Robin Colner: A guide to successful marketing in 2020

As the new year and decade begins, it is the perfect time to review and revise your marketing plans. Here are the 10 most important actionable tips for marketing success in 2020. As a bonus, I added suggested mobile apps and software tools to make your jobs easier. Bookmark these strategies to grow your businesses through digital and social media marketing.

Master the art of ephemeral (disappearing) storytelling by creating and posting stories with multiple images and calls-to-action daily on Facebook and Instagram ”“ Apps: Unfold, Story Boost, Cut Story, Story Art, Canva. Remember to save the best stories in Highlight Albums.

Increase the production of long, short and live-streamed video content through the creation of a “series” to explain products, services and solutions, showcase your expertise, interact with your audience and “edutain” customers and prospects ”“ think short, weekly episodes ”“ Apps: Adobe Spark, 24FPS, Animoto, Hyperlapse, Clipomatic for captioning.

Know your customer ”“ Collect and evaluate first-party customer data to improve your communications, influencer content and advertising targeting – Tools: Data Management Platforms for enterprises such as Lotarme, SurveyMonkey, inMoment, Qualtrics, Bazaarvoice, Google Analytics and Social Media Analytics for small businesses.

Experiment with messenger bots to improve personalized customer service and lead generation activities ”“ Tools: ManyChat, MobileMonkey, WhatsApp for Business.

Optimize your website for voice search, which accounts for over 40% of all searches,  by incorporating search engine optimization techniques that can generate featured snippets that Google will highlight ”“ Tools: Featured Snippets+ Tool, Structured Data Markup, AdWords Keyword Planner, SEMrush.

Create and maintain a Google My Business presence by adding weekly posts, pictures and customer reviews ”“ Tools for reviews: Sitejabber, Birdeye, RizeReviews, Broadly.

Identify and expand partnerships with micro influencers (3,000-100,000 followers) to produce content to increase sales, brand visibility and reputation ”“ BuzzSumo, TapInfluence, Klear, Traackr, Upfluence.

Tap new “social shopping” features on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Amazon ”“ these include Instagram storefronts, Shop the Look Ads on Pinterest, Facebook”™s new Augmented Reality Ads and Amazon”™s Influencer Program.

Explore Facebook Groups to find ways to interact with customers, prospects and industry partners with greater reach and engagement ”“ Consider creating a FB Group and be on the lookout for advertising opportunities in the future ”“ Tools: Facebook Search, Insights.

Pay attention to TikTok as its features will be replicated by the other social media sites. While it is a great way to reach Gen Zers, the site”™s challenges and music heavy story memes incorporating user generated content are now being copied into Instagram Reels and used by leading brands such as Guess Jeans and Taco Bell.

Influencers created through computer generated imagery (CGI) are gaining in popularity and are attracting brand promotions”“ see Zoe Dvir, Lil Miguela (Samsung and Chanel partnership) and Noonoouri ”“ the 3-D programming is a special skill and several agencies will be offering these services.

Facebook Pay is rolling out and will be a popular way to send money via Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger as well as to pay for purchases from brands and sellers through FB Marketplace. Social commerce will be a big trend in the coming year.

Robin Colner is the CEO of DigiStar Media, a full-service marketing firm that helps businesses and professionals generate visibility, leads and sales using digital and social media strategies. Colner is the director of the Digital and Social Media Professional Certificate Program at Fordham University”™s School of Professional and Continuing Studies. She can be reached at 914-826-5512 or at RColner@DigiStarMedia.com, and on Twitter: @RobinColner.