Trends in Digital Marketing in 2020

1. Storyselling

If I only had to choose one format for effective and engaging consumer communication for 2020, it would be the old one - or the format it sells.

Although the year behind us was the year of Instagram, the winner is, nevertheless, the story. Not only on the Instagram platform, but also from Snapchat, primarily through Facebook, WhatsApp, and to Youtube, which also almost introduced this format.

According to Facebook, adding "story" formats increases ad recall, purchase intent, brand association, as well as CTR.

Instagram alone has 500 million daily active users, and that number continues to grow. The story format of the year has definitely killed the feed for us. For starters, on Instagram, but we'll see what happens on other platforms.

As Facebook claims, one-third of the most viewed stories are posted by business profiles or brands, which clearly indicates that branded content on the story successfully engages the audience.

2. Digital will reach a record price

The prices of digital services, as well as the budgets that customers will separate, will reach a record price in the coming years. I even expect it to quickly exceed the prices of traditional advertising services. Although everyone now offers digital services, there is a wide range of quality. Consequently, the price range will grow as well.

The increasing problem of quality staff in the industry and their retention will also affect the pricing policy of agencies. If you opt for quality digital service to your clients, you will pay more and more for the coming years, which will certainly affect your agency fees.

We will see if this domestic and regional market can withstand or will there be other earthquakes. And in the world, 2019 is the first time that digital advertising spending exceeds half of the entire budget globally. Up to 25 percent in the previous year, but this number will certainly increase.

3. Digital agencies are no longer just digital

Digital agencies will increasingly compete with traditional agencies, first and foremost, as equal players on many local and regional creative beers.

Clients no longer hesitate to check out and engage the creative capacities of numerous digital agencies, which was our agency experience of the year after us.

More and more clients are being encouraged to entrust, in addition to digital campaigns, identity development, employer branding communications to traditional campaigns. This has been a trend for some years now in some of the more developed advertising markets and it seems to be coming to us. So, further strengthening and growth of primarily digital agencies and transformation into creative agencies with full service will be seen in full swing in 2020.

4. Bye bye LIKES

I expect finally a radical change in digital KPIs, that is, to finally turn to what matters. Facebook has helped us a little or at least directed us to our mill. Likes in any form, which has been a metric since the beginning of digital, goes down in history. As they claim, engagement, or more specifically, liking, has no correlation with the measurable sales success of the brand.

So in 2020 we will be chasing reach and conversions more and more. Consequently, performance marketing and advertising are gaining even more prominence in digital.

5. Digital Conferences - Indispensable in 2020

This year, from Lisbon to the Netherlands, from Rovinj to Webiz and Digital Day, digital conferences appear to be the most visited events of the advertising industry. In the year, it looks like the migration of colleagues from traditional agencies towards digital knowledge has happened.

The map was looking for more for digital events, and the fact is that you can list traditional and relevant marketing events at your fingertips.

6. Antitrend Brands and Communication

If one considers the fact that a growing number of brands cannot cope with the daily walk in digital, there will be an increasing number of those who choose to swim the opposite way.

So, in 2019, we had some good anti-trend campaigns and communication strategies. Some brands have abolished social media accounts and turned their attention to themselves, whether positive or negative. On the other hand, with its global Be a Follower campaign, Diesel is an example of a brand that creates trends even when they are anti-trends.

7. DATA vs. GDPR - the gap widens

There has never been a greater need to manage data communication with brands, and there have never been greater restrictions on the collection and processing of personal data, at least in Europe. That gap between need and opportunity, necessity and complexity will be widening. I have influenced the whole industry seriously and the coming years.

Already seeking sophisticated service data, agencies are increasingly taking data collection and processing in the face of rigorous GDPR regulations and the new Personal Data Protection Act.