Have you heard of the famous saying, “Change is the only constant”?

This is perhaps something that is in sync with the concept of marketing and communication. The global marketing industry is ever-changing, with significant advancements and smart technologies such as chatbots and smart speakers making their presence felt with each passing day.

From video content marketing to the emergence of social media influencers, there are too many aspects to consider when it comes to determining the significant marketing trends in the forthcoming years.

As a matter of fact, in 2018, the United States spent about $203 Billion on digital marketing, followed by China ($195 Billion) and Japan ($183 Billion). By 2020, the trend is likely to remain the same, with the eastern domains such as Indonesia and India to gradually gain momentum.

With so many things going around, you must be eager to explore what’s hot and what’s not in the sector of marketing. How about reading this blog for insights into the top four marketing trends in 2020 and beyond?

4 Crucial Marketing Trends to Rule 2020 and Years to Come

1. Smart speakers to make advertising and communication easier

Photo by Thomas Kolnowski on Unsplash

The emergence of smart speakers has been one of the most significant discoveries in the field of digital marketing. According to a report, around 56 million smart speakers were sold to customers in 2018. In a world of digitized communication, smart speakers like Siri, Alexa, Google Home, Echo Dot, Samsung Bixby, and Microsoft Cortana are likely to make their presence felt in the domain of marketing and digitized communication.

To cite an example, Google Home users, back in the year 2017, noticed that a Universal ad for Disney’s Beauty and the Beast started playing shortly after the device’s scheduled morning announcements. This was just the inception of the technology.

In 2019, all major digital marketing and E-commerce firms such the Alibaba Group, Apple Inc. and Amazon owns advanced speakers backed by AI technologies to fuel integrated communication among team members and across all sales channels, prospective consumers and more

Statistically, there are 66.4 million smart speaker owners, and it is predicted that 30% of all searches will be done via smart speakers.

Related Article: Voice Search SEO: How to Optimize for the Future

2. Chatbots to make their presence felt across multiple channels

From E-commerce sites to assignment help online portals; every digital platform is gradually embracing Chatbot technology for enhanced customer experience and increased revenue generation.

According to a recent study, it has been found that AI-powered chatbots are already popular among the marketers, as retailers can expect to leverage their potential to cut costs by $439 billion annually and increase sales by $112 Billion by 2023. As a matter of fact, most of the popular brands across the globe are already using AI-powered chatbots with an expected market growth to reach the mark of $1.23 Billion by the year 2025.

Here are a few best industry practices highlighting the use of AI-driven chatbots by different brands.

• Starbucks has introduced a chatbot that operates via the MyBarista app. This innovative device allows customers to place an order by voice through messaging or Amazon Alexa.
• Domino’s has Dom, a pizza order Chatbot that allows customers to place orders, directly via Facebook messenger.
• Cosmetics product manufacturer and seller, Sephora uses Sephora Reservation Assistant and Sephora Color Match to enhance customer engagement and user experience.

In addition to each of these aforementioned revelations, a recent study by IBM suggests that businesses spend nearly 1.3 trillion to process service requests. The implementation of Chatbot technology can help them save up to 30% of the entire expenditure. Most interestingly, 80% of brands plan on using Chatbots to fuel customer service efforts in the next thirty-six months.

Thus, it seems that the emergence of chatbots and its application in the various domains of digital marketing is a trend that is here to stay.

Related Case Study: How Nestlé Middle East Increased Brand Awareness During Ramadan Using Chatbot Messenger

3. Businesses to invest in new customer acquisition and retention

Apart from keeping the old customers happy, businesses across the globe are all geared to up to implement advanced strategies in order to rope in new clients and retain them in the long run. So, here are the key strategies and trends businesses are likely to embrace in 2020, and beyond.

Businesses to work with social media influencers: A recent study suggests about 86% of women have to consult social media networking sites prior to purchasing a product. Most importantly, consumers want brands to be honest and transparent from all aspects.

Companies to lay more focus on video content: According to a survey, about 95% of people have watched a video that explains their products and services. In addition to it, 51% of marketing professionals worldwide consider video content as a promising resource to generate the coveted Return on Investment. This clearly indicates the fact that video content has its own group of promising audiences, willing to harness its potential for better transparency and seamless communication.

With these two key strategies being the driving force behind new client acquisition, businesses across the world are expected to increase their transparency as prospective clients tend to place their trust in brands that prioritize video content and influencer marketing.

4. Agile marketing is predicted to be one major driving force

Image by Lalmch from Pixabay

Reportedly, by 2020, the global digital software industry is expected to grow by $74.96 Billion. This, as a result, will channel more revenue towards the domain of digital marketing. According to a prediction made by CMO, 87% of the marketing budget will be spent on digital marketing.

This calls for the rise of Agile Marketing, which is a strategy that determines how effectively a company or any particular brand is achieving its marketing objectives and annual goals.

According to reports, 87% of Agile marketers are already more productive as compared to other marketing professionals. In addition to it, 80% of Chief Marketing Officers are using agile marketing strategies to increase the velocity of delivered projects.

Apart from that, agile marketing has become popular on different social media networking platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Pinterest to connect and communicate with customers. This would eventually drive more conversions, as 3.4 billion population of the world is already on social media, with a global penetration rate of 45%.

To Wrap Up

Now that you know about the trending affairs associated with the domain of marketing trends across the globe, keep an eye on the shifts, and embrace the best practices to implement them in your efforts. Before signing off, I would like to provide a quick recap of the marketing trends that are about to rule 2020, and many more years to come thereafter.

• Smart speakers are all geared up to contribute to the sectors of advertising and communication.
• Chatbots are likely to make an impression of excellence in the domain of marketing.
• Businesses across the globe are expected to invest more in acquiring and retaining new clients.
• Agile marketing is expected to gain more prominence in 2020 and beyond.

Cheers!