Mobile Marketing Trends and Stats Marketers Should Follow in 2020

Internet is more easily accessible than ever in today’s digital landscape. There’s free WiFi on public transit, in coffee shops, in restaurants, in public parks… and with internet connections so readily available, users have little to no trouble connecting with their mobile devices. In fact, mobile users rose to 4.68 billion last year. To top it off, mobile app revenue rose also to 461.7 billion dollars, up by 96.5 billion from 2018! As the digital world sways more towards mobile devices, marketers must also learn how to appeal to and target audiences on this network.

Below, we’ll be covering the mobile marketing trends in 2020 that you need to follow, but before that, let’s begin by covering 2019 trends that are still relevant.

2019 Trends that are Still Relevant

Though many of us would like to move on from 2019 and move onward with our lives, the past informs our present and still holds many truths for our future. The same is true for mobile trends! While you will see many blog posts and articles detailing the newest trends for the coming year, you may notice a lot of those trends were also popular last year. New trends may yet surface in the months to come, but expect to see a lot of overlap for these first few months. Two of the top trends from 2019 that will still remain relevant in 2020 are as follows:

1. Artificial Intelligence Just like mobile browsing, artificial intelligence has also increased in popularity. The presence of AI in mobile apps is easy to see. From chatbots and speech recognition, to facial recognition, the use of artificial intelligence is growing and will continue to grow in the coming year, especially where voice search trends for 2020 are concerned.
2. Augmented Reality We’ve also seen an increase in mobile AR as well. From customized viral filters on Instagram, to funky overlays on TikTok, AR is making reality a little bit more interesting. While this trend was strong in 2019, you can also expect to see more AR applications in top mobile app trends for 2020.

10 Stats from 2019 to Keep in Mind

With your New Year’s goals set, this time is also a reflective period where we look at the previous year to see how we can improve. To further help you prepare for the months to come, we’ve compiled 10 stats to keep in mind that will inform you digital marketing strategy. These mobile marketing statistics from 2019 will help sum up user mobile behavior and show you where your team should lay the foundation for your 2020 digital marketing strategy:

• In the third quarter of 2019, mobile devices (excluding tablets) generated 51.51% of global website traffic.
• There are over 5 billion people around the world with a mobile device.
• The average amount of time Americans spent on media in 2019 was 208 minutes. This equates to nearly 11 hours exposed to media a day.
• With an increase of new video formats in Stories and AR filters on Instagram and TikTok, marketers are decidedly increasing their video marketing budget by 25% year-over-year.
• 20% of mobile searches are voice-based.
• 36% of SEO experts believe that headline/title tag is the most important mobile SEO element.
• United States retail eCommerce is growing 13.3% year-over-year.
• 60% of global consumers stated they would make more international purchases online if they were familiar with the brand.
• 69% of users say they look at reviews on their phone first before making a purchase, and 53% of users said they would look up deals and discounts before speaking to an employee.
• Smartphones and tablets are the driving force behind mCommerce growth. In the US, volume is set to increase to $418.9 billion through 2024.

Hopefully, these mobile device usage statistics for 2019 have shown you how influential mobile usage is and will be this year.

5 Mobile Marketing Trends for your 2020 Digital Strategy

Now that you understand the top trends from 2019 that are still relevant in 2020, and have the statistical information that shows you where users are flocking to on the internet, it’s time to put that knowledge to use. These next mobile marketing trends for 2020 will help you create a comprehensive digital strategy for your business:

Native Advertising Strategies

Native advertising has become particularly popular in a time where apps have different tones and vibes. The type of content you see that’s popular on Facebook doesn’t always translate to the type of content you see on LinkedIn or Snapchat. Similarly, the type of content that works for desktops will not always translate well for mobile devices. Oftentimes, content and imagery must be edited for a small display. This is where responsive design comes in so your content is appropriate for your users no matter what device they choose to view your site with.

For those who may need a refresher, native advertising is when companies promote their products and services on a platform with content that’s catered to the user interface and user experience of that marketing channel. For example, videos are the main medium on YouTube and tutorials are among the most popular types of content for this platform. So if your brand were to create a tutorial depicting how to use your products that would be considered native advertising.

Automation

Marketing automation has been a great way for marketers to keep their audiences engaged without having to do all the leg work themselves. When it comes to mobile marketing automation, there are many different options you can choose from. For example, you have geolocation, data management, content creation, you can send mobile messages… the possibilities are endless. If your team is stretched a little too thin, consider mobile marketing automation applications to help lessen your workload.

Segmentation

Segmentation is just another way to implement personalization into your digital marketing plan for 2020. Segmentation means sending specific content to different users based on their interaction and engagement level with your brand. This way, you’re introducing or re-introducing only the content that’s interesting and important to that specific user. Neil Patel, founder of KISSmetrics and Crazy Egg, even notes that, “segmentation is the foundation for personalization.” Create segmented campaigns for your mobile users and retarget them to help drive sales.

Voice Search

20% of all mobile searches are conducted through voice. This means that as mobile device usage continues to increase, so will voice search. Optimizing your content for voice search means paying close attention to the keywords you’re using in your titles and headlines. For your 2020 voice strategy, conduct an audit of your website and edit your content to be voice search friendly.

5G Connectivity Compatibility

5G is going to be a hot topic for 2020, as this new internet connectivity speed promises be 400 times quicker than 4G. This means more seamless connections between devices and quicker download time for your favorite Netflix shows. 5G is also looking to have positive implications for AR technologies and sharper smart speaker skills. Marketers will have to adapt to the coming mobile technology trends for 2020 on 5G.

Key Takeaways

As we look to the future and to the  mobile marketing trends of 2020, we see that a lot of our past strategies are here to inform our future ones. Many of the trends marketers have already grown accustomed to are being recycled into the next phase of digital marketing. While it’s true that many of these trends are from last year, there are also a couple of new emerging ones to watch out for and new applications to test in the coming months. Here are the key takeaways of everything we covered today:

• Artificial intelligence and augmented reality are just getting started—be ready to see more of these two this year
• Looking to facts and figures will help your team gain a more comprehensive understanding of user behavior
• Native advertising is a great way to engage users on mobile without distracting them
• Automation will help your team achieve the reach you want without spreading your skills too thin
• As Neil Patel said, segmentation is the foundation for personalization
• Voice search is poised to grow just as mobile usage will
• 5G compatibility is going to shake things up with faster internet connection and more capabilities for emerging tech

Best of luck!