Let’s take a look at this year’s predictions for what’s to come in 2020:
#1: Zero-Click Searches Are Going to Continue to Take Over
If you saw this repeat prediction coming, you’ve been paying attention. Unfortunately for marketers, ad and organic clicks are steadily on the decline and we’re going to keep a close eye on this one over the course of the next year. Over the next 12 months, we’re expecting marketers to focus on optimizing their web content on Google’s own properties (YouTube, Maps, Images, Knowledge Panels, etc) in an attempt to offset any negative impact to their traffic.
#2: It’s Time to Consider Other Communication Channels (Besides Email) As Key Conversion Points
We’re not saying email is going extinct though! So don’t take this prediction to mean that you can stop cleaning and optimizing your lists. Rather, the communication avenues have become so much more diverse in recent years that marketers and companies will need to leverage alternative channels in order to keep a competitive edge. We’re expecting to see a lot more brands connect and engage with customers through solutions like chatbots, Whatsapp, and Instagram. Let’s see how this helps companies make meaningful relationships and drive engagement with their audiences.
#3: Software Vendors WIll Focus on Customer Data Compliance
With the increasing international demand for stronger personal data protection and well-known regulations like GDPR and CCPA, marketing software vendors will focus on compliance as a primary service. Marketing teams, IT departments, as well as customers, will rely heavily on their tech vendors to adapt to the changing regulatory landscape. Subsequently, those vendors who don’t tout compliance as a prime service, will no-doubt lose market share.
#4: Influencer Marketing Will Continue to Soar
But we’re not talking about the “celebrity” influencers who have millions of followers! This year, watch to see brands turn to people with a smaller social media following as influencers who other people trust. Considering that over 90% trust other consumer recommendations along with this prediction that influencer marketing spend could reach $10 billion this year, we think we’ll be scoring ourselves pretty high for this one next year.
#5: Alternate Search Engines (NOT Bing or Yahoo) Will Come Out of the Woodwork
We’re not going as far as saying that alternate search engines will start competing with Google; Google will still continue to be the juggernaut it is. However, given the impact of zero-click effects (see #1 above) and the increasing concern over data privacy, privacy-focused search engines might have room to carve out a niche in 2020. DuckDuckGo is one example of this and they’ve catered to privacy-minded searchers with their tagline “the search engine that doesn’t track you” because “search engines don’t need to track users to make money.” It will be interesting to see how this one pans out among marketers and consumers in the New Year.
Contact Sharon Herrnstein, Chief Marketing Officer at sharon.h@vglobalinc.com today for a FREE and no obligation consultation call. We can help ensure your investment in marketing truly supports your organization’s goals whatever platform you’re working with.