The Evolving Digital Landscape

 

 

Image courtesy of Leanport Software Pvt Ltd

The Evolving Digital Landscape – 2016
by Steven Copertino

The Digital Landscape continues to evolve in both ways we could have predicted and ways we could never have imagined just several years ago. Below is a listing of things that strike me as particularly relevant and interesting. What are your thoughts?

Snapchat Dominates At SXSW In 2016

• Snapchat did not have a presence at SXSW, nor did they do any advertising there
• Snapchat generated 192 million impressions on Twitter from SXSW – more than any other brand (3/6 – 3/16)
• It’s a messaging app created in 2009 by Students at Stanford University. By early 2016, users were sending      7 billion photos and videos PER DAY – more than tripling between June and Nov of 2015 alone. (FB 8 bill/day)
• The messages self-destruct after 10 seconds – images, videos or text. You can create a story that lasts for 24 hours
• Bought by Facebook for $20 billion in 2014 – Snahchat has over 100 million active users per day
• Brands creating unique content for Snapchat – NatGeo, CNN, MTV, Buzz Feed, Comedy Central, WSJ, Food Network, ESPN, People, Cosmo, Mashable and many others…

“Desktop” Matters Less and Less

• No secret that desktop users have been flocking to mobile in droves
• But only this year did mobile traffic finally overtake desktop traffic
• Growth hasn’t slowed. In fact, some companies are preparing for desktop to stop mattering altogether
• That means it’s more important than ever to have a mobile component to your digital strategy

Video Is Becoming The New Normal

• For a while, written content dominated the digital landscape, but videos are taking over – 20% of digital budget in 2016 vs 17.7% in 2015 (display, search and social higher but video is pulling $ from them)
• Thanks to wider availability of lightning-fast internet (and smaller screens that favor video over text), video content is becoming preferred and more popular among publishers
• Social platforms like Facebook and Twitter are auto-playing videos in news feeds and rewarding video contributors
• Google is considering allowing video ads in its SERPs
• If you don’t already have a video content strategy, it’s time to get one. (don’t forget imagery, data visualizations, illustrations as well)

Omni-channel Is More Important Than Ever

• Studies show that 90% or more of consumers’ interactions with a brand employ more than one device/channel
• For example, a customer might search for a business/product/service with a smartphone and then continue using a laptop or by calling or visiting in person
• It’s very important for marketers to work collaboratively to study ALL channel interactions and customer behaviors and to adjust accordingly – data is key

The Humanization Of Digital

• Social media started this trend years ago by showing brands they no longer control the conversation nor the definition of their brand
• There is a movement towards more “human communication” – content with warmth and humor instead of corporate buzzwords, and making communication more authentic through humor, visuals and storytelling.
• It’s the humanization of digital to make brands feel more real and differentiated
• UGC is a great way to help warm up your digital presence – customer blog posts, customer ratings & reviews, etc. – search engines love UGC!  

 Digital Marketing Needs To Be Even More Data Driven

• This is nothing new, but it is. The expectation is for real-time changes based on data and for a personalized experience
• Digital marketing is both an art and a science
• Successful marketing comes from collecting, analyzing and using data about when and where customers spend their time
• In short, data is behavior. Learning from this behavior drives creative messaging and strategic campaigns
• Tracking behavior and tapping into the emotional connection through messaging, ads, social, and design makes all the difference in the digital space
• Content personalization is a consumer expectation

Social Engagement Is Key

• There’s a lot to be learned from your audience online
• You’ll get honest feedback on campaigns and messaging, for one
• Incorporating your fans’ interpretation and opinion of your brand can get you both fresh content and loyal fans
• Create incentive for fans to write, tweet, take photos, share videos, etc
• Reward them for their participation and loyalty by giving them the spotlight in your campaign.
• Think holistic strategy, rather than specific tactics. Each social channel, blog post, email, weblink must have a purpose and drive towards something
• Never post simply to post
• Without engagement or traffic, those posts are a waste of time and money

Social Is Starting To Mean Much More Than “Social”

• Social media apps change a little more every year, but for the most part, those changes have been made to introduce new kinds of social interactions or simplify old ones
• Now, social apps are moving in non-social directions; for example, Pinterest is leading a new trend of social/e-commerce hybrid apps, which offer social functionality combined with purchasable items, and Facebook is developing its own digital assistant

Feel free to share your thoughts.

Ad Age’s Digital Predictions 2016

From the Demise of Texting to the Next Phase of Facebook Messenger

Facebook’s Messenger Opens for Business
Facebook’s chat app is poised to become the social network’s next big revenue stream. Originally an instant-messaging service, Messenger was spun off into its own app in 2014. And after a series of announcements, now it’s ready to start up its own business. Last year Messenger began testing ways for businesses to use the service as a customer support line and for people to use it as an artificially intelligent assistant that can do things like order an Uber car. As more people use Messenger to communicate with businesses, expect Facebook to find a way to charge companies for the privilege, as it’s done with its own social network. –Tim Peterson

The Death of Texting
Emojis ruled in 2015. But GIFs, those quick looping videos or animations, are the next messaging app trend. In Asia, GIFs have been huge on apps like WeChat and Line. The appeal is obvious: Why use a standard yellow smiley face when you could send someone a three-second cat video? The fancier, funnier cousins of emojis are familiar from sites like Tumblr, but they’re about to get much more mainstream in Western markets, since Facebook finally embraced them. Facebook Messenger integrated a GIF-finder, and some brands have been using them on Facebook too. Between emojis and GIFs, who really needs text anymore? –Angela Doland

Headhunters Look to China
Given the explosion of online shopping in China and how crucial that market is, more multinationals will tap executives with experience there to oversee their worldwide e-commerce strategy. Case in point: Mars recently promoted its China general manager, Clarence Mak, to chief customer officer and global e-commerce leader. Mondelez International’s Cindy Chen, global head of e-commerce, also has worked in China. –Angela Doland

Refined Virtual Reality
This year will deliver more sophisticated virtual reality experiences, refined storytelling and increased layers of interactivity, given the consumer arrival of the Oculus headset and a variety of big deals in the space. Oculus partnered with premier VR storytellers Felix & Paul Studios to develop long-form, narrative content. Disneymade a $65 million investment in Jaunt VR. And 20th Century Fox is diving in as well, unveiling “The Martian Experience,” based on the blockbuster movie, at its Fox Innovation Lab during the Consumer Electronics Show.–Ann-Christine Diaz

2016 Won’t Be 360-Degree Video’s Breakout Year
There are plenty of reasons to believe 2016 will be the year that 360-degree videos hit the mainstream. Two of the biggest digital video services, Google‘s YouTube and Facebook, already support the format that lets people swivel their viewpoint all the way around a scene. And Facebook’s Oculus VR has finally begun selling the long-awaited consumer version of its virtual-reality headset that, like Samsung‘s Gear VR and Google Cardboard that are already in the market, is more tailored to 360-degree video viewing than a smartphone.

But while the ways to watch 360-degree videos have grown, there’s still the question of what people will watch. The New York Times, Vice and Disney are among the content companies already producing 360-degree videos, but too many of the 360-degree videos currently available offer beautiful documentary-style landscape shots yet lack a clear story or characters that can entice mainstream audiences and offset the format’s learning curve. If people are to tune in to 360-degree videos consistently, those videos must survive the novelty of the form; their content needs to rival, if not surpass, what people could watch normally. And for that to happen, filmmakers need to experiment with the form. That will likely require more time than 2016 holds. –Tim Peterson

Read the Full Article:  http://adage.com/article/digital/ad-age-s-digital-predictions-2016/302095/

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