One common thing that unites all the marketers from across the world is the fact that they are always looking ahead into the future. Their main purpose is to identify what are the next marketing trends that are going to be implemented on the market.
Questions like “What is going to be the next big campaign?” or “How could we make our client to be the very next “big thing”?” start to arise in every true marketer’s mind. Marketing is an extremely volatile area, but because of that, many consider it to be so fascinating. Every year, a new company, a new hardware, a new software or a new interface comes out with something out of the ordinary, something that will either be ignored by the business world or completely adored.
2016 looks like a promising year for the marketing world and the following 10 marketing trends seem to be the next year’s stars:
#1. Mobile trending
Whether we are talking about cellphones, smartphones, tablets or any other mobile devices, their evolution is going to be the center of marketing. People are turning to screens that are smaller and smaller, so the fact that brands will be able to build a closer and a more personalized relationship with the power of mobile comes as a natural consequence.
#2. Transparency – the key to brand-customer relationships
Right now, customers want to see that the brands they like are as engaged with them as they could be. This is a trend that will continue the next year too when customers are expected to become even more demanding when it comes to the transparency between them and brands. The companies that value their clients and show it will thrive, while those that haven’t established yet a transparent connection with them will fade away.
#3. Increasing content quality
There will always be this need for creating excellent content. Making a blog is one way of providing people with content, but in 2016 visual content will be recognized as the king of the kings. Any traditional marketing model will be destroyed and the faster a brand will be able to create this type of content, the higher its rate of success will be.
#4. Breaking the rules with user-generated content
Branded content will no longer be a sensation, and it will be replaced with user-generated content. This will happen as a consequence of the fact that more and more brands are willing to leave their marketing techniques in the hands of their customers. Consequently, they will need to work very hard to create a positive impact on their customer’s minds. Another result of this action will be the birth of a new trend: content creation between brands and their clients.
Social media is going to become a well-established part of the whole marketing area. Because of the astounding impact it will have, more and more brands will channel all of their marketing resources to meet the expectations of social channels. This will turn social media into the most significant marketing channel.
#6. Brands owning their clients
More and more brands will start to engage in maintaining conversations with their clients. The communication will be made directly, which means that these brands are going to end up owning their customers. This phenomenon will generate brand advocates and loyalists that will dictate the direction in which a certain brand is heading. Their opinions, feelings, and emotions will dictate any upcoming campaigns.
#7. The Millennial–focused brands will disappear
Brands from all over the world should understand that the Millennials are not the one and only segment representing the young people. Eventually, they will need to step away and make way for a new generation. So, all the brands that are focusing on this segment of age are going to have to update their Otherwise, they will be cut off from the market.
#8. Brands looking more like product companies
The next year’s brands will not only look to satisfy their customers but to also come up with something new, fresh and innovative. This way, they will be able to grow value for their customers, as a product company would normally do.
#9. Data-driven marketing: the next big thing
Unlike the intrusive kind of marketing, which is basically a conventional and traditional approach to marketing that uses the same old methods, data-driven marketing has a perspective that is more focused on building relationships. The difference between these two concepts is going to become more and more visible over the course of the next year. The marketers that will focus their efforts on building relationships will be rewarded while the others will get kicked out of the game. So, the future advocates for friendlier and more approachablebusinesses.
#10. Metrics that will be more and more accurate
Most of the brands are measuring the rate of their success by looking into how many likes, shares or tweets they get on the Internet. As we speak, people are focusing their efforts on building some new analytical tools that could show a clear view of the success reached by a certain brand and get the correct amount of data. 2016 will be the year when significantly improved analytical tools will be created and handled by marketers in order to measure the rate of success of their campaigns.
As you can see, 2016 is announcing itself to be a year when marketers will be faced with new challenges and a much more intense game to play. One thing is for sure: those who will obey the rules and follow them thoroughly will have to step up their game. They have to do thisbecause they are most likely going to be surpassed by those that do not fear brand new and unconventional approaches.Marketing has become a game where playing by the rules is no longer the way to go. Breaking them, however, seems to be the hottest trend right now.
Images: “Marketing Trends Online Digital Concepts / Shutterstock.com“
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