2020 Marketing Trends: Asher Team Predictions

Considering how much advertising has evolved in the last decade, the only guarantee in this industry is change. From the proliferation of video content, to omnichannel initiatives, technologies and practices are blooming (and withering) around us every day. Rather than being trendy, it takes experts to determine what trends matter enough to become industry standards. Armed with decades of agency experience, the Asher team weighs in on marketing trends for 2020.

Public Relations

The Power of Influencer Marketing in Communications and Advocacy — Mike Fulton, Director of Public Affairs and Advocacy

Third-party validators are more important than ever when it comes to communicating and advancing one’s cause. An estimate from Mediakix puts corporate spending on influencer marketing for 2019 between $4.1-$8.2 billion globally.

Applying this to a government context, 2020 is a Presidential election year with all 435 House seats and one-third of the Senate (34 seats) up for grabs, plus there are many governors and state legislators gearing up with campaigns. When you add local government races, this will impact the ability of traditional paid and earned media coverage to gain air time with this influx of political advertising and media coverage. The number and scope of “media”—newspapers, websites, blogs, radio and broadcast outlets—covering government at all levels has ballooned. Even so, one must be cognizant of the political leanings and funding of these so-called news-gathering and opinion purveyors.

When it comes to finding influencers in this space, there are plenty of options locally and globally. I am finding more and more that Twitter and LinkedIn are effective ways to reach reporters, editors and producers (and other contacts where you cannot find their email addresses). Do not neglect to follow up, though. People, especially reporters and elected officials who seek reputational enhancement in their careers, like to be thanked publicly and on social media for publishing a story, meeting with a group or other relevant activities you do together.

Accounts

Client and Customer Journeys — Katie O’Muireagain, Director of Operations and Business Development

Asher excels at relationships. Our account team works hard to serve our clients with professionalism and persistence. While we all know that people do business with people they like, it is easy to hide behind email or social media instead of picking up the phone or grabbing coffee with our clients. Our goal in 2020 is to continue to look for ways to foster client relationships and become true partners, not just another vendor selling creative work. By nurturing our already well-tended client relationships, we can expand and refine our portfolio, thus attracting more clients who are seeking the capabilities of a full-service agency.

The single biggest change in marketing, the continuation of a trend we have been following, is the increasingly complex customer journey. Since digital media adds more touchpoints to the traditional buying cycle, it’s paramount to understand attribution across channels. Whether our goal is to increase college enrollment, flights to Sarasota or foot traffic in stores—our marketing efforts will continue to be more meaningful by understanding the beliefs, hurdles and habits of our clients’ customers across a fragmented media landscape.

This fragmentation of attention across media (folded in with technological advancements) also means personalization will continue as a crucial marketing objective. The infographic below is a roadmap of the customer journey, but the path to purchase is certainly not always linear. Hence, we craft unique customer journeys for all our clients to fit their unique media and messaging needs.

Farewell to 2019

That’s a wrap! Here’s to a year (and decade) of immense change, and the exciting adventures that lie ahead for marketers and clients. Keep an eye on our blog and we’ll keep you in the loop on what’s moving and shaking the advertising world all year long.