As a small business owner, your 2020 planning is likely to include a new marketing strategy to give some direction to your promotional activities for the year to come. But with rapidly changing technology and new trends emerging all the time, it can be difficult to know where to invest your time and money. We’re here to help. In this article we’ll share the top five marketing trends that we think will be essential for small businesses in 2020.
A new year represents a great opportunity to take stock of your business, have a look at what’s working, what’s not and maybe try something new.
It’s also the perfect time to make sure you’re keeping abreast of new marketing trends and taking full advantage of all the relevant marketing technology available.
However, this is often easier said than done. For starters, technology is constantly changing, with a forever evolving landscape of new tools and new trends. It’s not uncommon for something you’ve been successfully utilising for several years to become out of date, or even counter-productive.
There’s also the fact that not every marketing trend is suitable for every small business.
But don’t worry, we’re here to help.
We’ve picked out the top five essential trends for small businesses to focus on for 2020. These are the trends we feel are most deserving of your time and money and most likely to help sell your products or service.
What is a ‘trend’?
Defining a trend can be very subjective, as they will vary from sector to sector and depending on whether it’s business to business, or business to consumer. For the younger market, for example, trends will likely take hold quickly and become an established part of the customer journey.
We have chosen these five trends according to what we feel will deliver the highest impact in your business, and therefore represent the best value for money.
The five trends for 2020 we will be focusing on in this article are:
- Privacy and transparency
- Ultra-targeting and segmentation
- Instant customer service
- Low-information diets
- Social commerce
TREND NO. 1
Privacy and transparency
The rise of digital interaction has been rapid and all-consuming, and while this has opened up a whole new world in terms of how we access services and information, it has also been something of a double-edged sword. The collection, storage and use of our personal data is a subject which has received widespread publicity – and much of it often negative thanks to data breaches, hacks, misuse and the rise of so-called ‘fake news’.
The result is that we are now in a post-truth society, with trust in governments, brands and the media at an all-time low. While new GDPR rules are helping to turn that around, gaining back consumer trust in a divisive landscape is now a top priority.
How can small businesses implement privacy and transparency?
The greater focus on privacy and transparency calls for a shift from mass marketing to more individual, personalised content marketing.
- Think about creating higher quality, interactive content that your potential consumers/followers want to subscribe to
- Carefully consider how you use cookies when advertising your products
- Make sure you collect data ethically, which means ensuring your customers know you are collecting it and being clear about what you will do with it
- Make sure your privacy and cookies policies are included on your website
TREND NO. 2
Ultra targeting and segmentation
As discussed in trend one, there is an ongoing shift away from mass marketing in favour of a more personal approach. People are now being marketed to from so many angles that it can become overwhelming, and thanks to stricter data protection rules, it is easier for consumers to unsubscribe or unfollow your content if it’s not relevant to them.
As well as going against the principles of GDPR, randomly mass marketing to thousands of people where only one or two may be interested, is neither desirable nor effective as a marketing strategy.
How can small businesses implement ultra targeting and segmentation?
Segmented marketing means putting your audience into general groups or demographics based on their behaviours and spending habits and then tailoring your marketing messages accordingly. While this requires more effort than blanket email marketing to hundreds of people at a time, it is likely to result in a higher conversion rate.
This will involve determining whether someone is new to your brand or a loyal customer, whether they’d refer you to friends and what level of support they require from you.
- Segment your audience by identifying the products/services they are most interested in
- Use Google Ads and Facebook advertising to understand your audience and target advertising accordingly
- Tools such as Mailchimp enable you to continue to automate repetitive tasks while maintaining that all-important personal touch
TREND NO. 3
Instant customer service
The growth of social media in recent years, together with the continuing roll-out of 5G next year, means that people increasingly expect instant communication with brands.
While your office hours may be 9 to 5, the same is not true for your social media channels. Not only do potential customers expect you to have a presence on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and so on, they increasingly expect to be able to engage with you through those channels at all hours of the day. And if you don’t, there’s every danger you’ll loose the business to someone who will.
How can small businesses implement instant customer service?
Don’t worry, the expectation of instant customer service does not mean you need to be responding to Twitter enquiries at 2am. This is where technology comes in.
- Chat windows and chat bots give customers an instant channel of communication when they have a question they need a quick answer to. Insight can help manage this for you.
- Make sure you keep a tab on your direct messages and comments on social media. Try to respond to them asap – at least when the next working day starts. You might find that this is too time-consuming or not practical, so employing an outside agency such as Insight to help with this could be a worthwhile investment.
- Another tactic is to try and prevent questions in the first place by making sure the answer is on your website. If you regularly get the same questions, it should prompt you to review what information you are providing to the public.
- Try to respond to reviews with a personalised message
TREND NO. 4
Low-information diets
Despite the expectation to be able to do pretty much everything online, the indication is that people are actually looking to reduce the amount of time they spend in the digital world. We’re all becoming more aware of screen time, and wellbeing products such as Google’s Digital Wellbeing are becoming increasingly popular.
High quantity, low quality content is becoming a thing of the past. The SEO algorithms that once used to favour high content volume, are now much more geared towards quality information that provides the answers people are seeking.
How should small businesses consider low-information diets?
You can overcome this as a small business, it just means thinking a bit more strategically.
- Focus on content that is useful, informative and demonstrates your expertise on a subject
- Concentrate your efforts on nurturing a higher quality of follower – even if that means having fewer subscribers, but who are more likely to engage with you and your products
- By consistently putting out good content, you are establishing yourself as the ‘go-to’ authority in your industry and you will naturally grow an audience of engaged participants
TREND NO. 5
Social Commerce
The channel shift towards social media is not limited to customer service enquiries; some platforms, such as Instagram, are now allowing people to buy products in this way too. This means posts can be tagged with products and linked to e-commerce sites.
Consumers are using Instagram in a similar way to a business website and we expect this trend to continue next year. This combination of e-commerce and social media is set to continue into 2020 and is a good opportunity for businesses to gain a competitive edge.
How can small businesses implement social commerce?
- If you’re a B2C business, integrate Facebook and Instagram with your e-commerce store and start tagging your posts with products. This enables your customers to make instant purchasing decisions
- Add ‘buy’ buttons to your social media posts
- Make sure your sales posts are visually appealing enough to stand out in a busy news feed
- A responsive website optimised for mobile is key to social commerce to give your potential customers the smooth buying experience they expect
Summary
Planning for a new year can be very exciting for a small business and especially when it involves grasping and running with some new business trends that could put you ahead of the competition and reap great rewards. With a bit of 2020 vision, you can make 2020 a great year. If you need some assistance with your digital marketing strategy for 2020, whether it’s some industry expertise, or another pair of hands, Insight can help.
Posted on: 29th Nov 2019
