Year in Review: VI's Marketing Trend Predictions for 2016
This past January, we prognosticated about the marketing trends that would shape the year for most marketers. We correctly predicted all five, and we even hit the bonus question - here’s a quick summary.- Beacon Technology:
The use of beacons is trending up, but not as fast as I thought at this time last year. The location-based tactic was initialized for a lot of big brands in 2016 including banking, retail, public transit, consumer packaged goods, and even horse racing. Ultimately it’s the consumer who will decide how valuable the technology is to them. - Bot Traffic:
The prediction was that we would know that the dilemma is there, and try to get around it. But we weren’t going to cease digital marketing until the false traffic was wrangled. This seems like a no-brainer today, considering that digital display spending (and all that it encompasses) is set to surpass television spending by the end of 2016. So, we’re still trying workarounds with bots, but are full steam ahead with digital ad spending. - Ad-blocking:
Slow growth mainly due to adoption only among the technologically savvy, was the prediction. While 75% of consumers accept the necessity of ads for publishers, ad blocking software is being installed at a higher rate- especially among millennials, which was in line with the prediction. FYI- we won’t repeat this prediction for 2017 as the pendulum looks to be swinging the other direction. - Drones Soaring:
Drones made such a significant impact on the marketing world in 2016, that it’s almost old news. But, this time last year many worried that regulations would ground the trend. Nope! But marketers aren’t limited to just the new video angles. Domino's delivered pizzas and others sent fly-by messages to workers in office buildings. Home developers showed building progress, and product sampling firms created a new distribution model. - Paid Search:
We said the market was not nearly mature and rapid growth would continue. With mobile devices becoming an extension of human limbs, mobile searches grew at astounding rates (49%) in 2016 and accounted for over 60% of all searches. Expect it to continue. And buy some Google stock.
Bonus: Black Friday’s relevance dwindles. It seemed like a no-brainer with more sales migrating online. But, we also saw a lot more retailers closing on Black Friday this year, allowing families to….. shop.
Predictions for 2017 are forthcoming- so keep an eye out. And if you need a little help applying modern marketing, get some professional assistance. This is a time when you can really get left behind.
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