Is traditional digital advertising losing its lustre? Are you constantly trying to engage your online audience, but having a hard time keeping up with emerging trends? We’re taking a look at three of the top digital marketing trends for 2016, and how you can take advantage of them to stay on top of your digital marketing strategy.
#1 The Ad Block Debate Continues
Although ad blocking is nothing new, 2015 saw this phenomenon break into the mainstream. Both Apple and Samsung released ad blocking extensions into their mobile platforms, and the global rise of ad blocker users continues to grow annually. Advertisers, publishers and brands are all struggling to find an answer the ad block conundrum, and while the debate will continue into 2016, what’s more important is to listen to what the market is telling us: they’re tired.
They’re tired of being bombarded with countless poorly-targeted campaigns. They want messages and content that match their realities, which means that creating a seamless customer experience is more important than ever. Although ad blocking may seem like a massive roadblock in any digital marketing strategy, it’s really just a chance to pivot towards more meaningful content. Contextual marketing, social media and native advertising will become more valuable than ever in reaching both ad blocker users and in resonating with non-users alike.
#2 The Rise of Interactive Content
Content strategy has reached ultimate buzzword status, and as this trend matures, so do its tactics. While traditional content marketing tools (think blogs, e-mail, infographics) aren’t going away anytime soon, they’re beginning to take on a new, interactive identity.
Interactive content like quizzes, contests, and video all help to captivate the imaginations of an audience and provide value beyond clicks and impressions. It captures rich data and insights, which can be used to not only maintain a flexible campaign, but also understand their needs better in the future.
#3 Context is King
Move over content, context will reign supreme in 2016. Contextual marketing is in the air and we couldn’t be more excited. This tailored marketing approach is based on the art of delivering the right content to the right customer at the exact right moment—it’s almost intuitive to how we all like to be engaged.
Marketers are leveraging real-time analytics to shift the focus away from audience segments and targeting options and move towards an agile model based on personalized interactions. Contextual marketing reaches beyond delivering useful information to the marketplace as a whole, and uses a combination of data and insights to anticipate consumer needs and meet them as they arise. If there’s ever been a time to proclaim “the future is now!”, this would be it.
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