After a decade of innovation and explosive growth online, we can’t help but think about what’s to come in 2020. We asked each In The Lights team member their trend predictions for what’s to come in the next 10 years. Do you agree?
Amber Henrie (CEO) —
I’ve been hearing and reading buzz words like “experiential marketing” and “conversational marketing.” I think data/analytics/location-specific targeting will continue to impact the PR approach,and Public Relations will require a human approachin an increasing digital, bot, augmented world. Consumers want to hear interesting, compelling and inspirational stories that combat the toxic political landscape.
When it comes to personal brand, it’s about to get really personal. Brand leaders will no longer be able to hide behind the brand — the rise of social media requires leaders to have a presence and personal brand story. That goes for individual artists and creators too.
In Internet Marketing, simple landing pages means quicker load time. Too often we see clients still opt for old tech and lean towards really complicated landing pages, which in effect, stops user interaction.
The next generation is starting to make their wave and they don’t like the perfect, unattainable “influencer” photos. They want a more genuine/personal approach. Influencers and brand will need to work harder to stand out from the crowd and find their unique stylized brand image.
I love interior design and I think we’ll see a sift from Chip & Joanna farmhouse to more ornate design — think chandeliers and Roman pillars. I’ve seen mentions of 80’s brightness and retro style juxtaposition muted, neutral colors. Interior design trends heavily influence consumer and graphic design — think art deco.
Chelsea Anderson-Long —
One of the things that I think is important is that 2020 is an election and Olympics year. Those things tend to take over the news cycle and it can be very hard to get client press coverage. It also pulls discretionary donations from nonprofits to political campaigns.
When I worked at Primary in 2016, it was REALLYhard to get attention on anything non-election related, and I think this election is going to be the same, if not bigger.
Arts organizations should focus on marketing that stands out because it’s really hard to stand out against national news, especially if they are not programming political pieces (which may still get attention because it fits into the overall national discussion).
Kristin Hess —
I agree with Chelsea on election year and Olympics. These will be the main two topics circling every inch of the internet in 2020, whether it’s the news, email campaigns, memes, apparel, everything!
Design trends: people are going towards three different design trends:
1. “Organic” shapes, style, and color
2. Loud and retro fonts
3. Illustrations
People are really focusing on illustrations this year. See the illustrations on the thumbnail from Outdoor Voices here, many people are going towards this design.
Typography is going to go crazy as well – this applies to the retro stylelisted above.
“With the explosion of smart speakers and voice search in recent years, you’d be forgiven for thinking that “readable” content is more important than visuals and design these days. In fact, this couldn’t be further from the truth. While advancements in voice search are certainly influencing the way that we’ll create content now and in the future, you shouldn’t neglect visual content either. Research has shown that people prefer visual content to plain text. You just have to look at the growth of image-focused platforms Pinterest and Instagram to see the proof of this.”
Other random trends that are non-business related: ego friendly/sustainability will continue to largely grow, wellness and self-care will continue to boom, and civil media.
Katherine Lum —
Some of the biggest changes to happen in 2020 will be the trends in fundraising. From crowdfunding to traditional campaigns, raising funds in 2020 will become a new and more creative animal. Of course, this will directly effect nonprofit trendsand the way we think about the arts world.
Other trends I expect to see will be in the food and restaurantsindustry, not only thinking more about the environment but also personal health as well.
And when it comes to accounting, there’s no accounting for trends that will change the way we crunch those numbers. 2020 will be a huge year for the small-business owner and the independent creative, in the accounting world.
Jordan Henrie —
Maybe not specifically in 2020, but over the next decade I absolutely predict a mass exodus on endless scrolling platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter without these platforms implementing advertising opportunities that reward users for their time (like Google AdSense). However, video platforms like YouTube will continue to grow because of the capability users have to monetizing the space and be rewarded for creating engaging content.
The ROI of these platforms is staggeringly low. Unless you’re a micro-influencer or massive celebrity personality hawking diet pills or energy drinks, you’re probably spending way too much time on social media and consequentially, not making any money.
We’ve already seen several popular platforms plateau, and some we’ve already seen gradually fail (Myspace, Vine, Periscope, Tumblr).
Marketers, social media platforms, and businesses worldwide will need to get painfully creative in how they target individuals at home, and online in order to actually turn a profit.
Katie Gallager —
In 2020 consumers will seek an antidote to vast and toxic online communitiesand social media platforms.
They’ll embrace smaller and more intimate digital spaces that facilitate respectful and meaningful connections, let them interact with like-minded peers and allow them to truly be themselves.