Digital Marketing predictions for 2016 and beyond

December is the month for Santa Claus and Predictions. Every ‘Influencer’ and ‘Thought Leader’ will come with a bagful of trends and predictions about what’s going to happen next year. In the spirit of yearend and Santa Claus, I too share my thoughts on what the next year holds in terms of digital marketing

Customer Experience to drive Digital
For the past couple of years, we have been hearing a lot about how digital/technology is impacting customer experience. Now there is a role reversal, Customer experience is going to drive digital innovations

Changing formats of content
Content has always been about information. Another moniker for Internet is Information Highway. This is going to change. Content is going to become more interactive. Use of visuals, A/V is going to rise. Even the format of engagement - gamefication, conversational, VR, etc will be on the rise

Apps to become more personalised and social
The integration of CRM principles and social marketing will drive the app innovations. Apps will be designed to intuitively understand the users’ need at individual level. More companies will move towards a pragmatic measurement of customer value, rather than cost per install

Rise of Digital Wallet
Digital wallet has 3 key players in the ecosystem, other than the user - Device manufacturers, Banks, and merchants. Along with independent players, phone manufacturers and banks are focusing on digital wallet… this means there will be more players & options in the market….and as penetration of smartphones, connectivity increases, more outlets will start accepting digital wallet. In fact, many organised retail outlets have started accepting digital wallet…. and with incentives like cash back and discounts, customers will be enticed to use the same… Thinking aloud: In the long run, will companies like MasterCard, Visa, and American Express become irrelevant?? 

Wearable Devices
Wearable devices has mostly been about the individual. My guess is that the devices will expand to others and not for self… Pets being the next most popular category for wearable devices.. Patients/Elderly is another category…and last not the least about people… crowd/people management at events, offices, etc

Advertising & Marketing - From Man to Machine
The rise of performance marketing will see increased use of RTB platforms. Also, predictive marketing, using big data and realtime analysis, will drive the digital marketing growth. Media planning will become more programatic, driven by algorithms and this should hopefully improve decision making process by removing human biases

Marketing n=1.. which would mean that customised messaging depending on the user behaviour and buying stage is going to increase. This will be driven by increased mobile and app usage

Wishing you all Happy Holidays and a wonderful 2016 full of marketing success

Cheers!
Santosh

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