{"id":113076,"date":"2015-12-10T22:44:00","date_gmt":"2015-12-11T03:44:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dacgroup.com\/epic-digital-marketing-predictions-for-2016\/"},"modified":"2024-12-21T05:54:31","modified_gmt":"2024-12-21T10:54:31","slug":"epic-digital-marketing-predictions-for-2016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dacgroup.com\/en-gb\/insights\/blog\/paid-media\/epic-digital-marketing-predictions-for-2016\/","title":{"rendered":"Epic Digital Marketing Predictions for 2016"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s that time of year again where we marketers take part in the most passive-aggressive form of betting the world has ever seen: predictions for the year ahead.<\/p>\n

Our predictions from last year proved pretty close to the mark \u2013 digital PR has really taken off, \u2018native\u2019 advertising has made its way up the agenda, and the general election was just as disruptive and unconventional as we\u2019d expected. We had expected mobile video to have taken off more rapidly than it has, but it\u2019s certainly made its impact felt this year.<\/p>\n

So, without further ado, here are our top digital marketing predictions for 2016, from SEO and content, through paid media and analytics\u2026<\/p>\n

TL;DR (clickable links):<\/p>\n

Digital Marketing Predictions \u2013 Overview<\/strong>
\nMobile conversion will grow rapidly<\/a>
\nApp optimisation will become essential<\/a>
\nMarketing channels will face major diversification<\/a><\/p>\n

Search Engine Optimisation<\/strong><\/a>
\nStructured data will be seen as a basic building block<\/a>
\nLocation-aware search will become a primary focus<\/a>
\nGoogle will scrape more information from websites<\/a>
\nIn-app\/device search optimisation will take off<\/a><\/p>\n

Paid Media<\/strong><\/a>
\nUser-based targeting will mature<\/a>
\nProgrammatic and social media advertising will increase<\/a>
\nEffective omnichannel strategies will become the gold standard<\/a><\/p>\n

Data and Analytics<\/strong><\/a>
\nBig data will put increased pressure on marketing departments<\/a>
\nData integration will be used for competitive positioning<\/a>
\nInnovative new automation to deliver customer insight<\/a>
\nData will influence how a product is positioned<\/a><\/p>\n

Content and Creative<\/strong><\/a>
\nContent will be increasingly data-led<\/a>
\nContent will find a new lease of life<\/a>
\nUser-generated content will become king<\/a>
\nVideo will reach maturity<\/a><\/p>\n

Summary<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Digital Marketing Predictions \u2013 Overview<\/strong><\/h5>\n

\"GrantFrom Grant Whiteside<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/a>Mobile conversion will grow rapidly<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The use of mobile for web browsing has steadily grown in terms of sessions, but conversions are still lagging behind. However, this seems to be changing. As more websites have become fully functional and responsive on mobile, the propensity to click through to final conversion has increased.<\/p>\n

A growing number of digital natives are also beginning to find themselves with disposable income, helping to improve the rate of mobile conversions, while all demographic groups are increasingly comfortable using smartphones for shopping, many of whom have disposable income.<\/p>\n

This suggests that gaining search engine shelf space in the search engine results pages ( SERPs) will be more hotly contested than ever before, as will the need to understand how the user experience, search, and the mobile landscape work together. This will develop a need to provide Mobile SERP reports, Mobile Tech SEO Audits, Mobile UX, and cross-device singular customer views.<\/p>\n

\"micro-moments\"<\/p>\n

<\/a>App optimisation will become essential<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

App optimisation, deep app analytics, and deep app search are all in their infancy. Geeks will talk about it, publishers will publish articles about it\u2019s the new Holy Grail, and a small handful of forward-thinking futurists will start doing great stuff with it.<\/p>\n

As the battle between browsers, ad blockers, and media suppliers moves into meltdown, the smartest ecommerce players will look toward using apps to gain their own first-party cookie data and grow their own audience extensions.<\/p>\n

Other players that don\u2019t invest in app-building to generate their own audience data may have to set budget aside to get their ads whitelisted, particularly in sensitive industries like gambling, resulting in higher costs-per-acquisition (CPAs) and lower return on investment (ROIs).<\/p>\n

\"multi-channel<\/p>\n

<\/a>Marketing channels will face major diversification<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The number of social media channels on which brands can now advertise, and the service they provide, will mature rapidly as Pinterest, Instagram, Snapchat and other platforms prove increasingly useful for targeting specific audiences.<\/p>\n

The traditional search providers and major social media players will either try and buy them or align themselves with them. I think the lessons from the past have identified that just because you have a great search engine like Google, it doesn’t mean you can replicate the experience via another channel like Google+. The more you force something, the worse it\u2019ll be received.<\/p>\n

As more audience groups establish themselves in our digital stratosphere the more segmented and diverse our audiences will become. The result will be an even wider range of marketing channels to work from and, for some brands, search engine marketing may play second string as it will take longer to implement and cost more to convert than other social channels.<\/p>\n

As Authorship<\/em> has been binned, Googles new Page Quality Rater Guidelines<\/em> will be crucial to understand as the focus for organic search changes to reach local-based search queries.<\/p>\n

Offline reputation, brand citations and digital PR will start to become as influential as links …but this will take time to filter through.<\/p>\n

The relationship between Twitter and Google is worth watching as real-time search becomes more of an expectation rather than a \u2018nice to have\u2019. Google needs Twitter to provide real time results and Twitter needs Google to make their conversations easily found and indexed.<\/p>\n

But while Google and Twitter both need each other, I can\u2019t see an acquisition this year.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/a>Search Engine Optimisation Predictions<\/strong><\/h5>\n

\"MarkFrom Mark Proctor<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/a>Structured data will be seen as a basic building block<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

This is the stuff that you’re probably not doing, but which make the biggest difference if you do.<\/p>\n

If Google has to make a guess about which parts of your website refer to content, products, services, or location then there’s uncertainty.<\/p>\n

\"schema-org-example\"<\/p>\n

With structured data you can tell search engines specifically which parts of a page correspond with what content \u2013 then there is certainty. Computer algorithms and Google engineers love certainty!<\/p>\n

Structured data itself isn’t particularly new, but it’s getting easier to implement. For example, Schema microdata can now be implemented in a JSON format which removes the tricky fiddling around with implanting code into specific sections of page template html.<\/p>\n

Microdata implementation still isn\u2019t perfect, but it really does form the building blocks of your on-site SEO, so before you try anything else, get your microdata in order.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Location-aware search will become a primary focus<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Neatly tying back to the structured data, linking the products and services you offer to the places you offer them allows search engines to confidently return results for searches such as “pet shop near me”.<\/p>\n

If you don’t include that information on your site, you’ll miss out. If you don’t ensure all the local listings are up-to-date, informative, and relevant, you’ll miss out.<\/p>\n

If you consider the growth of mobile and the potential to solve problems for impulse and need-based customers, location data needs to be at the top of your agenda. Everything will be one step closer to being hyper-local. Why? Because it\u2019s often much more relevant to the user.<\/p>\n

\"Google<\/p>\n

<\/a>Google will scrape more information from websites<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

This ties back to structured data again. Google’s search algorithm is continually getting smarter, able to understand ‘complex combinations’ (though while it can answer \u201cWho was the U.S. President when the Angels won the World Series?\u201d it still has trouble with \u201cWho was the UK Prime Minister when Archie Gemmill scored against Holland?\u201d).<\/p>\n

I expect this will mean we’ll see even more answers to our questions appearing at the top of the search engine results page itself, much the same way Google currently displays Open Graph information.<\/p>\n

What does that mean for the sites that provide the information? On the one hand, Google is relying on those sites in order to scrape the information, on the other it is cannibalising the traffic those sites might have received had they been presented in the SERPS rather than the answer itself.<\/p>\n

It’s probably better for the user, and it’s certainly better for Google, but to the websites that have heeded Google’s call for authoritative content and spent resource on demonstrating expertise and providing answers to users, it probably doesn’t look as rosy.<\/p>\n

I expect we’ll see further growth and visibility of Google’s comparison services too, already popping into relevant lucrative searches (insurance, flights, hotels etc.). There’s no reason why these comparison services can’t be extended into whatever industry the data exists, which, in turn, presents interesting challenges for inbound marketers, big brands, and new businesses alike.<\/p>\n

\"Ok<\/p>\n

<\/a>In-app\/device search optimisation will take off<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

If you search on your phone, and an app you\u2019ve installed is relevant, it’ll be presented.\u00a0 Even if you don’t have an app installed, an app will often be presented, either organically or in the form of an ad.<\/p>\n

This means you need to understand the online market for your services and for your app, understand your competitors\u2019 apps, and make sure your app listings are properly optimised.<\/p>\n

It’s a land-grab that’s already well underway, but is relatively young as far as optimising for search in concerned. Get in there fast.<\/p>\n

Devices, platforms, artificial intelligence (AI), and personal assistants will be major game changers as the relationship between where we get our information from becomes more dependent on the device, platform and browsers we use. This will also directly relate to the relationships that platforms have with Ad Blockers. I think we’ll see some big deals this year.<\/p>\n

Structured data will be a repeating theme<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Did I mention that this is the basis of everything you do around SEO?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/a>Paid Media Predictions<\/strong><\/h5>\n

\"MalcolmFrom Malcolm Figures<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/a>User-based targeting will mature<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Shopping campaigns based on individual users, rather than cookie-based targeting, really came to the fore in 2015. For many industries, these types of campaigns and targeting methods are no longer optional add-ons for existing search campaigns but key cornerstones on which the success of major campaigns can hinge upon.<\/p>\n

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