Digital marketing encompasses a wide range of focuses like pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, search engine optimization (SEO), content, and social media, but with so many moving parts, it can be hard to know which digital marketing trends are actually worth paying attention. Fortunately, Lau Marketing has compiled the top five digital marketing trends of 2020 so you don’t have to sift through a mountain of articles and reports. As we prepare to enter a new decade, here are some of the big things we expect to happen in the ever-evolving world of digital marketing.
1. PPC Automation
Search Engine Journal lists automation as the number one PPC trend of 2020 and we would have to agree considering that Google has been releasing more and more automation features over the last several years. While automation helps reduce redundant, time-consuming tasks for digital marketers, allowing them more time for other things like creating content, strategizing, branding, etc., it also takes away control and can do more harm than good to a campaign when left unchecked.
What we expect to see is that digital marketers will use PPC automation more discernibly and won’t use new automation features without careful consideration and testing. While automation is helpful for eliminating repetitive tasks, it won’t be able to replace the human touch of digital marketers (at least not yet).
2. Voice Search
According to a report from Voicebot.ai and Voicify, U.S. smart speaker owners (e.g. Google Home, Alexa Echo) grew 40% over 2018 to now reach 66.4 million, which is 26.2% of the U.S. adult population. It’s not just smart speakers growing in popularity - Think with Google reported in 2017 that 20% of searches are now by voice. In 2020, digital marketers won’t be able to ignore voice search. While there are different ways to optimize your site for voice search, the most important one is using long-tail keywords like “how to make gluten-free cookies” instead of a shorter keyword like “gluten-free cookies.”
3. Interactive Content
Findings from a Demand Gen Report survey show that 91% of buyers prefer visual and interactive content over traditional formats. There are many types of interactive content like shoppable posts, AR/VR, 360-degree video, quizzes, and polls. Interactive content not only is engaging, but it also creates a dialogue between the consumer and brand for a more personalized, user-focused experience. Interactive content is also versatile and can be used on its own or within other content like landing pages, blog posts, emails, paid ads, and more.
The reason why it’s so effective is that people can’t resist learning more about themselves, having fun, competing, comparing, and sharing their thoughts. Digital marketers can use different types of interactive content to guide consumers through the buyer’s journey from awareness → consideration → decision. Lastly, the social aspect of interactive content encourages sharing which will further your message’s reach.
4. Tracking and Data Privacy
Europe’s implementation of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in 2018 was a watershed moment in the digital marketing world. GDPR restricted tracking capabilities and now digital marketers must obtain consent before collecting and using people's data or else risk facing fines and negative publicity.
Tracking and data privacy concerns have only increased since then and will continue to be a major focus for PPC advertisers in 2020. Privacy-conscious tracking will involve more first-party data gathering (i.e. data you’ve collected directly from your audience) as well as contextual and demographic targeting options, like ‘In-Marketing Audiences,’ that are offered by Google Ads and Microsoft Advertising.
5. Position Zero
The top spot in Google’s search engine results pages (SERPs) used to be position #1, but its long reign is over - we now have ‘position zero’ which is a featured snippet of text that appears above the search results. SERPs display a variety of elements like featured snippets, Local Packs, Knowledge graphs, and more to better answer users’ queries, but they’re creating more ‘zero-click searches.’ What that means is that the SERP itself answers the user’s query so the user doesn’t have to click on a link.
Zero-click searches are somewhat controversial in digital marketing. On one hand, the top position is great for brand visibility, but on the other, it produces less site traffic because the answer is right on the SERP. While there are pros and cons to zero-click searches, one way to optimize your content for search queries is to include keywords like “why,” “when,” “how many,” “what year,” etc.
Prepare Your Digital Marketing Strategy Now
Now is the perfect time to prepare your digital marketing strategy for 2020. Lau Marketing offers a variety of digital marketing services such as PPC management, SEO audits, content creation, and more. Let us help you examine your digital marketing efforts on a deeper level and provide you a personalized strategy to set your business up for success. Contact us today to get your 2020 digital marketing strategy in place to make next year the best yet.