2016 Marketing Predictions from Marketing Wing

Consumers have changed and marketing strategies and tactics need to change with them for effective results. Marketing tactics that worked in 2015, may not be as effective in 2016.

Following is a list of marketing predictions for 2016 by Marketing Wing:

More Decisions without Humans

Gartner predicts that by 2020, 85% of all customer-brand relationships will be made without human interaction, which further reinforces the increasing value of content marketing. Consumers will believe and place more weight on what others say about you and your company than what you say. They will review this content thoroughly before contacting you.

 Outsourcing will Reign

CMO.com cites 10 reasons when outsourcing your marketing is a better choice than doing it yourself.

Here are five of them:

1. You don’t have the time or expertise.
2. You don’t have the technology.
3. You want to lower your marketing costs.
4. You’re on a rapid growth trajectory.
5. You’ve just expanded your business to operate in another customer channel or geography.

As your business grows and your marketing needs become too much to tackle in-house, consider outsourcing.

 Storytelling is the New Marketing

The days of highlighting your features and benefits and expecting consumers to respond are long gone. Consumers want to understand your company story; why do you do what you do? What stories are your clients telling? How have you helped them? In 2016, case studies will prevail. It shouldn’t be a surprise. That’s exactly why as consumers we want to read reviews.

Lead Nurturing the Customer Experience

Marketers, using integrated tools, can engage with customers online, track the buyer’s journey, measure sentiment and loyalty, and match behavior with outreach tailored to meet their audience’s needs and interests. But for customers already bombarded with information, a great customer experience is becoming baseline. 2016 will see brand ambassadors given a higher priority and prospective customers will want more relevant engagement.

Marketing Automation will continue to Grow

As marketing automation platforms mature and collect big data, marketers will struggle to turn the numbers into tactics and make intelligent decisions. The platforms are not the solution; they are the tool to make better decisions for both demand generation and customer experience.

Interrupt and Engage

You only have five seconds to grab consumer’s attention. Analytics research shows that when it comes to mobile video advertising, if you don’t catch the attention of the viewer in the first five seconds, engagement drops dramatically. Whether it’s humor, drama or shock value, the premium for higher results is what happens in the first five seconds.