The Top Marketing Trends That Will Define 2016

Forbes recently published a list of the top marketing trends that will define 2016. The overarching theme for these trends centers around relevance and effective delivery.

1. Embrace the Customer Experience Model.

Embracing the customer experience model focuses on creating seamless channels of communication with customers so that marketing efforts can serve as a natural extension of customer service to create the ultimate experience. Effective customer engagement will involve integrated efforts across digital media to track and measure the consumer experience.

2. Will Ad Blockers Change the Game?

With the debate about ad blockers in full swing, 2016 will see brands working towards creating advertisements that are much better integrated into webpages to enhance rather than interrupt the user experience.

3. Dream and Market in 3D.
As it becomes more and more refined, 3D technology will become much more mainstream and brands will innovate to put more of their marketing muscle behind content that incorporates virtual reality. The biggest opportunities for 3D tech lie in the gaming industry; however, as gaming continues to rise in popularity brands will to the social network of the gaming community as another marketing channel for customer communication.

4. Marketers Will (Finally) Recognize Social Media as a Channel, Not a Strategy.
Social media, similar to mobile, will find itself at the foundation of any marketing strategy. The solidification of social media as a true channel for integrated marketing communications will be reflected in increased marketing spend towards social and away from traditional media channels.

5.  Omnichannel Will be Retail’s Best Friend.
With the rise of the Internet came the meteoric growth of digital and mobile consumption and a seemingly infinite choice set for consumers. Marketers are faced with an ever expanding choice of channels via which to interact with consumers. Therefore, retailers have begun taking a multi-channel approach in order to deliver an integrated and smooth customer experience. While e-commerce is on the rise, consumers still prefer retail establishments that have both an online and physical presence over pure e-tailers.

Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/danielnewman/2015/11/03/the-top-10-marketing-trends-that-will-define-2016/