THE ONLY CONSTANT IS CHANGE

Technological advances change the playing field. What’s new, is old in the blink of an eye. Keeping up isn’t enough, you need to stay ahead to grow your business or brand in today’s competitive world. The following trends are being added to many business strategies for 2020.

1. The millennial mode

Currently, about 50% of the workforce is represented by millennial’s, with an expected rise to 75% by 2025. Keep your millennial employees focused and engaged by evolving old ways of communicating. Emails, phone calls and meetings are all outdated and time consuming. Smart businesses are creating communication apps – offering employees a direct and immediate way to communicate – which is proving to increase productivity, efficiencies and create more engagement.

2. Remote control

Office space doesn’t come cheap. More employees means more space. More space means more overheads. And that’s why more and more businesses are allowing employees to work remotely. 9 to 5, five days a week is no longer the norm. New generation tech and employee apps are making it easy to work remotely and allocate time more efficiently.

3. The gig is up

With the rise of the remote worker, ‘gig work’ is on the rise too. In the current economic market, businesses aren’t always able hire permanent talent. And more and more people are liking the flexibility of working remotely and managing their own time. So, gig work will be a growing trend into the next year and beyond.

4. Feel good factor

In the modern workspace, employee happiness is crucial and directly linked to productivity. Creative workspaces, foosball tables, indoor gardens, pet friendly offices – are all part of the ‘feel good’ factor meant to create a unique company culture that retains the best talent while attracting new potential.

5. The reviews are in

When purchasing a new product online – features and price are key, however, research shows that reviews are becoming integral to the decision-making process. 90% of buyers will not complete a new product purchase when there are no reviews.

Many small to medium-size businesses don’t have large marketing budgets, so it’s crucial to focus on user reviews. When real people champion your brand online, your business or product becomes more trusted and this can lead to increased sales.

6. The power of storytelling

We were first introduced to ‘stories’ by Snapchat, which are now common on all social media platforms. Stories are short video clips that disappear after 24 hours and are growing 15x faster than news feed posts. Building an authentic voice, with eye catching stories, will form a stronger connection with your audience.

7. AI 

The latest and greatest technology is tempting for any business, but keep in mind that AI and predictive analytics will not replace the human when it comes to delivering the customer experience. Yes, AI helps customer support deliver a top notch experience to customers, which is why you need to look at AI as the co-worker who helps you deliver better customer service.

8. Voice recognition

Some researchers predict that almost a third of web browsing will be voice activated by 2020. Because you can talk faster than you can type, you’re able to perform a voice search faster. This latest trend means that businesses need to take the opportunity, to create a ‘voice’ presence on their online channels while this tech is relatively new. “Voice recognition technology will reshape search engine optimization, as search is shifting to conversational and long-tail queries.” Alex Membrillo, CEO – Cardinal Digital Marketing

9. A personal touch

Have you noticed when browsing online, you see product recommendations that are similar to something you purchased recently – if you bought books then you’ll see more books. These personalisation engines that recognize customer buying patterns can enable digital businesses to increase profits by up to 15%, by promoting repeat purchases. By only showing relevant products, you‘ll provide your customer with a personalised experience, connecting and catering to individual’s needs.

10. Speed up

5G networks will most likely be globally accessible by 2020. On average, 5G pushes download speeds of about 1 Gbps. This will completely change how we interact and communicate on the internet, helping to get things done much, much faster.