Digital marketing techniques are constantly evolving. It is no longer good enough to simply stuff a few keywords into a blog post for SEO and apply some filters to your Instagram pics to create engaging content. To really succeed in marketing a business or product a more strategic approach must be taken, and a constant evolution of your marketing program is required to stay relevant as tech innovation is brought to market and consumer behaviour changes.
In this article we share the latest trends that you should be on top of to succeed in digital marketing in 2020.
Artificial intelligence
AI is finally here. Humans are being replaced with Robots. Although these robots are likely to look a little different to those which have traditionally come to mind. These robots are generally faceless services that run in data centres, analysing masses of data all day long. Using this data, innovative products and services can be delivered by the robots to audiences at high speed and relevance. Smart adverts that are very closely targeted at people’s personal likes and preferences are all the rage. This level of personalisation will only get stronger, so don’t be surprised if ads are soon displayed based on the user’s mood, and micro trends found within their local neighbourhood.
Chatbots
Chatbots are a perfect example of how AI can be used in the Digital Marketing sector. Chatbots now sound and respond like real humans. They are increasingly being used both for customer service and for sales. Many people prefer to chat with a chatbot as long as it is capable of achieving all of the tasks they require. Good chatbots are capable of taking orders and payments, dealing with complaints, issuing refunds, and supplying technical support on products. Even the banking sectors are using chatbots to negotiate and issue loans, and deal with day to day banking enquiries. Talking to a bot is sometimes preferable particularly in embarrassing situations where consumers have to admit to a problem. While a good bot takes a lot of time and effort to set up and train properly, the cost savings over employing real humans can be incredibly significant, and can be preferred by consumers too.
Content Localisation
Content localisation is a key factor for any company targeting a multinational audience. Relying on Google translate to make your page accessible in other languages is very unlikely to lead to success. Most consumers will think “if they can’t be bothered to sell in our language, I’ll buy somewhere else”. Localisation is also not just a straight literal translation of your site. To do localisation properly you must consider factors such as:
- Website transcreation, not just translation – adapting communication for local market and language nuances.
- Re-writing & developing new blogs and articles – ensuring relevance to the lives of local people and the problems you aim to solve for them.
- Adjusting images and styles to fit local trends.
- Perform SEO on the most popular local search engines.
- Perform ASO for any mobile apps on the relevant local app store.
- Taking part in the local social media scene.
Kindred’s multilingual team with digital marketing experience across the Asia Pacific region and beyond can lead your content localisation effectively and efficiently.
Personalized Marketing
Understanding your customer is key to any business success. With the abundance of data that companies now have access to this is becoming much easier. Facebook and Instagram in particular capture every detail you share across their platforms, which includes what you like to eat, where you hang out on a Friday night, and more. The use of hashtags helps them even more as you happily supply the metadata they need to understand what is in a photo. Combining this with location information and the time of day can lead to incredibly targeted ads. Some may be concerned with the privacy issues related to the information being held, but most enjoy the many benefits it brings in the form of highly relevant messages. For example, receiving a free coffee voucher for the shop next door to where you usually buy your coffee on the way to work or a discount on the shoes that you looked at online last moment but never bought because they were too expensive. Supermarkets have been using a similar technique for many years, using store loyalty cards to determine details about your life, including the number and age of your children, when you last went on a date, and can even track a woman’s monthly cycles from the timing of her related purchases. So, what’s the benefit of increased personalisation for digital marketers? Delivering more relevant communication improves CTR’s and conversion rates.
Influencers / KOLs / KOCs
Social media Influencers, also known as Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) have been around for a long time now. To begin with they were often high-profile celebrities who wanted to engage with their fans on a more personal level. However, over the last few years, influencers are more commonly coming from the general public in the form of ‘Micro Influencers’ who establish themselves as an expert on a particular topic and gain a wider and loyal following because of it. Consumers tend to trust people who they think are just like them or are a specialist in something they care about. Seeing a product or service being used by someone they respect or look up to is one of the biggest triggers to make them want to buy it also. In China, ‘Key Opinion Consumers’ (KOCs) have also recently emerged as everyday people who actively share reviews and opinions on the products and services they are using. Marketers should really consider including Influencers in their digital campaigns to ensure success, particularly as a way to build awareness and credibility in new markets. Companies targeting a global market must identify suitable Influencers in all regions, and actually a local influencer strategy will likely cost less and provide better results than a global influencer.
Video & stories
In the past, static images and text were the most common creative executions. This suited both marketers and consumers – as ads were relatively simple and economical to produce, and consumers were happy that their expensive mobile data was not being wasted on videos they were not interested in. Fast forward to 2020, 4G is well established, with 5G on the horizon. Data prices are coming down, and consumers now expect video ads to capture their attention and provide a more satisfying experience. A 5-10 second video carries so much more information and builds a greater emotional relationship with consumers over a static ad. If you are not already investing in video ads, you should seriously consider it today. It doesn’t have to be at a high budget, as tech innovation has made quality video production more accessible and in many cases a more ‘real’ execution delivers the authenticity sought by audiences. Last point, Video SEO is also becoming important, so make sure you include all the required metadata and text overlays/subtitles to make your video stand out.
Visual search
As AI recognition techniques improve, consumers will turn more and more to image searching over text. Whilst leading digital platforms such as Google, Bing, Amazon, and Pointerst have had some capability in this area for a few years now, the functionality has been limited and awareness amongst consumers has been low. However, the major players are continuing to invest heavily in this technology, expecting it to deliver significant value for businesses and consumers in the future. Just imagine the E-Commerce implication of consumers being able to see something they like, take a picture and use that image to search for it, and businesses being able to return a match for that item with a price. There’ll be no need to ask Cindy where she got that jumper from anymore or try tricky descriptive search word combinations to find that flashy bicycle you saw ride past you on the street this morning! So, keep an eye on the progress being made in this space, including SEO & advertising development, as it is likely to be huge in the future and your business can have an early mover advantage.
New technologies
New devices are developing all the time, VR headsets are bound to become popular at some point, smart watches and jewellery are almost ubiquitous, and every manner of home device is becoming smart. All of these devices have the potential for digital marketing. Even if they do not communicate advertisements themselves, they will be essential in collecting the data that drives ad campaigns delivered by other devices. From an SEO perspective, there are likely to be spinoff techniques that can be applied as platforms open up such as App Store Optimisation. Another area that will see significant growth is the development of augmented reality apps. Currently these primarily reside on mobile phones, but it is very possible they will eventually end up inside glasses or even contact lenses.
Smart speakers
Amazon’s Alexa product transformed the world of voice control. While initially it started off a little gimmicky, over the last few years marketers have begun to recognise the advantages of Alexa. The platform itself has become incredibly popular, in part due to the low cost of the device. Alexa is also one of the first devices that people have had an emotional connection to as it responds just as well to a child’s innocent question as to a crude adult joke. The skills library is rapidly growing, with more advanced features appearing every day. Online shopping is now becoming popular on the platform too. Combining Alexa with AI, and the mass data large corporations hold on consumers, is sure to lead to a revolution in digital marketing. So, make sure you follow this trend closely and stay at the forefront.
Final thoughts
2020 has been a challenging year for many people with COVID-19 affecting individuals and societies on a global scale. While people are reducing their outgoings overall, there has been an increase in some areas of online sales from people isolating themselves at home during the lockdown. During this time, many companies have in fact opened new online stores or improved their user experience, as they’ve realised they thrive online to survive.
Digital trends have not slowed, but rather accelerated through this increased online activity. The continued development of AI driven by mass consumer data opens up opportunities for close personal connection with consumers on a mass scale. Visual Search and Voice search are also transforming the way consumers find new products. In essence, life is getting easier and more intuitive, with a quick snapshot of something you like using your phone, or a shout of “Alexa….” producing quick results.
Through globalisation the world is also shrinking, and using the digital channel, consumers have easier access to products and services available worldwide. Conversely, brands can now target consumers across the globe, and should not shy away from sizeable Asian markets due to cultural or language barriers, but rather engage an experienced agency within the Asia Pacific region, like Kindred, who can lead digital strategy and execution through its multilingual team.
