The New Year is quickly approaching and as we head into 2016, let's take a look at the top digital marketing trends and tactics that your company should implement to stay ahead of the competition.
1. Mobile Surpasses Desktop
The past few years have been named the year of mobile, and it looks like mobile will dominate again in 2016. In 2015, more Google searches took place on mobile devices than on desktops in the US and 9 other countries. Google also released the Mobilegeddon algorithm update that gave priority to mobile-friendly websites. Mobile traffic will continue to grow through 2016 and beyond, making it a huge opportunity for marketers to reach more people through their devices. As traffic from mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets continues to grow, businesses will need to ensure they have strongmobile marketing strategies to reach their audience and stay ahead of the digital curve.
2. Social Advertising
If you were using social ads as a supplement to your digital marketing strategy, 2016 is the year to invest in a complete social advertising campaign strategy. eMarketer predicts that ad spending on social networks will reach $35.98 billion in 2017, accounting for 16% of all global digital advertising spend. As social advertising budgets grow, competition becomes much more intense. Don't miss this opportunity to reach, engage and convert your target audiences. With more precise targeting options available, you can reach your exact audience based on location, age, gender, job title, industry, interests, behaviors, and email lists or website viewers.
3. Video Marketing
We've previously talked about the value of video marketing and in 2016, videos will become an essential element in content marketing strategies. Businesses can use videos to engage and educate their audiences. Videos also give a face and personality to brands, which can establish loyalty and trust. 2016 will be different because Google will finally start to incorporate video ads into search engine results.
4. Paid Advertising Gets Personal
Earlier this year, Google introduced Customer Match, which allows marketers to upload an existing list of contacts to target through search. This targeting option is also available for Facebook and Twitter advertising. This means you can now target customers or prospects lists using paid search and social ads, and deliver specific messages to them depending on where they are in the purchase funnel.
5. Optimizing for Digital Assistants
Digital assistants like Siri and Cortana continue to become more widely used, and they may soon replace search engines altogether. If digital assistant searches dominate traditional online searches, marketers will need to adopt new SEO tactics to optimize their business information so it can be easily found via these assistants.
What other digital marketing trends do you predict for 2016? Tweet us at @Comm_Creative.