Digital marketing is always in a state of flux, constantly answering changes to consumer behavior and technology. This year, we saw significant changes in digital marketing and as 2016 looms in, critical trends will change the way brands and businesses communicate with their consumers.
Here’s a look at some digital marketing that will dominate next year.
Mobile will dominate desktop
In his piece for Forbes.com, analyst Jayson DeMers reiterated that mobile will only continue to surpass desktop in 2016. This year was a big one for mobile, with Google announcing that mobile traffic took over desktop traffic in 10 different countries and the release of “Mobilegeddon”—the algorithm that phased out mobile un-optimized websites.
Google is banking on this scenario. They expect desktop traffic to fade away, meaning that revenues rest on mobile-focused online marketing.
Interactive content
“Engaging content” has been the buzz word this year in digital marketing, according to Josh Kasombo in his article in Business 2 Community. But next year, it will go beyond being engaging. Kasombo predicts that it will become interactive. Animated presentations and real-time polls are entertaining and engaging examples of interactive content. He also predicts that there will be a surge of more interactive quizzes or diagrams.
Ephemeral Marketing
According to Maeghan Moraes of Hubspot, exclusive content with expiration dates are what millenials are looking for; and Snapchat is currently the most popular form of this. She adds that this kind of marketing is “all about communication that’s shorter and more to the point.”
She adds that to make this platform really work for your business, you have to be organic, speak their language, and always be on point.
Relationship Marketing
By 2016, there will be more than 2 billion smartphone users which means, more opportunities for companies to connect with their consumers. Enter relationship marketing. James Sutton from Zest Digital says that its goal is to build strong, loyal, and long-term customer engagement rather than a fast and one-off sell. He suggests that to achieve this, brands should have a “human” feel to them to be more approachable. This creates meaningful and insightful conversations with the consumers. Sutton, however, reiterates that this all should stem from data. Lots of it.
Companies need to set-up unique analytics tool with emphasis on consumer preferences and behavior to focus on how to create and maintain relationships with them.
Virtual reality is clearer than ever
‘Set to hit the market in the first quarter of 2016, Occulus Rift have a great potential for marketing because of its personalization features,’ says Himanshu Sareen of ClickZ. With its ability to tell 360-degree stories, it offers a lot of potential for businesses to leverage on their demographic.
Elle Magazine is already jumping ship on this trend as they announced early this year that they plan to live stream a fashion show using Occulus Rift.
In Conclusion
When you look at the big picture, these marketing trends are just the tip of the iceberg. 2016 will surely bring plenty more opportunities for your business, it’s only a matter of choice which ones you’ll adapt. With this being said, which ones do you think will be most beneficial to your business?