2020 will forever be known as the year that everything changed. Industries and economies have been turned on their heads - including Marketing - but that doesn't mean there is only bad news. The changes occurring in the world means it's the perfect time to adapt, optimize, and re-orient your entire Marketing strategy for the "new normal".
Let's talk about the future of Marketing 2020 and the biggest changes that Marketing will see in the coming years:
Due to the global coronavirus outbreak, large events will be on the decline in 2020 and beyond, being replaced by virtual meetups and webinars. With everything forced online during the toughest months of the outbreak, many more companies - and customers - will have come around to the cost benefits and other advantages of everything digital. Businesses need to find a way to proportion nearly all of their services online.
Examples:
For B2B, blog posts and ebooks (including white papers and case studies) still tend to be the most popular content types, but try branching out into video. Videos are highly consumable, visual, entertaining, and easy to understand. Incorporating Video Marketing into your lead generation or sales processes could see your conversion rates jump!
Finally, you're already familiar with Siri and OK Google, but voice search will be even more of a hot topic in the coming years. The rise voice platforms/home assistants like Alexa, Echo, and Cortana will force companies to think about voice-oriented SEO. Not doing so will mean getting left behing.
With downsizing in full effect across the global economy, many businesses large and small will have to make do with a smaller workforce. Luckily, there's almost nothing that can't be done with automation and an agency partner. Automation lets you scale your efforts without more employees, resources, or time. See some examples below:
A visible social media presence can help you solidify and bolster your brand positioning. Social media channels are abundant, diverse, and generally free to use. Discover 2020 Social Media Marketing trends and learn which channels are right for your business based off of your target audience.
Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) have really taken off this year (see FB/Snapchat filters, TikTok), and brands that can afford it should invest in VR/AR in some way. Interactive content like polls and quizzes are also quite popular. Any business can take advantage of user-generated content, which helps display your brand through the eyes of its ambassadors. Finally, personalization with smart content is a must for the future of Marketing 2020, because people are not one-size-fits-all, so your content shouldn't be either.
Sales has to go above and beyond, investigating and really knowing specific information about every lead. Cold calling won't cut it in a time when every potential customer counts more than ever. Marketing and Sales must be united and on the same page; now is the time to clearly re-define your processes, discover gaps and bottlenecks, and optimize every step in the process. Without your Sales department involved in what's going on with Marketing, you'll find that it's harder to address prospects questions and doubts, and convert them into customers.
Do we even need to go into detail on this point? Data and analysis will be crucial for using your Marketing investment in the right places. Companies looking to survive and grow this year and in the coming years can't afford to not look at the numbers in detail. Luckily, most Marketing platforms and social media channels have built-in metrics that you can use to measure your efforts and re-orient according to results.
2020 is a year no one will ever forget, but let's make it for the right reasons. The "new normal" doesn't have to be a scary situation, in fact, if you study these trends and chart a course for this year, you'll see your business come out on top. If you're looking for ways to re-orient your Marketing, download our ebook below or reach out to us!