Here’s What To Expect In 2020

The world of marketing continues to evolve every year, and 2019 was no different. But with more marketing channels comes more confusion about where to invest limited budgets for the greatest return. Even as digital channels like social media and search engine optimization (SEO) continue to grow, “old-school” channels like direct mail and email still thrive because they still deliver results.

Twenty-two marketing experts and practitioners recently responded to a survey about what to expect in marketing for 2020. Interestingly, when asked which marketing channel was used most in their business during 2019, nearly two-thirds said social media. In fact, no other marketing channel got more than one vote except for email, which only received three votes.

In 2020, though, marketers expect to branch out. At least half of the respondents indicated that they expect to use more social media (68%), email (55%) and website/mobile app (50%) next year. Search engines followed with 41%.

Respondents were also asked to name their favorite marketing campaign of 2019, and not one of them named the same campaign (though two Nike campaigns were mentioned). Examples included:

• Adidas – “Story” patches
• Bud Light – World Series
• Burger King – Whopper Detour
• Disney+ launch
• Game of Thrones – Instagram
• GiffGaff – The Voice UK
• Harmon Brothers
• KFC – KFC is Coming (Hong Kong)
• Lenovo – Extreme IT
• Nike – Colin Kaepernick and Dream Crazier
• SEMrush – Content Marketing World
• Verizon – More Is Less

Angus Nelson, Director of Development at Golden Spiral, chose The North Face for “exploiting Wikipedia – not because I think it’s healthy or right. It’s my favorite because it reveals both the creativity and power of how different channels carry more weight than others… for better or worse.”

So what’s the one thing that companies must focus on in 2020 relating to marketing? The experts weighed in:

• “For 2020 companies must focus on their data and how they will use that data for more personalized and relevant content.” – Bernie Fussenegger, Director of Product Management, Papa John’s
• “Voice-activated content. Smart speakers like Amazon Alexa are soaring in adoption, and more and more interfaces of all kinds are becoming voice-enabled. Creating content that is voice-ready is the new frontier for marketers.” – Jay Baer, President of Convince & Convert
• “Cutting through the clutter. Being disruptive. Cultural relevancy.” – Tod Meisner, Social Media Lead, Aflac
• “How to use the social media experience to develop deeper and stronger relationships with their networks.” – David Antonio Wagner, Founder & CEO, 1marketingidea
• “Brands are going to see a huge shift with online marketing and it will start with the dramatic rise of dark social conversations. More people are moving into private conversation channels; This is going to cause brands that haven’t already been focusing on relationship marketing techniques to either spend more on their pay-to-play model or dive into… building one-to-one “craveable” experiences.” – Jessika Phillips, Founder, NOW Marketing Group, Inc.
• “Focus on the customer. Talk to them as humans with empathy and emotion.” – Ratul Shah, Sr. Product Marketing Manager, SAP
•  “Companies must focus on humanizing their brands by supporting their employees to be organic ambassadors. People crave authenticity, and they want to do business with people. Give your employees a chance to stand in front of your brand.” – Ryan Foland, Keynote speaker, author, podcast host
• “Focus on relationships… It’s not the new way of the future, it’s always been the way. The power of that connection piece is undeniable in marketing.” – Cadi Jordan, Owner, Connectorpreneur
• “Companies need to focus on the WHY of strategic marketing, not just the HOW and the WHAT. A holistic approach is key to sustainable business growth.” – Syed Laeeq Peeran, Chief Operating Officer, STRATEGEM Ventures
• Please stop being so boring and uptight! Engagement only works when you’re interesting, when you make that emotional connection. Why? Because emotional connection translates into trust and likability and people understand value based on how it makes them feel. When they feel good, they give you their money.” – Kate Bradley Chernis, CEO, Lately, Inc.
• “Building communities to support your brand, ease of interaction for the customer and accessibility of information about your product.” – Mandy Webb, Marketing Director, Sitel
• “Growing a tribe of followers on social media and delivering content with real value is the magic formula for more success. I try to give away some knowledge for free before I ask people to pay so they can get a feel for what they are investing in first.” – Jamie Drake, Virtual Assistant, The Brightest Side, LLC
• “It’s not enough for a brand to put something out there in the world and measure impressions, you need to demonstrate people cared about your marketing campaigns enough to engage.” – Daniel Rodriguez, Head of Marketing, Alyce

The experts also noted a few places where marketers are falling behind, and thus need to catch up in the new year. These included:

• “Obsession with martech [marketing technology] they can’t measure.” – Mark Schaefer, Executive Director, Schaefer Marketing Solutions, LLC
• “Ignoring social issues.” – Ikechukwu Maduka, CEO, Nelson Reids
• “Marketers feel like they have to try everything and stay ahead of all the trends. Pick one and focus on doing it well, giving it a real shot and evaluating its progress.” – Stephanie Baioccchi, Director of Community and Events, IMPACT
• “Marketers still aren’t hitting the record button enough. There’s a camera in every pocket, but still, most brands are failing to step up and produce video.” – Andy Crestodina, Co-founder & Chief Marketing Officer, Orbit Media Solutions
• Brands should be creating more impactful content by leveraging AI-powered insights which analyze what customers, prospects, and competitors are saying. They should be using AI to catch a crisis before it goes viral on social media. And, they should be cutting costs by using AI to identify high-performing content they’ve already produced, and then reusing it across channels, markets and business units.” – Grad Conn, Chief Experience & Marketing Officer, Sprinklr

As planning and budgeting for 2020 are now top of mind, don’t forget to market where your customers and prospects are – which may not be in every marketing channel. Remember also to think like a consumer; if you don’t like pop-ups and irrelevant paid social ads, chances are your audience won’t either.

Some responses were edited for length and/or clarity.

Dan Gingiss is a keynote speaker and marketing consultant. Sign up for his bi-weekly newsletter of marketing and customer experience articles here.