The changes taking place in the online marketing industry are sometimes inconsequential. Other times, they are of monumental importance. A particular change may be highly relevant or not at all relevant for the industry, but it always brings in light the dynamicity of the industry.
It’s the third quarter of 2015, and many changes have already taken place. How many of those changes are going to stay? And how many are going to lose their importance?
The five trends include:
#1. Mobile Optimization
Almost everyone has a Smartphone these days. Dumb phones are no longer in use. It signifies the current
For example, when a user conducts a Google search on a desktop computer. He types something in the search-box, then press enter and then browses through the results that the search engine page displays. The mobile web offers the same interface, but on Smart devices, tapping replaces clicking and the existing model of searching doesn’t bode well with tapping.
If a new searching model emerges, which is increasingly reliant on sliding and tapping and which is more intuitive than the way we search today, then the current
#2. Conversational web
A visionary approach is what defines Google. The company can foresee the changes that are ahead. Google has introduced conversational search a few years back and industry sources reported the search interface has been becoming smarter with time. Imagine the future of the web when conversational searching will take over.
Opening a browser and typing in keywords in the search bar will become obsolete. Instead, users will open applications and through personal voice assistants, they will converse with the search engine and deliver specific commands. There are many such voice assistants for users already; such applications are Google Now, Siri and Cortana. The interface is completely hassle-free.
The search engine will display results based on the inputs from users, but the display format will be different.
As conversational search becomes more intelligent, location-based search, finding directions and booking reservations will become seamless.
#3. Smarter browser caching
Desktop devices offer better browser caching than their hand-held cousins. Mobile browsers having smaller caches is the reason behind this. Since small, mobile browser caches are flushed quickly, disappointing users, who expect better browser storage on their Smart devices. The need for mobile browsers with better caching ability, therefore, is the need of the hour.
The HTML5 web storage specification currently stands as the alternative to browser caching. With local storage, web applications can store data locally in the user’s browser. The specification enables application data to be stored locally. This prevents a site from slowing down as the server remains unjammed. Most browsers offer local storage facility. Google Chrome v4.0 or above, Internet Explorer v8.0 or above, Mozilla Firefox v3.5 or above, Safari v4.0 or above and Opera v11.5 or above support local storage.
HTML5 is custom-made for the Smart platform. Its importance for app development is immense and still growing. As it’ll become more advanced in the future, new tools for better browser caching will be added, easing users and affecting the
#4. Graphic and audio-visual content
On the hand-held domains, users are more interested in graphic and audio-visual content than text-based content. Smart devices have smaller screens compared to desktop devices; reading an overly long content on a Smartphone means scrolling down relentlessly. Besides, performing operations such as selecting a small section of texts and copying it, or finding a particular word is difficult.
But watching a video is really easy, a user needs to tap few times, and that’s all. It’s not surprising that music and video streaming sites get a handsome amount of traffic from mobile devices whereas content based sites get more number of visits from desktop users.
The
#5. App-only strategy
This trend is slowly picking up. Many sites are adopting the app-only strategy. It makes more sense because the number of handheld users has been skyrocketing, and a custom-app lets a service provider reach them quickly and seamlessly.
Not many service providers are currently around whose presence is restricted to mobile screens. But the app-only strategy is a futuristic trend, and that indicates their number will increase. App design, subsequently, will become a priority for UI and web designers.
Other than hassle-free interactions with users, the app-only strategy yields yet another benefit for service providing agencies. There’s no point in having a website and not marketing it. But since it’s 2015, you can’t put your faith on any marketing strategy that it’d fetch you organic traffic. Going for paid marketing campaigns translates to mounting expenses.
Having an app instead of a website gives you a break from such concerns. App marketing is way different from regular web marketing. Click here to see what experts have to say about the cost-efficient ways to promote a mobile app.
Stay ahead
The trends discussed above are futuristic, which means the industry is not fully ready at this moment to welcome them. But any seasoned internet marketer would know success in online marketing is highly conditional and the odds of success increase as the campaign adopts a futuristic approach.
The five approaches discussed in this article don’t guarantee success. But they help you stay one steap ahead in a highly competitive scenario. Hence, if you are an online marketer, make it your priority to consider and implement the five trends and shape your strategies accordingly.
Images: “ Online Marketing Promotion Branding Advertisement Concept / Shutterstock.com“
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