Adapt Your Digital Marketing Strategy for 2020
It’s no surprise to hear that 2020 has brought a fair share of difficulty, uncertainty, and fear for many business owners. With unexpected problems like the Coronavirus,
businesses across the country have had to change the way they interact, inform, and influence their current and future consumers. Since the digital marketing landscape has seen its fair share of changes throughout the year, your business must adapt its marketing strategy to these changes. Since we understand that not everyone stays in tune with the digital marketing world, we researched for you. Here are a few things we recommend building into your digital marketing strategy.
#1 Artificial Intelligence
It wasn’t too long ago that artificial intelligence was just an idea that sounded too much like a government conspiracy, and not something that would be accessible and beneficial to business owners. In 2020, AI allows business owners to analyze consumer behavior and search patterns, use data from social media platforms, blog posts to help businesses understand how customers discover and interact with their products and services. If you have ever asked a question in a chat box that generated responses depending on what you asked, you’ve interacted with Artificial Intelligence. Although this sounds like “big brother” is watching, using resources like ChatBots, CRM’s, or recommended product email campaigns will allow your business to understand your consumers better. This will enable you to cater to their needs in your business model.
#2 Brand Reputation
Although brand awareness has always been critical in any marketing strategy, in 2020, it’s more important than ever before. With pandemics and political movements across the country, consumers are looking to brands to see if their ethics and support align with their own. Since silence can be seen as a statement on its own, make sure you update your customers on what you are doing to support good causes and benefit the local community during these difficult times when the timing is appropriate.
Having a strong social media presence and responding to reviews and comments is essential for any brand that wants to manage its online reputation and ensure that it responds to the societal developments promptly and respectfully.
#3 Personalization
If you want to stand out in 2020, you need to personalize your marketing – and that means personalized content, products, emails, and more. Over 60% of consumers get annoyed with generic advertisements. The power of personalization can be seen clearly on Amazon, Netflix, and even Starbucks, with their recommended products and loyalty programs. Every consumer has different tastes, styles, and preferred methods of communication, so why approach your marketing with a one size fits all solution?
Deploy different customer segments, using demographics and interests, in your email marketing and advertising strategies so your business can send more relevant and tailored offers and recommendations to your customers.
#4 Video Marketing
The rise of video marketing began long before 2020. However, thanks to the pandemic and the increased focus on short, entertaining videos, it is now crucial that businesses include this tactic in their digital marketing strategy. Videos are one of the most popular ways to discover and interact with a business and their products. 52% of consumers say that watching product videos makes them more confident in online purchase decisions.
Although Youtube is a dominant platform in today’s digital marketing age, its not your only option. By using live streams on Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook Stories, and brand videos on your website, your business can build credibility faster and increase your brand awareness.
#5 Content Marketing
In November 2019, Google rolled out some major updates to its search algorithm. The updates included the new BERT system, which is designed to aid Google in understanding the natural language that people use in their search queries. Since Google’s algorithm is designed for the searcher, it’s a good indication that consumers desire informative, relevant content when searching online. Consumers want to be catered to and understood. By writing consistent, relevant, and well-written content across all communication channels, your business will establish trust, build audience retention, increase awareness, and improve conversions.
#6 Social Commerce
ECommerce and social media engagement has increased exponentially in 2020. So it’s no surprise that these two worlds have combined to create a faster and easier shopping experience. Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest have created a custom ECommerce experience for brands to create and post interactive ads that allow users to click and shop with ease. This allows the user to stay on social media without having to open new browser windows, thus alleviating frustration and creating a faster, more pleasant shopping experience. This also benefits the businesses because these platforms have a proven track record of lowering cart abandonment rates, reflecting a higher and more consistent conversion rate.
Adapting can be difficult for your business when it comes to the ever-changing world of digital marketing. The good news is that these are simple yet practical ways to impact your business’ marketing strategy in the industry. Whether it is through artificial intelligence or refining your content, make it your goal to move towards effectively interacting, informing, and influencing your business’ current and future consumers.
