The marketing business never stands still. New technologies arrive, social media platforms rise and fall, design principles quickly become outdated.
In order to keep your brand fresh, you and your marketing agency need to stay on top of the latest trends. So we’ve put together this guide for what to expect in 2020. We’ll cover three main areas:
- Technology
- Design
- Social Media
The A Game Studio is a branding and creative agency founded by three sisters. If you’d like to learn more about how we work to elevate your brand, check out our case studies page.
1.Technology
Martech is a huge growth industry. Last year, Binder Dijker Otte estimated that firms across the US and UK would spend $65b on marketing technology.
We foresee three main trends in 2020: the growing importance of omnichannel synergy, the rise of VR & AR, and an increased focus on mobile presentation.
Omnichannel
One area of focus is omnichannel marketing. Modern consumers expect a brand to offer a seamless experience across all channels. Your design, branding and message should be strong and consistent across:
- All devices – laptops, tablets and smartphones
- All platforms – website, social media, email
- All media – text, audio, video, in-person
When you come to work with a media or design agency, make sure they have the talent to work across all channels. Too many agencies only have expertise in one or two areas. At The A Game Studio, our experts range from photographers to copywriters, graphic designers to user interface specialists.
VR & AR
We also predict a greater focus on VR (virtual reality) and AR (augmented reality). You may already have some sort of automation on your website (a chatbot for example) but this is just the start.
Brands will increasingly look to automation, AI, VR and AR to interact with clients. Clothes and cosmetics companies will start to use VR so that customers can “try on” clothes or makeup before buying.
If you want to see just how important this is going to be, check out the Wikipedia page on Hatsune Miku. She’s a holographic singer who, after her last “world tour”, is now worth $80m!
Mobile First
The world is now mobile. According to Deloitte, almost every developed country has at least 80 percent smartphone penetration. Google is now rolling out mobile first indexing as standard for its search engine results pages.
As such, any marketing strategy must recognise the importance of mobile. This goes far beyond just making sure you have a responsive website. Any capable design agency will do that for you as standard.
It means things like a focus on apps, better integration with mobile payments and even designing your company logo with reduced dimensions in mind.
Start thinking about web design and user-experience with mobile in mind. Most than half of all search activity, for example, is now conducted on mobile devices. If your company is simply set up for laptops, you will be left behind.
2.Design
The previous decade was a period of great change in the design world (have a look at some websites from 2010 if you don’t believe us!).
Here are our predictions for what to expect from website and logo design in 2020.
Website Design
2020 will see a continuation of minimalism as a key website design trend. This means:
- Lots of white space around both text and images
- Large, simple photos rather than collages or carousels
- Uncomplicated, sans-serif typefaces
- Monochrome or two-colour palettes
We’re also noticing a rise in the “dark mode” aesthetic. Users have already noticed that using dark mode for apps reduces eye strain, saves battery life and is more comfortable to read at night.
This is feeding into web design. Graphic designers love dark mode because bright accents stand out beautifully against a black background. And it certainly gives websites a very modern, sophisticated look.
Finally, some of the best website designs are incorporating overlapping elements. Overlapping creates a layering effect, which can be a really nice way to organise different design elements on a page. The Apple website is a great example of this.
When it comes to choosing a web design company, make sure you look for a team of creatives and designers who understand the latest web design trends.
Logo Design
Having a creative logo is an integral part of a broader branding and marketing strategy. Tastes and design principles change very quickly. Here are four trends in logo design we predict for 2020:
- Animal logos
- Animation
- Simple geometric shapes
- Colour gradients
Animal logos (particularly cartoons) can help a brand to feel friendly and approachable. Even hyper-modern tech firms use them to give their company a softer edge (for example the food delivery company Deliveroo with its kangaroo logo).
Animals work especially well with another 2020 design trend: animation. Animated logos (on websites, outdoor advertising or social media) make a business look especially easy-going. Just be careful if you are a “serious” brand (for example in the medical, legal or finance professions) where animation might seem too flippant for a life-or-death situation.
Logos made up of simple geometric shapes like dots and lines are going to be huge in 2020. They look great at all sizes (critical for rendering on mobile devices, app icons etc) and have a very clean, fresh feel.
Finally, we see the trend towards strong colour gradients (like you see in the Instagram logo) continuing into 2020. They are great are attracting the eye and drawing attention to different aspects of the logo. Just make sure your design agency also produces a black and white version that works in every setting.
3.Social Media
All the best social media companies know it’s important to stay on top of the latest trends. So here are our best predictions for 2020.
No More Likes
At the end of last year, Instagram announced that it was testing the removal of “likes” from the platform. It claimed that removing likes would
- Protect the well-being of its users
- Encourage more original content
- Increase post volume
- Make users feel less self-conscious
- Reduce cyberbullying
All these topics are going to become more important in the coming years, so we can see the policy becoming permanent.
If Instagram becomes less of a competition, how should marketers change their approach to the channel? One thing could be a focus on micro- rather than macro-influencers (see below). Without visible likes, the really famous influencers could diminish in value.
Marketers might be better off targeting smaller niches (which potentially offer better value for money anyway).
The Rise of TikTok
At the end of last year, Sensor Tower (a blog that offers data on the app economy) reported that TikTok was the fourth most downloaded non-gaming app in the world.
TikTok is incredibly popular with young people. As more and more teens get their own smartphones, the app will only grow in importance.
Before you decide to work with a marketing agency, make sure they are familiar with this platform, and know how to communicate your brand values across multiple social media channels. Social media is no longer just Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Mastering TikTok also requires and understanding of video. A great creative agency will be able to help you across all media:
- Text
- Images
- Audio
- Video
Social Commerce
The old sales funnel is getting even shorter. Gone are the days when you would follow this sequence:
- Capture someone’s attention on social media
- Direct them to a products page on your website
- Encourage them to “add to cart”
- Take them to the checkout
- Process the payment
- Land on a “thank you page”
The future of online shopping is social commerce. Platforms with a strong visual focus (especially Instagram and Pinterest) will soon offer shoppable posts and integrated storefronts, meaning less friction from interest to purchase.
If you run an e-commerce store, you should consider adding a shopping functionality to your social media profiles too.
Micro Influencers
If the 2010s were the decade of the influencer (Selena Gomez, Kendall Jenner, Taylor Swift), the 2020s will be the decade of the micro-influencer.
Typically defined as someone with an audience of between 2,000 and 50,000, micro-influencers can offer brands a highly-targeted, niche audience. Their followers are much more likely to be genuine fans, rather than just the general public.
Micro-influencers offer a range of benefits:
- They are much cheaper than the more famous macro-influencers, offering better value to brands
- Their fans are more engaged (HelloSociety estimated that micro-influencer campaigns have engagement rates up to 60% higher)
- There is the perception that they are more genuine and authentic than celebrities
If social media forms part of your strategy, consider using micro-influencers in 2020. Marketing agencies with access to these micro-influencers will become more and more important to advertisers in the coming years.
If you’d like to discuss working with us on any aspect of your branding or marketing, please give us a call on +90 543 226 40 14