What a decade it’s been so far!
We’ve been through everyone else’s—and our own—humdrum 2020 predictions for PPC and SEO, and…frankly, we’re yawning up a storm! PPC and SEO in 2020 are our actual jobs, and we plan to kick ass at them. Now, movin’ on…
Predictions about SEO and PPC tend to miss the bigger picture—which, of course, is that Big Tech is taking over our lives and we have to figure out whether to take the red or blue pill to enjoy living in their world.
To avoid becoming too predictable, we just circulated a platter of multicoloured (healthy, organic supplements from Well.ca) pills, and here’s what the gang came up with! Some of the more serious predictions have been deleted. We figure that might save you time.
Here’s what PZ’ers portend for the year ahead.
As the big tech privacy backlash intensifies, scrappy search startup DuckDuckGo finally breaks into the mainstream after they adopt the shorter name Duck.com, a domain name they acquired a few years ago but have yet to promote. They will move their headquarters to Toronto, home of the Giant Duck, which should be totally legit and head off any legal troubles with Aflac.- A popular scooter startup will introduce embedded, voice-activated cameras into the vehicle for easy photo sharing. Within two years, automakers will follow suit with a more advanced version of same. Standalone “dash cams” will become obsolete as every kind of vehicle becomes a sophisticated recording device.
- Brands and influencers will try unsuccessfully to make the transition to social on TikTok. They will fail terribly trying to target the large cohort of Generation Z’s on this platform. We will see a mix of brands behaving badly and awkward 40-something moms dancing on video for a view. Woke Gen Z TikTok users will see past disingenuous strategies and demand the noise be removed.
- Google Glass will make a comeback with a new and improved selfie feature. The glasses will be worn by people and objects including pets and airplanes! This will allow users to generate unique content for woke Gen Z TikTok users 24 hours a day.
- After a rocky start, Google will begin injecting ads into the base (free) tier of Stadia. Game publishers will quickly jump on board as a way to shore up revenue from increased regulatory oversight of their loot box systems.
- A startup, Cockatu.io, will target pet birds for augmented reality shopping, so they can signal which cage accessories they’d like their owners to order for them.
- Natural language processing and voice search will make major steps forward thanks to the introduction of BERT, but will eventually be stymied by the inscrutable and constantly evolving slang used by Gen Z. Smart home devices will alienate users by trying (poorly) to adopt and use teenage argot.
Wrapping Up
From offbeat to on-point, the cards have been dealt and PZers have spoken. Whether or not our predictions become reality, 2020 will undoubtedly bring many changes to the digital marketing landscape, and it’s as important as ever for marketers to exercise their predictive muscles and be proactive to thrive—not just survive.
What are your predictions for digital marketing in 2020?
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“Giant Rubber Duck at H2O Park Toronto” by Peter Kudlacz is licensed under CC BY 2.0
