5 Digital Marketing Transformations to Look Out for in 2020
The world of digital marketing has been relatively stable for several years now, but there are a number of developments on the horizon which could rock the landscape. If there was ever a more exciting time to be a digital marketer, it is likely during the rise of Google – but now is also a fairly exciting time too.
With that in mind, here are 5 digital transformations that you can be on the lookout for in 2020:
1. AI Data Analysis
Artificial Intelligence is going to take over the world. Or well, it’s certainly going to have a massive impact on it. And it already has and will continue to make big waves in terms of digital marketing, in 2020 and beyond.
Smart learning tools and automated bidding for PPC are two examples of this. They help to remove some of the human error, the guessing, that can so often negatively affect a digital marketing campaign. The fact of the matter is that AI-alternatives are often much better than humans. So, it may be the case that more and more people are turning to this rather than a traditional human digital marketer.
The days of human digital marketers are not quite over, of course, but they are surely transforming quickly thanks to AI.
2. More Personalised Content
Personalised content is fairly common in the digital marketing sphere now, plenty of emails are being sent with the first name of the recipient clearly in use. However, in 2020 this level of personalisation will simply not be enough to remain competitive.
Take Spotify as a strong example of data-driven personalisation campaigns. At the end of each year, they send out a breakdown of your musical choices and listening trends throughout the year. Even in the decade as the case turned out to be at the end of 2019, moving into the new decade. This is incredible personalised marketing, with great shareability! People happily shared their musical tastes and choices across different social channels.
This strategy is possible because of incredibly clever AI-driven data analysis. Spotify can take every aspect of their user data and turn it into an interesting, shareable, asset. This is the next level of personalisation, with some companies being years ahead of others in terms of achieving this. So, don’t be left behind in 2020 – make your digital marketing more personal!
3. Chatbots on the Rise
Have you ever landed on a website and a chat screen pops up? This is known as a chatbot and has been increasingly used across industries, as it is a good way to quickly resolve any issues a site user may have. Automation is in place to answer basic questions, or redirect the user to the right department/person who can help them.
Chatbots can come in many different forms, both good and bad. But in 2020 they will be transformed by growing AI and better app development techniques, making them smarter and much more useful to humans trying to make sense of them. This is useful for business, as it removes the need to have someone on hand 24/7 to communicate with and monitor site visitors. It can also hasten user decision making and help them feel directly communicated with.
So, although not necessarily a new development, chatbots are sure to have a transformative effect on the digital marketing space in 2020.
4. PPC Needs to Adapt
Increasingly, PPC is beholden to Google and the tech giant is seemingly making this as automated a process as possible. Meaning the value and skillset of PPC as an individual marketing strategy is slowly shrinking. Innovation is needed to ensure this part of the digital marketing sphere is not left to robotic coworkers instead, then.
Of course, this likely means that the world of PPC will need to focus on audiences and how they target ads, rather than on aspects that are not largely self-sufficient. Learning to work with the AI responsible for building the campaigns will also become key, as a way to ascertain control over this sector of digital marketing once again.
5. Mobile Experience
If you haven’t already, now is the point where it is incredibly important to dedicate your digital marketing to positive mobile performance. More than ever, users are accessing your sites, apps and other online properties via mobile devices almost exclusively. For that reason, making the mobile user experience the best that it could possibly be is vital.
Invest in things such as Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) for mobile search results dominance. Make sure speed is fully optimised and you are serving the website as fast as possible (or your users are likely to drop off). Ensure that all content is served in a usable way, with button size and fonts ideal for a mobile user.
Final Thoughts
At the end of the day, transformation in the digital marketing sector is not avoidable, it is inevitable. Which means that we can expect many more changes and innovations which will rock the every day in 2020 and beyond. But, the more change the sector experiences, the more advanced and interesting it will become. So pushing forward in this environment is incredibly important, as otherwise you might be left behind.
