I have recently been reading about the top digital marketing trends of 2020, full of intimidating terms like Artificial Intelligence, Chatbots, and Programmatic Advertising.  And, some less intimidating terms like Video and Content Marketing.  While some terms sound intimidating, the reality is all of these tools are already in use on a widespread scale.

“The average consumer is hit with 4,000-10,000 ads a day.” – Forbes.

Q:  Which ads do you think cut through the clutter?

A:  The ones that matter to the recipient!

Let’s take a look at what these tools are and how they transform a simple ad message to one that matters.

Artificial Intelligence (AI): any technology which seeks to mimic human intelligence or thinking.  It includes a wide range of capabilities including voice control, programmatic media buying, ad targeting, retargeting, marketing automation, and dynamic content emails.  Think voice control on your Xfinity remote, using Alexa to order your Starbucks, using Siri to do almost anything on your phone, and using chatbots for online customer service and support.  AI streamlines the customer sales cycle and customer support thereby increasing profitability.

Programmatic digital media buying:  Before AI, we could manually set up ad campaigns to deliver to specific age, gender, lifestyle and geo behaviors, and that was really cool.  With AI, we use data and algorithms to automatically target the right people at the right time in their buying cycle.  We can use their search and online habits to determine what stage of the buying cycle they are in and then target the messaging accordingly.  For example, for a retail campaign we can target “intenders” with a sales-focused message, and we can reach people earlier in the buying cycle with a branding/differentiator message.  Very cool stuff.

Chatbots.  Software applications that mimic written or spoken human speech for the purposes of simulating a conversation or interaction with a real person. If you’re in a customer service-based business, you need to think about taking advantage of AI in the form of chatbots.  Thanks to AI, chatbot technology can at times be more intuitive than a human working in an overseas call center.  They are able to break down the question quickly and provide the answers the customer needs, without human error or a language barrier.  This is an efficient way to provide excellent customer service.  And, it’s more accessible than you think.  Today, you can make your very own chatbot in Facebook Messenger, and there are several sites that offer the ability to create rudimentary chatbots using a simple drag-and-drop interface.

Video marketing

In “Understanding the Expanding Benefits of Marketing with Video”, Aberdeen Group says:

Video marketers get 66% more qualified leads per year.

Video marketers achieve a 54% increase in brand awareness.

The takeaway here – consumers really do watch videos, and they retain the information.  Video makes a longer-lasting impression.

 

The good news in all of this?  We’re here to help, so you don’t have to be intimidated by it all.  The technology is accessible, and we recommend that everyone find ways to take advantage of all it has to offer.  We’ve got this, let’s talk about how we can make 2020 your best year yet.

 

Why hire an employee when you can have a partner?  We’re on your Team, not your Payroll.

 

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