmenting your marketing activity based on your target audience demographics (age, location, gender, industry, etc.) and psychographics (desires, wants, needs, motivation, etc.) will help you show the right messages to the right group at the right time.
Remember – Don’t just personalize your marketing content, make it shareable.
Livestreaming & Live-Video Content
Simply said, it is the “hot stuff” that produces results! Livestreaming simply enables you to serve content to your audience while its hot, which is a great way to remain top of the mind.
Relevant live-video content may range from events to seminars, product unveiling/displays, campaign launches, a simple Q&A with a business/company representative or a panel session with your clients or renowned industry players discussing topical issues.
Through well-thought, timely and targeted live content, your business can be able to tap into FOMO marketing (Fear Of Missing Out) which creates the desire to stay continually connected with what is going on; you will be able to drive a given audience to plug and listen in or interact with the video, thereby improving your general brand engagement.
This article is written by Victor Ooko – Marketing and Communications Strategist at Shupav Digital.
Shupav Digital is a Kenyan digital marketing and communication solutions provider focused on delivering and executing integrated digital strategies that drive real business growth. Contact Shupav Digital here or email them via info(at)shupav.com
