It’s 2020, and if your digital marketing strategy is still in the dark ages, this is the year this needs to change.
Major new social media marketing and business website trends are on the horizon. We’re also at a tipping point where if customers can’t find brands online, they assume businesses have gone bust.
That’s right. If you don’t have a website, you effectively no longer exist.
Like it or Not, You Really do Need a Website
Research suggests that 35% of small UK businesses think they are too small to have a website. However, nothing could be further from the truth.
At present, two-thirds of small businesses fail in their first five years of trading. Of those that do, almost all share a few things in common:
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71% of small businesses don’t invest in professional digital marketing support.
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Fewer than two thirds (64%) have a website that is up to current web standards.
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75% of UK consumers say that they base how credible brands seem on how a business website looks and feels.
Notice a pattern?
As it stands, your business needs a website just to stay relevant in 2020. Moreover, if you plan on investing in support from a web design company this year, you also need to know what constitutes modern web design best practices.
Business Website Trends You Need to Know About
If you already have a business website, you will know that website responsiveness has been a big deal for some time already.
When a website is responsive, web pages automatically adapt their layout and scaling to fit the screens of mobile web browsers. This is important, as 50% of all web traffic is generated by mobile device users. This amount is also set to increase.
The 5G Effect
This year, UK telecom companies are set to start officially rolling out 5G networks. These promise to deliver download speeds of up to 1 gigabyte per second. 2020 will, therefore, see even more people start browsing the Internet exclusively from mobile devices.
Is your business website mobile-friendly already? If so, that is fantastic. If not, this is the year this needs to change.
UK Business Website Trends and GDPR
Might your business get hit by huge fines in 2020? You might hope not. However, research suggests that up to 52% of UK SMEs are still not GDPR compliant.
What is GDPR?
In 2018, the UK and the EU started to enforce a new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) standard. This is designed to prevent consumer data from being stolen or misused online.
GDPR is a complicated and expansive topic. In short, though, many business websites can be in breach of GDPR guidelines without even realising it.
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Your website needs to have a robust privacy policy, terms of service and cookie policy.
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If you ask visitors to enter their email address or connect with you in any way, you need to acquire consent to gather and use personal contact information.
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You need to put measures in place to make sure that any customer data you handle is always kept 100% secure and confidential.
Is your business and website already GDPR compliant? If so, that’s great. However, if not, you should remedy this ASAP.
Other Business Website Trends to Watch in 2020
Are you ready for the AI revolution? It might sound like a scene straight out of science fiction. However, as well as optimising websites for security and responsiveness in 2020, many businesses are also adding AI into their marketing mix.
Most likely, you already know what a chatbot is. On websites and brand social media pages, chat windows often appear that allow visitors to ask questions and get help from a virtual support agent.
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67% of worldwide consumers regularly communicate with chatbots.
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85% of customer service queries made with chatbots can be resolved without human assistance.
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With a chatbot, you have a sales and customer service agent who is online 24/7.
Of course, if you are a small business, you might not want to dive into the world of AI chatbot marketing just yet. However, marketing using chatbots is a top digital marketing trend to watch in 2020.
Is Your Business Ready for 2020?
Is your business still lagging behind the times when it comes to digital marketing? If so, don’t worry. At Kreativity Marketing, we can help bring your brand into the 21st Century. All you need to do to get started is call us.
