We already made some predictions for this 2016. Yet, re reading them now, they seem incomplete. Given how dynamic digital marketing actually is, that perception appear as unavoidable. If you’re to win the marketing race, you have to keep running on the edge of all things and ahead of everyone else. So, even just a couple of months have passed since that article, we feel like you should be aware of some of the trends that are about to explode in the upcoming months.
1 – Welcome your new live-streaming overlords
Periscope isn’t a new thing by now. After only a year, the live-streaming platform beat Meerkat and became the defacto live-streaming tool for everyone from small business owners and celebrities to preteens bursting with acne. But now that race is over, it’s time for Periscope to rise and reign uncontested throughout the marketing land.
The concept is now solidly rooted within the conscious of the masses. Now everyone seems to enjoy a Periscope, which can only mean one thing: it’s time to start thinking about Periscope marketing! With new tools come new ways of promoting products and services, and this won’t be an exception. We’ve seen some Periscope marketing strategies in the latter half of 2015 but now expect it to bloom and make some serious noise.
2 – Virtual reality will finally find the spotlight
How many times have we heard that virtual reality was on the verge of becoming the next big thing? For people over 30, the number of times should be too many to mention. So, why would you believe this time is any different? Well, the signs are all there if you want to read them. The brands have migrated their marketing concepts from benefits to stories. Now the customer experience is at the center of any company, the idea of what a product can do for the client is at the core.
So, guess what? Virtual reality is amazing at displaying that. With just a pair of glasses and a well-developed app, you can immerse your clients into your brand’s story and mission and make him a part of it. Today, virtual reality is a step forward for a society that grew accustomed to interact with everything. It won’ be its ultimate form, but it certainly feels like the best today. Why shouldn’t we embrace it?
3 – The year of the “I have no time for this” approach
Marketing automation (AKA “I won’t lose my time in this BS”) isn’t a new concept. In fact, we believe that we’ve already passed the buzzword phase and are now understanding all the benefits that actually come with it and all the myths that many people built around it. Even in the face of increasing personalization, automation is a very valuable thing that will prove even more valuable this year.
Having some support to manage time-consuming tasks is always a great things and marketing automation can do just that for you. By developing a goal-oriented strategy, you can use all sorts of automation software to send highly targeted messages and reach audiences in all sorts of instance – while you’re doing something else. You don’t have time for certain tasks? That’s fine. We’ve reached the point in which software will take care of them for you.
4 – Marketing for everyone that’s here, today, right now
Finally, let’s talk about location-based marketing, a trend that’s growing so strong you shouldn’t ignore it anymore after you finish reading this. Before the location-based marketing arrived, marketing divided itself between digital and physical channels. Marketers had to try their best to bridge the gap and interconnect both of them. That time is over.
Thanks to mobile ads and a projected increase in budget spent on location-based marketing, this tactic will boom in the following months, reaching your pocket to finally make the connection between what you see on a screen and what you can find on a store. The audience for your products has grown a little more to include people that are just passing by and can be interested in you. Location-marketing is how you get to them.
As we said above, this are the trends that we can foresee today. But we’re pretty sure that in a couple of months even these predictions will feel incomplete, inaccurate or too simple. It’s the nature of marketing and the key to success – reading the signs and acting according to them but always keeping an eye on the signs that come next. These are the ones we see today. What do you think we’ll see tomorrow?
Photo credit: UTKnightCenter via Visual hunt / CC BY
