8 Digital Marketing Trends to Watch in 2016

Brands are always on the hunt for new ways to bolster web presence, which is why the demand for solid digital marketing strategies is so high among business owners. But keeping up online means more than implementing what’s already being done, it means staying ahead of the curve as well. Keeping tabs on emerging trends is the best way to keep your marketing campaigns successful, and your brand top of mind.

Here we take a look at some digital marketing trends you’ll want to keep an eye on as we approach 2016:

1. 2016 will be the year of HUMAN for digital marketers – Gone are the days of corporate-speak messaging and dull, boring campaigns. Videos, pictures, humor, and human!

2. Interactive Content – If “content” is the word of the year for digital marketing, then “engagement” is certainly the runner up. Simply getting your audience to show up is half the battle in an increasingly noisy world of content. The key to creating a lasting impression now relies on content that engages, and interactive content has become a key tactic in that battle. Tools such as animated presentations or real-time polls are great ways to both entertain and encourage social sharing. Moving forward you can expect to see less traditional blog posts or press releases and more interactive quizzes or diagrams.

3. Technical Savviness – This will become a necessity for digital marketers. As the modern marketer strives to understand how social, content, demand gen, PR, and SEO call all work successfully within a fully integrated marketing strategy.

4. Digital and Predictive Analytics sophistication and (effective) usage increases. By using big data to highlight trends and patterns, marketers are able to setup campaigns based on probable outcome, a.k.a predictive analytics. This means marketers are now able to use data to engage with prospects in a way that’s relevant on an individual level (i.e. displaying ads for products you’ve already been researching). That means less risk and more reward. Expect to see brands invest more into their digital marketing campaigns as their leading strategy moving forward.

5. Wearable Technology –  2016 could likely mark the shift from early adoption into mainstream for such devices, meaning a new channel of accessibility for digital marketers. From watches, hats, pants, shoes, and even shirts, everything we wear will soon be able to connect and communicate with the web. Local marketers will have a ton of possibilities as engagement options become only a matter of what’s touching your skin.

6. Hyper Personalization – Personalization has made its way into just about every aspect of digital marketing, but next year will bring a heightened use of algorithms to hyper-personalize ads. Retargeting and location targeting will pair up in more marketing campaigns to deliver a cohesive consumer experience that anticipates and responds to the customer’s every need.

7. App Development – Start to look for dedicated apps to replace mobile-optimized sites in the near future. An app serves all the same roles of a mobile site, but does so in a more intuitive and user centric way. Looking at some notable sites, such as EBay and Amazon, you’ll find that opting for a dedicated app is already becoming a standard. Look for others to start doing the same.

8. Visual Stories – The ability to craft visual stories that inspire emotion and spark the movement will help companies get noticed and amplify their message. Storytelling is perfect for driving in engagement and nurturing leads, storytelling is slowly becoming one of the most sought after ways to communicate the brand’s core message. A mix of visual and textual storytelling is all set to inspire emotions in consumers that make them interact with the business.

Which of these trends have you been already following in 2015? Which ones would you continue with in the next year? Of course when it comes to marketing trends, this is just the tip of the iceberg. You can be sure 2016 will bring about plenty of opportunity for digital marketers to take on new tactics that shift the status quo.