It’s a new year and a new decade, the marketing tips and tricks of previous years are not going to help you grow your business to its full potential. Whether you have a do it yourself approach or use a company as a business owner it is still important to understand what trends are important for your company to grow. The following is a list of the top trends for this year and beyond.
A Rise in AI, Including Chatbots
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is going nowhere anytime soon. In fact, it is the exact opposite, it will continue to grow and be used more and more in the coming years. Going beyond Siri and Alexa AI will continue to take jobs over from humans. Whether you are using a Knightscope K5 robot to replace a security guard or have a chatbot programmed to help customers who message you AI is not going anywhere. In fact according to a recent PWC report ”global GDP will be up to 14% higher in 2030 as a result of the accelerating development and take-up of AI – the equivalent of an additional $15.7 trillion.”
Using AI will do nothing but help your company grow and to gain clients. How many times have you messaged a company using a chatbot? Take that number and now realize that ⅔ of all consumers already interact with chatbots without even knowing it! 1 And as chatbots are getting smarter and smarter I would expect more and more people to not be able to tell the difference between a computer and a person.
Video Marketing
I know you’re tired of hearing this but video marketing has no chance of slowing down anytime soon. In fact, I think it will continue to grow and maintain a presence for 5-10 more years. According to a recent article:
- 70% of consumers say that they have shared a brand’s video
- 72% of businesses say that video has improved their conversion rate
- 52% of consumers say that watching product videos makes them more confident in online purchase decisions
- 65% of executives visit the marketer’s website and 39% call a vendor after viewing a video
These stats cannot be ignored when it comes to video marketing. Having videos are instrumental in gaining clients and expanding your brand.
Stories
While once laughed off as the latest fad from Snapchat stories are now a way of life. They are casual and fun and a great way to let your personality shine through. There are so many options and great ways to entertain your fans. They are the opposite of the stiff corporate advertising so many are used to. Stories tap into the fear of missing something that often plagues social media users. Through stories, you are able to interact with your audience and authentically engage. They are one of the easiest, cost-effective ways to gain brand attention and send traffic to your website.
Personalization
This goes way beyond a generic email with the customer’s first name. That is no longer novel and exciting to see. The best personalization keeps your customer’s wants, needs and past history in mind. Some of the best companies for personalization are Amazon and Netflix. By comparing what you have looked at and bought both created lists of what to buy or watch next specifically on what your tastes are. By doing the same your company will be able to meet the needs of your clients better.
SEO
Towards the end of 2019, Google introduced the BERT algorithm. According to the Search Engine Journal, the BERT update will impact about 10% of all search queries. Instead of searching through text BERT allows the search engine to understand the nuance of words together, picking up on context clues to create a more accurate search result. This is where having sloppy content will hurt your company. It is more important, now than ever to have natural content that is easy to read and understand.
While this is just a short list of trends to be on the lookout for it is by no means all you should be doing. It is crucial for your company to accept the changes in the upcoming digital landscape.