Marketing Trends for 2020

Tomorrow’s marketing trends will be as challenging as they are exciting, shaped by everything from the ghost of Brexit future to the quest for brand advocacy and engaging with politically-active consumers.

As we wave goodbye to 2019 and look to the future, trends are naturally focused on technology. However, this will be matched by a desire to make marketing more human and authentic, with a pushback against over-digitisation and automation of interactions between brands and consumers.

Marketing in 2020 is not for the faint-hearted. Here are our predictions for key consumer, B2B and agency marketing trends you need to watch next year.

Consumer Marketing Trends

Social influencer marketing

Big-name influencers have had huge sway in previous years, but now brands are turning their attention to people with much smaller social media followings to reach and influence a more targeted audience. Influencer marketing in 2020 will be more personalised and authentic. Research by mediakix predicts that the ad spend for influencer marketing could be as much as £7.5 billion by next year, so make sure you factor some into your 2020 budgets.

Micro-moments

Micro-moments – the moments we use a device to make instant decisions about what to buy, what to eat or where to go – are having their own moment in 2020. Marketers are planning to make the most of these micro-moments by showing relevant ads at the right place at the right time to the right audience. The buyer journey is no longer a linear path of awareness, consideration and decision. It’s a combination of thinking, seeing or talking about something, then wanting to learn more about it, watch it or buy it immediately.

B2B Marketing Trends

Personalisation

According to a study by Smart Insights, top of the pile of B2B marketing trends for 2020 is personalisation. You may be doing business with other companies, but you are still dealing with people, so personalised recommendations, preference-based targeted communications and tactical triggered emails can all help bring personalisation to next year’s campaigns.

Video and audio marketing

2020 is set to be the year companies finally realise the significance of using video, podcasts and live-streaming to tell their story and reach new audiences. The benefits of video and audio marketing are varied – from offering great engagement to helping with social media marketing efforts. However, B2B video marketing cannot be approached in the same way as B2C. For example, 87% of B2B video views take place on desktop, so businesses need to ditch the vertical video formats.

Creative & Agency Marketing Trends

Integrated campaigns

Say goodbye to the idea of ‘new year, new campaign’. In 2020 we will see more brands expanding campaigns from 2018 and 2019 in the months ahead. Incorporating new messaging and product offerings, the challenge will be to ensure the new creative reflects the bigger strategy and feels like a natural extension of what’s already in the market. 

Out-housing

For all the benefits of in-house agencies, they struggle to replicate creative agency culture. One solution we could see more of in 2020 is out-housing – dedicated spaces within agencies in which clients can work. In the same way start-ups grow by sharing ideas and energy in co-working spaces, clients can find inspiration in an agency’s creative culture. This ensures the environment continues to attract the top talent at the same time as bringing clients into the heart of the creative process.

What do you predict for 2020? Whether you’re looking to expand your marketing team or hoping to find a new role in the year ahead, Stopgap can help 2020 get off to a flying start. Merry Christmas!