The Top 7 Predicted Online Marketing Trends For 2016
Social Media
Written by John Ranby
6th January 2016
As we begin the start of 2016, we begin to look forward to the year ahead and make predictions on what we believe will be big in online marketing trends for 2016. Here’s the trends that have topped our list.
Video Ads
Video advertising has been around for a long time already though was never commonly used besides for YouTube. However, this year many websites began to follow trend and also begin using them leading us to believe they’ll continue their rise next year. Google have also revealed that they will begin to incorporate video ads next year! Previously, video ads have gained many complaints, however, recent consumer changes have accepted that video ads are a popular and effective method of advertising and they are becoming more embraced on the internet.
App indexing
With majority of people now owning a smartphone and apps being easily available, apps will continue their rise and begin replacing mobile-optimised websites. Many major international businesses have already created their own app and have seen the benefits of having their own place in the app market. Apps are expensive to create but often don’t need much work doing to them once created unlike most websites and are therefore often cheaper in the long-term. Apps have the same functions and features that a website has, however, they are more accessible and convenient.
Mobile domination
Continuing from Google’s algorithm changes this year to highlight mobile optimised sites importance, mobile optimised sites will continue to rise in dominance and take over desktops. With Google set to promote mobile optimised sites and support their takeover from desktops, many people are now heavily relying on mobile-optimised marketing to become dominant next year.
Digital assistants
There will be a rise in the business use of digital assistants like two of the most well-known digital assistants in the world, Siri and Cortana. They will begin to work closely with tools such as Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and Pay-Per-Click (PPC) and expand their current functions rather than just to provide information to make them a more functional aid for businesses.
Virtual Reality (VR) will rise
Again, not a particularly new product though they have developed significantly over the years. Forecasters believe that 2016 will see VR products such as the Oculus Rift rise in popularity particularly as many more products are set to be released over the next couple of years. However, the expense for these products is so high that they may quickly sizzle out – Definitely one to watch next year!
Wearable technology will rise too
Following the release of the Apple Watch, more wearable technology has been developed and is set to be released in the near future. As a result, the market for the products is set to rise although the price for the products is still a concern to many market forecasters.
The expense of advertising will rise
The rise in competition in advertising has begun to reflect in the prices already although the cost is set to continue to rise next year. Many businesses may not be impacted by these increases though small businesses may struggle not only with the cost, but also with the amount of competition on the market.
We hope these forecasted trends have been interesting for you and although thorough research has been done to create these forecasts, uncontrollable factors such as economic changes may affect their accuracy. We hope these have helped you begin to understand the potential changes for the future though and how your business will be effected by the changes in online marketing.
