7 Game-Changing Marketing Trends To Tackle in 2016

'Marketing constantly adjusts and reacts to changes in technology and attitudes. While digital marketing has undergone a substantial transformation in the last few years, the technology that incited the changes is growing at a faster pace than most brands can keep up with.

So, what does this mean for competitive marketers that are already strategizing for 2016? Brands need to look beyond the usual channels to stay ahead rather than simply jump on the bandwagon'

The article discusses the trends that are changing the face of marketing and gives you an eye-opening look at what marketers should be leveraging in 2016:

1. Relationship Marketing. How can companies develop community and personalize their outreach efforts? Data. We now have data in easily accessible and interpretable formats through which we can develop strong relationship-marketing plans. In 2016 and beyond, personalized, data-driven marketing will become increasingly important.
2. Marketing Automation. Using a marketing automation platform makes it easier to schedule emails, segment contacts, automate social media posting, manage your content, and track the lifecycle of customers in your marketing funnel.
3. Location-Based Marketing Technology. How can event professionals and marketers create an interactive experience? They must target users at the point of engagement.
4. Virtual Reality. One of the biggest keys to marketing is personalization. With the ability to literally tell 360-degree stories, companies will be able to engage like never before.
5. Ephemeral Marketing. In the upcoming year, marketers will come to understand that Snapchat isn't just a tool for fun marketing experiments; it's a platform that users are flocking to in order to digest social media in real time.
6. Search Past Search Engines. Advanced search will bring a more integrated social experience that expands to the e-commerce realm.
7. The Internet of Things (IoT).Wearable technology will see a user adoption rate of 28 percent by 2016 – even more data for marketers to mine. So, will this data be derived from people’s day-to-day habits? It looks that way. Every year from now until the foreseeable future, we'll see the IoT become a bigger tool that marketers can use to engage with customers.

Full Article: http://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/7-game-changing-marketing-trends-to-tackle-in-2016