5 Marketing trends for successful brand stories in 2020

With an experience of 17 years, Samir Vora, CMO, Dailyhunt shares tips on how brands can combine trends and technology for the 'marketing disruption that awaits'.

Marketing is one of the constantly changing roles, as it adapts and evolves with the changing business landscape around it. Playing a critical role in activating the true power of brands, the marketing landscape evolves with technological innovations, consumer dynamics, and competition. Elements such as audiences, tools, and platforms need to be constantly understood to drive the results and create an impact.

Today, there is intense competition across sectors, bringing consumers more options to choose from. With technological innovations especially affordable and accessible smartphones and internet connectivity, the audience is better informed and opinionated and has less attention span. Their preferences are changing continuously, and especially with the advent of Gen Z, mere promises or advertising is no longer enough to connect with the consumers.

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As technological disruption changes the entire marketing landscape, the biggest change is in the audience demographics which has access to information. As per the “Internet in India 2019” report, of the 451 million monthly active internet users in India, there is almost an equal split between the urban and rural audiences. Further, more and more women audiences are getting connected from tier 2 and 3 cities, making it a more diverse audience mix for brands to connect with.

Today, businesses need a brand narrative. A story, to break through the clutter. Compelling human stories can help businesses increase the value of their product/ service dramatically. The year 2020 will form the base for marketing trends over the next 5 years, and in my opinion here’s how businesses can prepare themselves for the marketing disruption that awaits:

• Unique value proposition: As simple & textbook as it sounds, a Unique Value Proposition (UVP) for the business is extremely important in the age of clutter. Identifying a core message that resonates with both the business and with the target audience continues to be the biggest challenge for a marketer. This needs to be approached with both intuitiveness and innovation. However, once a brand identifies its UVP, the way forward becomes simpler.
• Data-driven stories: Today, every person on earth is generating data. Data on their activities, preferences, and beliefs. It is estimated that by 2020, 1.7 megabytes of data will be produced every second for every individual on this planet. Data is a goldmine of information which can help marketers become storytellers. Like a human brain processes images 60,000 times faster than text, data can help marketers build visually compelling stories and cut through the clutter
• Ephemeral content: Once the message is identified and data forms the foundation of a story, the format becomes important. Attention span is reducing and there is a constant urge for newness in content.  Marketers need to continuously innovate in their storytelling styles to communicate more (content) in less (time). In 2020, ephemeral content, 6-second ads, and short videos will be the most impactful way to deliver impactful brand stories.
• Targeting: To tell effective brand stories, marketers and businessmen have deep analytics and personalization tools available at their disposal. Large or small, businesses can now tell their stories in a way that resonates with an individual consumer. The more personalized a communication, the more effective and impactful is the story. This gives marketers an opportunity to celebrate India’s diverse audience through cultural nuances as well. From local languages to pin code targeting would be the most important marketing trend to look out for, in 2020.
• Third-party advocacy: More than the businesses telling their own story, the role third party advocates will become more important. Word of mouth, peer reviews and influencers will stand out as the most effective referrals. If marketers build stories that keep the emotions of customers at the center and further reinforced through peers, they would enjoy brand loyalty and trust.

The year 2020 approaches us with the challenge to be bold and disruptive. Marketers need to build real grit and determination to be inventive and cut through the noise. And the best part is that technology disruption is here to support every marketer in creating their ideal marketing mix.

This article piece is authored by Samir Vora, CMO Dailyhunt.