Business Consultant Luke Lazarus Predicts Important Marketing Trends in 2020

The Melbourne-based business consultant Luke Lazarus is using his expertise to make some thoughtful predictions about the upcoming year in marketing. Lazarus was a successful serial entrepreneur who sold four successful businesses before deciding to pivot and provide his expertise for others. Lazarus's ten years as a consultant for startups have deepened his understanding of how to identify emerging trends in today's rapidly evolving landscape. Technology innovations and changes in consumer behavior are continually changing the rules of the marketing game. If they want to succeed, businesses have to adapt to the new ways of reaching consumers. Luke Lazarus offers some guidance with his take on the most important marketing trends for 2020.

1. Lazarus predicts that Instagram is positioned to play an even more significant role in the social media landscape. The platform has become the dominant space for advertisers that see the benefits of the influencer advertising trend. Another factor that points to Instagram's ascendance in 2020, according to Lazarus, is the growth of its video outlet, IGTV. Capturing a segment of the video market will make Instagram even more indispensable to users.

2. Lazarus has observed the growth of chatbots as a resource for companies to provide customer service. He predicts that in 2020, this useful tool will become more popular for customer service and will also expand to include marketing. Studies show that customers prefer chatbots to other methods, like sending the business an email.

3. Lazarus is excited about the possibilities of AI in a variety of spheres, from providing enhanced analytics to improving productivity. His prediction for AI in 2020 is that the many practical applications of this emerging technology will continue to be discovered by innovative businesses.

4. Lazarus believes that mobile payments will become increasingly integrated into the lives of consumers in 2020. He advises businesses to adapt to this new system if they don't want to miss out on significant opportunities to collect revenue from customers who prefer this form of payment.

5. According to Lazarus, the first-person perspective that's offered by 360-degree videos will be present in more content in 2020. This form of interactive content is a tool for boosting engagement and has already begun popping up outside the travel and real estate spaces that started this trend.

6. Customized Customer profiles are a tool that helps businesses track more information about customers to deliver an improved user experience. Lazarus sees this trend growing in 2020 because marketing is becoming increasingly focused on identifying the needs of customers with as much precision as possible.

7. Beacon technology is a new marketing space that uses GPS to provide businesses data with the physical location of their customers. Lazarus predicts that businesses will find new applications for targeted marketing.

8. Lazarus believes that the future of advertising on social media is that it will continue to evolve. Facebook and Instagram will likely consolidate what is already a considerable advantage in advertising revenue. The two platforms are with the same company and tend to deliver the best results, which will not be missed by businesses.

9. Lazarus considers voice search to be a significant growth opportunity as voice recognition technology improves. People are already getting used to doing their searches by talking to smartphones. Lazarus is advising businesses to adapt their SEO strategy to capitalize on this 2020 trend.

10. The final trend Luke Lazarus has identified for 2020 is simply more informed predictions. As predictive analysis tools improve, marketing will have access to more in-depth data about consumers. In 2020, businesses will have to utilize these tools effectively if they don't want to get left behind.