New Decade, New Trends.
Each year brings a new, novel method of presenting content to users, and 2020 is no exception. This year brings some exciting new toys for marketers to use that pushes our creative and analytical juices to new levels and we wanted to share our insights with you. We can’t wait to see what we (and other marketing agencies) can come up with using these newfound tools! Here are some of the marketing trends happening right now and into the new year.
Interactive Content
One of the most important marketing trends of 2020 is an advertiser’s ability to separate itself from the crowd. In fact, 91% of today’s buyers are seeking more visual and interactive content. Building interactive content will play a massive role in how receptive a user is to the delivery. As users become inundated with various forms of marketing, users remember novel, engaging campaigns more vividly than those that follow the norm.
More importantly, however, is how immensely shareable it is to peers. Take Instagram pop-ups, for example, where anyone with a phone or camera can take Instagram-worthy photos—backdrops and props included. Or even Borderless, a pop-up museum in Tokyo showcasing their take on digital art. It takes time a creative mind to craft interactive experiences like these, but the end-result is worth it!
Augmented Reality
Practically speaking, while AR is still in its infancy, the rate at which it’s developing at is no joke. More businesses are beginning to understand its uses and capabilities, some even building their own in-house solutions. Take Ikea for example. Not sure whether your furniture you want to buy works with the colour scheme you’re going for? Or maybe all you want is for your new Swedish furniture to just fit? Ikea has a new app for that—and it comes in both OS flavours.
We wouldn’t be surprised if AR grows into other practical forms in the near future.
SERPs Position Zero
Google finally puts power back into organic. “Position Zero”, aka Featured Snippets, is now Google’s prime real estate, presenting content even before paid search. That’s right—for the first time (in a very long time), organic search content could find itself above search ads. But what makes Position Zero even more appealing is that it’s the only search result found via voice. Why does this matter? Well, by 2020, Comscore estimates that 50% of all searches will be done using only voice. Postition Zero isn’t necessarily game-changing, but it does change the rules. We’re excited to start optimizing content for this new search engine location!
Shoppable Posts
For the longest time, shoppable posts was a “US-Only” initiative. Social media spaces like Reddit, Facebook, and Instagram’s Stories had Canadian users and businesses clamouring for this feature. Fret no longer, friend, because shoppable posts have arrived in Canada.
Shoppable posts allows the advertiser to showcase their products with individual links inside each post. Whether you’re presenting an interior design with furniture from your store or promoting your new product lineup, this feature could be a boon for your business.
Shoppable posts is available now on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest in Canada.
Carousel Posts
The saying, “content is king”, still reigns supreme to this day. Carousels add a level of creativity to a post with pictures or videos that would have otherwise been difficult to achieve. The key to success with carousels is how effectively the advertiser can link one graphic or video to another in a cohesive manner. Some examples would include capturing a panoramic view of a wedding venue and splitting the image into 1:1 squares, or creating the illusion of a model walking from one video to the next featuring your new furniture line-up.
Carousel posts are available now on both Facebook and Instagram.
Google Smart Bidding
While Smart Bidding has been around for quite some time now, new “levers” have presented themselves to advertisers to use, Google aims to stretch your advertising dollars by optimizing its spend. Contextual signals are attributes of a search that provides ads with greater relevancy in a timely manner. Take a look at these examples:
Weekday & Time of Day
Instead of a presenting your ad at 6 am in the morning on a Monday, this contextual signal seeks to promote your ad during times most relevant to your industry, for example, a restaurant looking to promote their menu during dinner-time on weekends.
Location Intent
For location intent, Google serves ads to users that are actively searching for a location they’re currently not in, while providing data of their current location. This would be beneficial to advertisers looking to target users that are actively searching vacation destination such as, “Mexico vacations July”.
Price Competitiveness (Releasing Soon)
Optimize bids based on your product’s price compared to other advertisers in the same auction. Let’s say, you and 5 competitors are competing in the same auction to gain visibility for your mattress products, but your offer has greater value than your competitors. Your ad would be served more often in better positions than those with a poor value proposition.
Seasonality (Releasing Soon)
Take advantage of Google’s seasonality data on your industry during different times of the year. Google will optimize your advertising dollars and promote specific products during high-impact seasons. An example of this may be a furniture store advertising with a variety of seasonal stock, artificial turf during the spring or Christmas decorations during the holidays.
While not all of Google’s contextual signals are fully implemented, Google Smart Bidding is available for businesses right now.
It’s looking to be an exciting new year for marketers to craft new, creative content for clients, and WMDM is excited to put this knowledge to good use. We’re a full-service marketing agency that specializes in both online and offline marketing channels. Contact us today to find out how we can help your company build a campaign like these now!
