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2020 Marketing Trends

How to grow your business in the upcoming year.

2020 creativity inspiration
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Marketing is continually changing, and it’s not all that different from the technology changes you see in consumer electronics. So what are the marketing trends in 2020 you should know about to help grow your business?

Do you want to have an unfair advantage over your competitors? In most cases, businesses build an unfair advantage by doing the things others are not doing. If you want to kick your marketing into high gear, you might want to consider implementing the following marketing trends in 2020.

1. Live Video
Live video streaming on channels like Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram is hot and in demand. People love it!

Don’t worry; live videos don’t need to be shot with professional cameras and look like Hollywood productions. Most off-the-cuff live video comes across as much more authentic and genuine.

Here’s an idea. Grab your smartphone and shoot a live video of your most recent project. Focus on the benefits of the system, what the homeowner loves, and the challenges you had to overcome to complete the project. Give live video a shot and have fun with it. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the results.

2. Personalization
People are tired of seeing random ads that have little relevance for them. Consumers are beginning to appreciate and, in many cases, expect personalization. There are a few simple ways to implement personalization in your ads and communication. If you are using paid ads for your business, remarketing is a great way to add personalization to the mix.

For example, if someone visited the home security service page on your website, you can retarget them with an ad offering a cheat sheet, “10 Things You Must Know Before Purchasing a Home Security System.”

Another way to add personalization into your marketing is via your email list. Start segmenting your email list so you can send highly relevant email messages to your customers and prospects. For example, you might segment your email list so you can send messages to customers that bought a security system or have Control4 products in their home.

3. Voice Search
“Hey Alexa, what’s the weather today?” Sound familiar? Voice searches using Siri, Alexa, Cortana, and Google continue to increase. ComScore predicts that in 2020, 50 percent of all online searches will use voice search. How could this impact system integrators? The most likely way I see this happening is with local searches such as “home theater installation near me.”

There are several things you can do now to prepare for the growth in voice search.

  • Local SEO: Make sure you have all the essential local SEO elements (on-page SEO, directory/citations, Google My Business, online reviews, and link building) dialed in to improve your chances of showing up in local search results. (Click here for “5 Local SEO Elements You Can’t Do Without.”)
  • Content: Voice searches tend to be question-based and longer in nature. You can use tools like Answer The Public to identify the types of questions people may be asking about the services you provide. Then work on implementing these questions into the content on your website. Can you create blog articles around answering some of the common questions? FAQ pages are a great place to answer common questions people might ask through voice search, too.
  • Schema Markup: Schema is a way for you to add information to your website that helps search engines understand the content and context on your site. Using local business schema on your website can help increase your chances of showing up in local search results.

4. Email Marketing
Okay, this one isn’t a trend; email marketing has been around for a long time, but I wanted to include it on this list because I find it’s often not utilized or underutilized. If you don’t have an email list of past and prospective clients that you message consistently, then commit to making 2020 the year that it happens.

Email marketing is incredibly inexpensive. Some of the more popular email marketing platforms like ActiveCampaign, MailChimp, Constant Contact, and Mailerlite have plans from free to $15 a month to get started. Email marketing has the opportunity to drive new sales and keep your business top of mind, and it is not something to overlook.

There you have it. With marketing, it can be difficult not to be distracted by shiny objects. Focus is key. Consider choosing one of the items on this list and make it a must-have in your marketing plan for 2020.


Tim Fitzpatrick is the president of Rialto Marketing. He spent 10+ years in the consumer electronics industry as a partner in a distribution company before getting into marketing consulting and digital marketing. He helps take the guesswork out of marketing for system integrators so their businesses can grow. Facebook: www.facebook.com/rialtomarketing; Twitter: @rialtomobile.

 

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