Trends to Watch for in 2020 Planning
November 11, 2019 | By Kelly Hulin
It’s no surprise that digital advertising will continue to surpass spending in traditional media, with digital revenue growing to $172 billion by 2021 – a 60% increase from 2018. What is surprising is where the money is going in digital. The top two powerhouses remain Google and Facebook, but Amazon is quickly gaining traction with 9% of all digital spending in 2019. We are also seeing a clear shift toward more social, increased video and the emergence of audio.
Social
Say the word “social” and you think Facebook, right? Maybe Instagram and Twitter, too? While those three make up the greatest percent of social spending, Reddit, LinkedIn and Pinterest are emerging as new platforms for local advertisers. Reddit and Pinterest offer great targeting options based specifically on user interests, and LinkedIn is a fantastic tool for reaching high-end consumers or helping business-to-business organizations target their customers by job title or industry.
The way advertisers are using social platforms is quickly changing. According to TheeDigital “60% of Instagram users say they discover new products on Instagram and in a survey of over 4,000 Pinterest users, a whopping 70% said Pinterest helps them find new products.” Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest have created shoppable posts for e-commerce retailers who want to sell products directly out of the platform. This offers consumers a great blend of shopping content and e-commerce, and it’s taking off among retailers.
Video
“Smarter devices and better connection speeds have transformed how consumers view content. The advent of streaming has led to the rise of video giants such as Netflix and Amazon Prime, and OTT video subscribers have almost tripled between 2015 and 2019, now at 590.4 million globally.” – Facebook
The beauty of this shift to digital viewing is that it opens the doors to video for small- to medium-size businesses. OTT (over the top) and CTV (connected TV) campaigns can be executed on a smaller scale, allowing for lower investments and better targeting capabilities than traditional broadcast or cable TV. Combine these tactics with traditional pre-roll and Facebook/Instagram video placements, and you have the ability to create the same impact as large national brands.
YouTube should also play into the mix for all digital marketers. YouTube is the second largest search engine – bigger than Bing, Yahoo, Ask and AOL combined – and processes more than 3 billion searches per month. Whether you are creating your own YouTube channel or developing skippable YouTube TruView spots, this is a great place to be when consumers are searching for your products or services.
Addressable Omnichannel Marketing
This is just a fancy set of words meaning one-to-one marketing on an addressable level. Direct mail, digital direct mail, Facebook and programmatic display or OTT/CTV can all be targeted at the address level to consumers. It can be as simple as sending a postcard to previous customers, followed by targeted display ads to those households, or a more robust campaign including postcards, Facebook and OTT/CTV ads. The beauty of these campaigns is that they are highly trackable – either through footfall attribution or customer match backs. These tactics allow for creativity in your deployment and result in higher ROI from your campaigns.
A Quick Note About Audio
If you haven’t already begun, start thinking about voice search and the opportunities audio devices will present to you in 2020. It’s estimated that in 2020, 50% of all searches will be audio – through Amazon’s Echo, Google Home, mobile devices and vehicle integrations. Websites will need to be optimized to show up in audio searches and to respond to audio inquiries. Currently, only 5% of businesses are prepared, but expect that to change quickly.
As you plan for 2020, make sure you’ve adjusted your budget to take advantage of the new opportunities at your fingertips. But before the new year hits, you should also take a moment to start thinking creatively about how you can take advantage of future technology. How will the internet of things impact your business? What will artificial intelligence mean for you? And what opportunities will open for you when virtual reality or augmented reality become mainstream?