Digital Marketing Trends For The Rest Of 2016: What We Hit & What We Missed

While everyone is busy making predictions at the beginning of the year, I always think it’s good measure to pause in the middle of the year and take a look at what’s been happening in the digital marketing world so far. Have our predictions been right? What did we get wrong?

Just like goal setting, it’s good to reevaluate the trends going on around us to make sure we’re actually running with the right strategies. Let’s take a look at the digital marketing trends that have made an impact this year, what things we didn’t get right, and what things we should look forward to as we end the year. What we knew: Videos are killin’ it (and so is mobile)

YouTube announced that almost one-third of the people on the Internet are active YouTube users. That’s massive! YouTube on mobile alone reaches more 18-34 year olds and 18-49 year-olds than any cable network in America. Video is absolutely crushing it as the way to reach people and digital marketing professionals have been taking note. Video advertising is one of the strongest bandwagons to jump on. Snapchat has continued to rise, Facebook is absolutely littered with videos (come on, how many Tasty food videos have you got sucked into this past month alone?), and Instagram is heavily investing in its video marketing niche. Mastering the art of the perfect 8-10 second clip is something every company needs to be able to do by the end of the year, or risk losing their competitive edge. What to watch: Get on the omni-channel experience

People are consuming content in so many different ways and are absolutely overwhelmed with stimulation all the time. From subway ads, to mobile marketing, to ads on the side of blogs and on podcasts, it’s important to really know how to play the game well across all channels. Omni-channel marketing is important if you want to insure you hit your target market in every way possible, and specifically in the most effective ways across all digital channels. According to eMarketer, “More seasoned marketers understand that multichannel marketing isn’t just about executing in multiple channels but integrating them.” Ensuring that your content marketing game, social media marketing game, and digital advertising game is on point and executed in a way that truly speaks to your audience at the right place and the right time is more crucial than ever. Beginning to understand how to flow your efforts together will be crucial as we move into 2017. Not quite yet: Wearable Marketing

While wearables continue to grow in popularity and functionality, it seems as if digital marketers are not quite sure how to handle this beast yet. People love using wearables to get fit, but many aren’t quite sure how to utilize their devices past counting steps, keeping track of their heartbeat, or monitoring their sleep. It’s hard to say what impact it’ll have on the marketing world. Many people believed in the beginning of 2016 that wearables would create a massive disruption in the industry, but it appears as though it’s still business as usual. What are your thoughts on what’s been going on so far this year? What did we get right and what did we miss?