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Top 10 Online Marketing Trends for 2016 1 2 3 4 6 7 5 8 9 10
Top 10 Online Marketing Trends for 2016
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IntroductionEach year, there is consistently great interest in predictions for what lies ahead, including the latest marketing trends. What’s hot? What’s next? This interest is increasing…and since it’s that time again, we are presented with an opportunity to take a closer look at customer lifecycle tactics in order to determine marketing trends for the new year.
To inform our thinking on marketing innovation, we are always interested in hearing the points-of-view of ‘hands-on’ marketers in business who run digital marketing activities, to get their input regarding the most important trends. Some of those factors are reflected in the following chapters.
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CHAPTER 1: THE BRAND FACTORRelationship Marketing and Personalization to Become More Refined
Amongst the prominent trends we should be seeing, as 2015 slips beneath the horizon and 2016 rises, is the concept of personalization, and the way in which its marketing implementation will become more refined. What does this mean, exactly? The proverbial gap between ‘old-school’, intrusive marketing approaches will grow, while digital marketing agencies aim to enhance value through more effective customer engagement. However, it must be noted that content and offers can only be personalized (or customized) if enough data and information on those customers is available. It’s no longer enough to rely solely on demographic data – i.e. nationality, age or sex – and we can say with certainty that crafting ‘buyer personas’ for the purpose of learning more about a customer’s actual personality will be one of 2016’s most vital steps with regard to marketing strategies.
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Additionally, it is both MACRO and MICRO level data that will continue to drive personalized marketing. Being that we mentioned these, let’s take a look at some relevant examples of each:
MACROBlueHornet recently conducted a study that embodies the essence of this level of data marketing: It was discovered that 18 to 24 year-olds are more likely to open and be interested in emails containing a discount, whereas middle-aged people and seniors are most enticed by ‘entitlements’ such as free shipping.
MICROAt this level of data analysis, a consumer who recently purchased, say, a flirtatiously-cut sundress could receive a follow-up email regarding those matching, equally fetching high heels, while a seasoned traveler who purchased luggage could receive one regarding vacation specials.
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Marketing Facts:A global review of data-driven marketing by GlobalDMA and the Winterberry Group found in their survey of 3,000 marketing professionals that nearly all recognize the importance of data in advertising and the efforts of customer experience, with over 77-percent being confident in the practice and its prospects for future growth.
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If there’s anything to take away from the message being stressed in this first chapter, it’s the goal of relationship marketing is to focus on building stronger LOYALTY and long-term customer ENGAGEMENT rather than concentrating on quick, short-term customer acquisition and individual sales.
Through the magic of relationship marketing, companies develop powerful, emotionally-driven customer connections to their brands that yield word-of-mouth promotions and lead generation – all of which, in turn, creates loyalists and brand advocates.
Companies that successfully embrace and take advantage of relationship marketing create customers who are actually more demanding in their expectations of other brands.
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CHAPTER 2: THE CONTENT FACTORContent Marketing to Keep Progressing in Quality and Interactive Storytelling
The classic marketing moniker which proclaims “content is king” will continue to ring true as we enter 2016 – however, it is visual content in particular that is expected to truly dominate the realm of online marketing in the new year. Now, the key to a brand’s ultimate success will come down to the speed at which it can craft relevant, quality-oriented content. Furthermore, brands must release some of the control over their marketing efforts and place more in the hands of their customers through online reviews, social media shares and customer blogs/videos. The importance of user-generated content is expected to catapult past that of branded content. The bottom line is that brands are going to have to provide not only content of high quality, but opportunities that create a powerful impact on their consumers.
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Another area that is going to evolve with regard to content marketing is ‘interactive storytelling’ and how it pertains to brand marketers, who are experts at identifying a marketing-worthy ‘angle’ and polishing it into something truly extraordinary.
As a powerhouse in the media sector, The New York Times’ T-Brand Studio has introduced a new form of digital storytelling to the world by way of a ‘mixed-media’ approach, encompassing rich, quality editorial plus stunning photography, attention-grabbing audio clips and dazzling video-based content. With these stories crafting “impressive destinations”, as the T-Brand Studio calls them, the New York Times’ storytelling capabilities are leveraged to ultimately impress readers and viewers.
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But how does interactive storytelling differ from mainstream content marketing? Interactive storytelling takes traditional elements of journalism – such as videos, data, picture, text, etc. – and uses web technologies to fuse them into an immersive and unique online experience, often enabling the audience to interact with the content. We must point out the fact that what works in print is not necessarily what works best in an online medium; that said, these are just some of the many elements that separate interactive storytelling from content-based approaches:
Introductory Looping VideoMany of these ‘stories’ begin with a high-quality video that plays immediately upon loading.
Parallax ScrollingThis computer-generated effect makes the background of a webpage load at a different time than the foreground.
No Analog to the Print NewspaperVirtually all multimedia features combine high-quality sound, photography and video in a way that’s simply impossible in print.
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CHAPTER 3: THE SOCIAL MEDIA FACTORSocial Media to Evolve Beyond the Usual Platforms
As social media evolves to become an integral piece of the broader marketing discipline and as this impact grows more formidable, it is expected to be the transitional motivation for many brands in 2016. In fact, it is believed by many marketing analysis experts that social media has the potential to become not just ONE of the channels – but THE channel. Brands have been chomping at the proverbial bit to expand beyond channels considered to be ubiquitous – Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn – and more best-in-class marketers are considering more fringe-oriented social hubs as an avenue for reaching niche audiences…even as many less-experienced marketers are still somewhat struggling due to a lack of tools and skills necessary to successfully manage rudimentary (i.e. basic) social media platforms.
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Into this foray is an expectation that suggests brands will look to the leaders in the social media game – including Meerkat, Periscope, Snapchat, Pinterest and Instagram – to assist them with their upward growth, while marketers will be presented new avenues to utilize when making connections with customers. In general, social platforms will continue to offer marketing opportunities to help brands better connect with customers.
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Facebook Audience Network now offers dynamic product ads, click-to-play videos and carousel ads, all of which Facebook users can see as display ads based on the products they have viewed.
The Twitter Audience Platform – formerly known as the Twitter Publishing Network – enables marketers to run promoted ads and tweets for the purpose of driving video views and tweet engagements; Twitter users can easily retweet ads with videos, thus expanding marketers’ reach.
Google Trends boasts a graph element with an “alternatives for Facebook” search term.
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Okay, so by now we’re all tired of hearing how social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn will change the way we market to customers…it’s old news, so let’s focus more on the aforementioned fringe social hub factor. It’s unfair to label networks such as Instagram and Snapchat ‘fringe’, as they’re clearly leading their respective camps while dominating news circuits in 2015. But over this past year, Instagram has proven its effectiveness as an ad platform, with a study by Shareablee finding that consumer actions for U.S. brand pages on Instagram more than doubled year over year in Q1 2015. Interactions on Twitter (32-percent) and Facebook (27-percent) rose as well, but paled in comparison.
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Marketing Facts:Snapchat is currently valued at $16 billion, according to The Wall Street Journal’s “Billion Startup Club.”
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CHAPTER 4: THE VIDEO FACTORVideo to Spread its Wings…and Get Shorter
Imagine a window that peers into the culture of a company.That is precisely what the power of video can offer when businesses want their story told in a way that no other media can – while helping to develop trust with customers. In a proverbial nutshell, it is a medium that simply cannot be ignored moving forward into 2016. Interestingly, but perhaps not so surprisingly , many companies believe video to be a large, expensive indulgence that is simply out of their budget. Yet video doesn’t have to be an expensive, complicated marketing foray. Given the right internal process or the help of a professional video production company, brands can create video-based content that not only helps drive visits but generates leads, as well.
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Marketing Facts:• Following Google Adwords Help,
YouTube is the second-largest search engine platform.
• The population takes in an average of almost two hours of online videos per day.
• A 60-second video is equivalent to 1.8 million words.
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The year 2016 is gearing up to be something quite special with regard to video marketing because Google has announced it is finally getting onboard with in-SERP video advertising – a clear indication that users are becoming more receptive to online video ads. As this trend continues, you can expect to see more types of video ads becoming more prominent.
Since we mentioned videos getting shorter in the subhead of this chapter, let’s take a look at that for a moment. Wherever consumer attention goes, so must business’ investment in captivating that attention, and while this may seem obvious to some, it’s worth stressing now as digital consumer habits rapidly evolve. As far as users are concerned, video is no longer just a fun extra feature to stumble upon as they surf the Internet – video, and particularly short-form video, is the element bringing them to the virtual market in the first place…and repeatedly.
The most popular short-form videos, such as viral or music videos, can garner many more views in total than longer-form content because they are much more convenient to watch repeatedly – and across multiple devices. There’s also the average Internet surfer’s attention span to take into consideration here, which is, unfortunately, akin to that of a goldfish…in other words, not very long at all. Video content needs to be succinct, quick and to-the-point like never before.
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Marketing Facts:According to an IAB-sanctioned report, 78-percent of the ad views for ‘digital pure-play’ publishers (content providers that don’t act like programmers) come from short-form videos.
Overall, 73-percent of viewers will watch an ad in a short-form video all the way through.
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CHAPTER 5: THE SEO FACTORSEO to Expand Beyond the Search Engine
Unbeknownst to even some seasoned marketing gurus, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is in a constant state of flux. The result are regular website updates, while infographics, video and images are ranking higher in search than they ever have. Moving into 2016, it is going to be necessary for brands to prioritize visual content on their websites so that visitors remain on the site for longer periods of time, thus improving the user experience. On the flip side of that coin, users have evolved with regard to the process of searching by way of lengthier and more complex search terms to see more specific, highly-targeted results.
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Marketing Facts:• More important than boasting
the right keywords, a site’s quality and relevance is going to be the dominant factor in 2016.
• According to Alexa and SimilarWeb, YouTube is the third-most visited site on the Internet.
• Google recently released information that indicates a significantly increased amount of users are utilizing YouTube as a search engine, with searches related to “how to” on YouTube increasing some 70-percent year over year.
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YouTube Video Ranking Factors
As SEO expands beyond the search engine, let’s take a look at how you can go about boosting rank in YouTube in the way you would optimize a web page. Here is a breakdown of the rank factors:
Meta DataSimilar to web page title optimization, you should place primary keywords at the forefront of video titles.
Video QualityHigh definition videos will rank higher than low-quality variants, and YouTube highlights HD videos in search results.
Views, Likes, Shares and LinksYouTube video rankings are affected by the number of views, likes (thumbs ups) on YouTube, social shares and inbound links; when a video is published on your channel, you should begin distribution to help gain views, likes, shares and links.
Thumbnail Optimization and AnnotationsVisually-compelling imagery will help get your video more clicks and views, and utilizing the custom thumbnail feature for videos and annotations can help increase video CTR, views and shares.
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Subtitles and Closed CaptionsYouTube’s closed captions feature for videos opens up your content to a larger audience to include hard-of-hearing viewers or those who speak languages other than the one spoken in your video; by enabling the closed captions feature, you increase the video’s rankability.
BrandingBranding your videos helps increase brand authority and engagement, leading to more subscribers, shares and views; be sure to include a branded intro and outro to your videos.
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CHAPTER 6: THE EMAIL FACTOREmail Personalization to Continue Growing
As consumers continue to concentrate on the products and services that are most important to them going into 2016, it is the concept of personalization that will have a great impact on the email format, making them as highly relatable and relevant as possible to the viewer. Indeed, personalization is the primary way to allow consumers to interact with quality-rich content. While many marketing experts consider ‘humanization’ the new standard for automation, offering personalized content equates to sharing relevant communications a consumer can derive a solution from. What’s more, email’s format is also changing as a result of evolving consumer habits and expectations, as well as the influences of social platforms. Formats have gotten shorter, more succinct and expectant of a reaction. Adding to this situation is the fact that email is re-forming as an approach closer to that of chat – where email was once an alternative to ‘snail mail’
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letters, it is now often used as a type of real-time chat or ‘tasks’ list. And, while it was once the norm to wait for multiple days to receive an answer to a query, modern day expectations are closer to a same-day or even within-minutes reply.
The two main factors when discussing email personalization are IMPLICIT and EXPLICIT. Implicit personalization is oriented by targeting, while explicit personalization is oriented by marketing or email automation. An incorporation of both types is important to a sound email marketing strategy.
Earlier in this book, we discussed a recent BlueHornet study that found 18 to 24 year-olds being more likely to be interested in emails containing a discount whereas middle-aged people and seniors were more enticed by free shipping; this is a good example of implicit personalization in email, as well, because it can be used to inform headline writing, email design and tracking.
Conversely, explicit personalization – with regard to email marketing – can often be utilized best with current customers. For example: Someone just purchased a pair of soccer cleats, and that individual may receive an email in a few weeks asking whether or not he or she is enjoying those new cleats. In that same email, there could be an offer explaining how the cleats would go perfectly with a limited edition soccer ball that is now in stock and ready to ship.
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CHAPTER 7: THE MOBILE FACTORLeveraging Mobile to Become Huge for More Personal User Connections
At an almost overwhelming clip, modern day consumers are making more and more purchases through their smartphones. Looking toward 2016 marketers are going to have to ensure they boast responsive websites that can adapt to the small screen sizes of these devices. Once upon a time, mobile optimization was merely a quasi-notable, somewhat remarkable trend, in the world of marketing. Fast-forward to April of 2015, when Google altered its algorithms to penalize websites and their representatives not optimized for mobile viewing. Incredibly, some corporate entities have reported seeing aggressive reductions in their web traffic because of this change. Since it is no longer optional, businesses in 2016 must make sure they offer and present responsive content that performs powerfully on mobile devices.
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There’s absolutely no question about it moving into 2016: The use of mobile devices is changing the way people communicate, while Twitter, SMS/texting apps and other social platforms are altering communication length. With even email messages becoming shorter (as we covered earlier) and conversations becoming more succinct, marketers have got to be sure their messaging is tighter and rendered in more easy-to-digest formats.
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Marketing Facts:• In 2015, mobile surpassed tablets in overall mobile
revenue.• Smartphones accounted for 40-percent of revenue
in 2014, but increased to 54-percent in 2015.• Clothing retailer BeBe has higher conversions on
tablets than on smartphones; however, it boosted mobile conversions this year due to their 2014 roll-out of a responsive website design.
• Some 60-percent of businesses have reported positive results from their investments in personalization technologies, and these numbers will only improve as companies gain sophistication in this space and quickly become the foundation for the next generation of business.
• Gartner research shows that 89-percent of companies believe that customer experience will be their primary basis for competition by 2016, as compared to 36-percent four years ago.
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If your website isn’t mobile optimized, make a plan to add a mobile version of your website. If you are planning on a website redesign in 2016, ensure that you prioritize responsive design with your website developer. There’s no denying that the momentum is here and now. Devices are becoming more interconnected and consumers continue to demonstrate their demand for these ‘smart’ devices. Therefore, it is incumbent on business leaders to begin reworking their products, services and business practices accordingly.
Businesses that embrace what is known as the “Internet of Me” concept will find themselves sustaining higher levels of engagement and, in turn, opening up whole new vistas for growth.
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CHAPTER 8: THE AUTOMATION FACTORLooking Closely at the Evolution of Technology, Automation Platforms and the “Internet of Things”
We touched on the “Internet of Me”, and this leads us to what’s called the “Internet of Things,” which, along with wearable technology, will continue to gain momentum and become a bigger engagement tool that marketers can use on customers. It is the effectiveness and intuitive nature of Facebook and Google ads brands and businesses have been relying on, due to the way they are able to target customers based on their Internet activities. By adding data regarding consumers’ day-to-day habits into the mix, the targeting becomes more aggressively focused. Additionally squeezing the most from content and marketing data requires powerful marketing automation, and while 2015 saw a rise in this adoption, it is believed that this trend will continue into 2016.
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Interestingly, companies have been formulating additional methods to automate marketing, a sector that alone is worth some $5.5 billion and is heading the march forward in the areas of prospect nurturing and lead generation. The necessity for an integrated marketing platform to track metrics while reporting on diverse channels such as social, call tracking, email, web traffic, paid ads, location-based metrics and the evolving world known as the “Internet of Things” is expected to only grow larger.
Explaining the “Internet of Things”
Also known as “IoT”, this is becoming an increasingly growing topic of conversation both in the workplace and outside of it. That’s because it is a concept that not only holds the potential to impact how we live, but also how we work. What exactly IS the “Internet of Things”, and what impact is it going to have on you precisely, if any? While much complexity surrounds IoT, the simplest definition of the term is it connects any device with an on and off switch to the Internet (and/or to each other).This includes everything from coffee makers and cell phones to washing machines, headphones, lamps, wearable devices and just about anything else you can think of. The new rule for the future is going to be, -Anything that CAN be connected, WILL be connected.
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For example, you are on your way to a meeting and your car could have access to your calendar and already know the best route to take, or if traffic is heavy it could send a text to the other party notifying them that you are running late. This is just one example of the possibilities that exist within the “Internet of Things”.
A Bit More About Automation
While it remains a broad topic, automation has become the norm in most medium to large businesses due to such factors as limited budgets and resources. With the marketing technology industry alone being worth $20 billion, the surge in automated technology will continue to rise as most businesses see the benefits with regard to a robust marketing technology strategy. With even more focus on marketing to deliver results, marketing managers and CMOs should be taking stock of their teams’ skills, highlighting the gaps to define a robust automation strategy to help sales through engaging prospects, qualifying leads and shortening the overall sales cycle. Investment in integrated marketing platforms and automation will continue into 2016.
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CHAPTER 9: THE METRICS FACTORActive and Relevant Measurement to Aid Data-Driven Marketing
When it comes to actually measuring the success of marketing campaigns, many marketers feel that merely collecting metrics through tactics such as tracking phone numbers and collecting likes, shares and tweets is analyzing a true measurement of customer engagement or ROI (Return on Investment). In reality, this isn’t a genuine measurement of these elements. In fact, brands are continuing to struggle in finding more sophisticated means of capturing the RIGHT data even in terms of raw data mining. This is where marketing metrics will continue to evolve, moving from metrics that at one time measured the performance of a marketing campaign to those that authentically analyze the impact marketing has on a business for many best-in-class marketers. Welcome to the world of attribution reporting.
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Attribution reporting isn’t a new concept, but it is one that will have an unmistakable presence in 2016. From a sales and marketing perspective, this approach focuses on looking at the stages a prospect goes through when interacting with a company before becoming a paying customer. One such simplified example of attribution reporting would be the way a customer’s purchase can be tracked back to a click on a pay-per-click ad – yet there’s a lot more to the process of a prospect becoming a customer than just clicking an online ad, depending on the complexity of the sale. Attribution reporting requires a plethora of marketing data in addition to the tools needed to create a useful attribution report, and many companies in 2016 will be looking at integrated marketing automation platforms to fill this niche.
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There are three big trends affecting data-driven marketing that will accelerate through 2016:
1. Big data technologies combining open source and commercial advances are making new types of data available at scales and speeds marketers couldn’t imagine a couple of years ago.
2. Marketing itself is able to deliver more and more personalized insights and messages rather than averaging experiences.
3. A shift towards synchronous experiences, wherein what is happening now or in the very recent past can ‘inform’ elements such as offers, messages, content and analytics.
Here’s what you need to know with regard to metrics in 2016: The future will witness the rise of better analytical tools to help marketers gauge the success of their campaigns.
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CHAPTER 10: THE CALL TRACKING FACTORMobile, Call Tracking and Location-Based Marketing Will Continue to Evolve
Much like the aforementioned attribution reporting, the concept known as ‘location marketing’ isn’t new, but it is one expected to get a formidable amount of additional attention in 2016. For the duration of 2015, mobile phone-enabled online search numbers exceeded those executed on a desktop computer; with location-based marketing, professionals seek to reach consumers based on their location and the context of their search. For example: Someone searching for a nightclub on a Saturday night needs to view ads relevant to that situation.
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But location-based marketing doesn’t only apply to mobile users – it is also quite relevant and useful for corporate entities attempting to reach an international market. For a Canadian-based company to effectively market to people in the United Kingdom, for example, it needs to be perceived as a company doing business in the UK. This is precisely where call tracking marketing plays a role, as companies can include local contact numbers on their website in order to appear relevant.
This year – for the first time ever – mobile search ad spending will surpass that of desktop, and within three years it is believed that there will be over 73 billion calls made to these businesses via mobile search. The bottom line? Marketers will be well aware they cannot ignore the calls that will be coming into their businesses.
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Marketing Facts:The U.S. alone will top 200 million smartphone users by 2017, and we are only recently seeing just how much advertisers are recognizing this growth.
Additionally:• Click-to-call in search is important, to the
tune of 70-percent of mobile searchers having used it to contact a business.
• Website phone numbers are vital, as 61-percent of customers say it’s important that a business provides a phone number on their website to call.
• Phone numbers in search are valuable, as 47-percent of mobile searchers are more likely to explore other brands if there is no phone number in their search results.
Did You
Know?
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Tracking inbound calls will be essential for fully optimizing a marketing plan as we move into 2016. We know smartphones drive more searches, which in turn drive more calls, but tracking these leads back to the marketing source that drove the call – something we touched on in the previous chapter – be it display ads, search keywords, websites or email, allows marketers to both prove (and improve) ROI. How, you ask?
Let’s say you have a page on your website with multiple phone numbers listed, and each one indicates or represents a different store, office or other location. Ask yourself these questions: Are you able to track calls from each of these numbers? Can you make sure your customers are routed to the correct place? With multi-location call tracking technology, all this is possible. Marketing agents can boost their marketing ROI – or the marketing ROI of their clients – by ensuring callers are connected with the appropriate location right away.
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ConclusionEvergreen content is no longer the standard nor the trend. The upcoming ‘fashion’ in marketing will be a focus on exclusive content that expires within a specific time frame. For example, while Snapchat may have once been regarded as a passing fad, it has evolved into a definitive standard marketing platform that is here to stay, with more than 100 million users per day. In order to reach a younger and more connected generation of consumers – whose attention span is alarmingly short and split among a multitude of platforms – the focus on exclusive expiration-based content is a marketing model that works well. Going back to Snapchat as an example, each message, picture or video posted on the platform only lasts for a matter of seconds. As soon as it’s been viewed, it disappears. The fast pace offered by this marketing medium is precisely what consumers appreciate – but in order to succeed with this approach, it is important to focus on an organic element and being concise while communicating in real time.
With all the changes occurring in marketing and consumer behavior, brands must continually stay ahead of the proverbial curve to remain competitive, and along with this comes using innovative communication approaches to reach out to their customers in real time.
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Set Up a Free ActiveDEMANDCall Tracking Account Today.
www.ActiveDEMAND.com/call-tracking
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© 2015 JumpDEMAND Inc. All rights reserved.
The contents of this document are the property of JumpDEMAND Inc. No part of it may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, except as permitted by written license agreement with JumpDEMAND Inc.
JumpDEMAND Inc. has made every reasonable attempt to ensure the completeness and accuracy of this document, however, the information contained in this document is subject to change without notice, and does not represent a commitment on the part of JumpDEMAND Inc.
