If you run a business, there’s no excuse for avoiding digital marketing. After all, we’re probably past wondering whether this internet thing will catch on. But as we go into the next decade, it’s worth keeping an eye on how the online world is changing.
Read on, then, for how to approach digital marketing in 2020.
The Importance of Mobile
One of the biggest changes in the 2010s was with regards to where and when we used the internet. Laptops had already made online access portable, sure, but smartphones turned the internet into something that is always with us.
Here are some tips on how businesses can take advantage of this.
The Figures
Don’t worry about that subheading — we won’t spend too much time crunching numbers. Still, it can be pretty telling to see some headline figures. According to this study:
- 4 billion users went online on mobiles as of April 2019
- Use of mobile data globally is projected to increase by seven times between 2017 and 2022
- Mobile devices accounted for nearly half (48%) of webpage views worldwide in February 2019
On top of this, businesses can’t rely on old media. The number of radio listeners has declined steadily over the past decade, and younger people especially are devoting more and more time to their phones. In fact, 18-24-year olds already spend more time on their phones than they do watching TV.
What You Can Do
For businesses, these changes present opportunities. While adapting might require a fair bit of investment, specialist firms will help you take advantage of the boom in mobile.
First, it’s crucial that your pages function as smoothly on mobile as they do on desktop. Half of online video plays came from mobile devices in mid-2018, but customers’ expectations are always increasing. If your video takes too long to load, customers are just going to click away.
Finally, your site should allow mobile customers to order and purchase easily. Increased availability and strong security systems mean customers are far more willing to spend through their mobiles than before, and businesses must accommodate this.
Staying Social
When a company like Facebook can go from a college student’s project to a world-conquering success in a matter of years, businesses can’t afford to ignore social media. Here are some points on its importance.
The Figures
The piece cited above gives an idea of how many people use social apps. WhatsApp, for instance, is the most popular messaging app with 1.6 billion worldwide users, and Facebook enjoys 1.5 billion ‘high activity’ users, and sees an astonishing 2 billion messages exchanged just between buyers and sellers.
What This Means
These numbers are, frankly, huge, and it can be easy to get lost with them. For digital marketing, though, the upshot is simple: engage customers socially as much as possible.
First, get good information on what your customers are like — their interests, dislikes and friendship groups. Then, create content that appeals to them. People are more and more savvy to marketing, and might simply ignore anything that doesn’t catch their attention.
Finally, you need to encourage sharing. This can take many forms in practice, from offering entry into discount competitions to everyone who shares a post to working with influencers.
Tailoring Your Techniques
With so many products and apps available, businesses need to be smarter about which they focus on. Younger consumers, for instance, prefer images and videos to text, and are turning away from Facebook in favour of apps like Instagram, which is projected to reach 125.5 million users in the US alone.
Brands are aware of this and are responding in kind, with over two thirds of companies increasing Instagram usage in 2019 compared to just half increasing their activity on Facebook. A smart approach needs to take into account which platforms are best to find potential customers.
You also need to think about how to reach consumers beyond the scope of social media. Pay per click advertising, for instance, displays your ads prominently in search engines and charges based on how many users click. Other methods include SEO support and remarketing.
Conversion and Retention
So you’ve reached a customer. What now? There are a few ways to move forwards.
Crucially, you need to keep in mind what effect you want your advertising to have. Clicks aren’t that significant if users just browse around for a bit before clicking away.
Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO) might sound like jargon, but it refers to something simple and important: maximising the number of clicks that turn into action. Similarly, ‘retention’ doesn’t sound like a whole lot of fun, but it refers to the importance of maintaining contact with actual and potential customers. Each of these is crucial to planning out a strategy that will work for your firm.
There are a lot of things to keep in mind when thinking about digital marketing in 2020, then — and probably many more changes over the horizon. If you want to take advantage of the current situation and prepare for whatever might come next, seek advice from a professional digital marketing agency that keeps up to date with all the current trends.
