The world of marketing is continually changing in response to changes in both technology and consumer behavior. What do businesses need to keep in mind as they try to reach consumers in 2020? Luke Lazarus, a Melbourne-based business consultant, has some guidance. Lazarus was able to launch and sell four businesses over just a decade, before pivoting to become a sought-after business consultant. He used his in-depth understanding of marketing trends to predict the most relevant methods to understand in the upcoming year. Here are the top 10 trends Luke Lazarus believes you should take seriously in the new year.
- Instagram will continue to grow
Instagram is already a juggernaut on the social media landscape, and Lazarus predicts its influence will grow even more. Instagram is popular with advertisers who want to take advantage of the effective influencer marketing available on the platform. Lazarus also considers Instagram’s video outlet, IGTV, very likely to become a massive space in 2020. Instagram is positioning itself to get a portion of the video market, which will make its users rely even more on the site for their entertainment needs.
- Chatbots will become more integrated into customer Service
Chatbots are getting better and will be a useful tool for companies that want their customers to have instant access to a helpful resource. Customers prefer talking to a chatbot over having to do something like send a business an email. Lazarus predicts chatbots will become useful for marketing as well.
- More applications Artificial Intelligence technology
Lazarus predicts that 2020 will see a range of new marketing uses for the recent advances in AI. In particular, innovative businesses will be able to take advantage of enhanced analytics that will help them better understand their consumers.
- Access to mobile payments will become expected
Lazarus sees a trend of mobile payments becoming better integrated into the purchasing habits of consumers. He believes that failure to adapt to the popularity of this innovation will cause businesses to lose out on collecting revenue from customers that prefer mobile payments.
- The growth of 360-degree videos
360-degree videos began with businesses focused on travel or real estate. Lazarus believes content that utilizes this form of the first-person perspective will become more common and useful for a variety of companies in 2020.
- More focus on customized customer profiles
Businesses utilize customer profiles to gather detailed information that will help them design a better user experience. Lazarus advises businesses to embrace this trend as a valuable way to identify the needs of consumers with more precision.
- Better applications of beacon technology
Lazarus believes that Beacon tools, which utilize GPS to let businesses know the physical locations of consumers, will be more widely used for targeted marketing in real-time.
- Advertising on social media will continue evolving
Lazarus predicts that social media advertising will see significant changes, and businesses should be open-minded about their strategies. He believes that Facebook and Instagram are recognized as the most effective social media spaces for advertising and will increase their already significant advantage with advertiser revenue.
- Consumers get more accustomed to voice search
Lazarus believes the improvement of voice search technology will provide businesses with a major growth opportunity. Consumers are increasingly searching by talking to their smartphones, and Lazarus advises companies to consider this trend when they design their SEO strategy.
- Predictive analysis tools Will Get Better
Luke Lazarus’s final prediction for 2020 is that marketing will have access to better information as analytical tools provide more precise and in-depth data about consumers. Businesses will have to learn to use these tools effectively to keep up with their competition.
